Finsterwalde

Finsterwalde is a town in the Elbe-Elster district (German: Landkreis), in Brandenburg, Germany.OverviewIt is situated on the Schackebach, a tributary of the Kleine Elster, 28 m. W.S.W of Cottbus by rail. Pop. (2005) 18,840. The town has a Gothic church (1581), a castle, schools, cloth and cigar factories, iron-foundries, flour and saw mills and factories for machine building. The town, which is first mentioned in 1288, came into the possession of the Electorate of Saxony from 1635 and of Prussia in 1815. Popular are the "four singers from Finsterwalde" and their "singer-song".DemographyKnown personsThe following well known persons are from Finsterwalde: Hansgeorg Bätcher (1914-2003), Oberstleutnant in the Luftwaffe Inge Deutschkron, (born 1922), German-Israeli journalist and author Thomas Eisfeld, (born 1993), football player for Arsenal FC Catrin G Grosse (born 1964), artist and painter Kurt Haehling (1893-1983), Generalmajor in the Wehrmacht Detlef Irrgang, (born 1966), football player Sonja Kesselschläger, Heptathlon athlete Hermann Kotzschmar, (1829-1908), German-American musician, conductor and composer Peggy Kuznik, Football player Otto Ostrowski, (1883-1963), Mayor of Finsterwalde in the 1920s Stephanie Pohl, (born 1978), beach volleyball player Hans-Jürgen Riediger, football player