Lksjfrlkd… oh, excuse me, I just dropped my Sorbian to German to English Dictionary on the keyboard…
You’ll certainly need it around Drebkau, a town in Lower Lusatia. And for the record, Drepkau in Sorbian is Drjowk. A lot more can be learned over in Drebkau’s or Drjowk’s Stadelijk Museum.
Ok, so Drebkau isn’t too far of a stretch in language — but the rest of the place can be. Take Jehserig, for instance, whose name in Sobrian is Jozorki. It means “small rivers,” and appropriately named because the whole are of this town is full of ponds and marshes. Oh yes, and little streams, too.
Jehsering was pretty big on mining, as was towns like Kausche (Chusej), both are indicative of a typical German mining villages. But that in no way means that Drebkau is all work and no play. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Drebkau is a true party-animal town, especially at Mid-Summer. On the Summer Solstice the village of Casel (Kozle) takes this annual event very seriously — most of Lower Lusatia does — but we’re not talking about them. Anyway, the Feast of St. John is quite the spectacle here, often with bonfire (Johannisfeuer) and a Johannis Ride.
I like the fact that Drebkau isn’t just limited to one party in June. Throughout the rest of the year the town has all sorts of things going on, like the Dragon Festival, the Fungi Walk (second weekend of October), and the Drebkauer Roundabout that’s a bicycling event.
Ohh, I almost went off on some other tangent without telling you about the town’s Rosenmontag Parade, held on the Monday before Lent. That’s a religious holiday, by the way, so it just reminds me to tell you about the pretty little village churches.
Casel’s got a charming Gothic/Baroque church, and the Stadtkirche (City Church) in Drebkau proper isn’t too old (built 1810) but is still great to see, nonetheless.
The only thing missing is a castle… wait, there is one. It isn’t your typical Frankenstein looking medieval one, but this plain, red-barrel roofed abode is still a Schloss.
So, if you’ve found yourself in Cottbus, come on over to Drebkau — it is very close, simply head southwest. Just don’t forget to pick up that Sorbian dictionary before you do.
