Klettwitz

Klettwitz (Lower Sorbian: Klěśišća) is a German village of Brandenburg, belonging to the municipality of Schipkau, situated in the historical region of Lower Lusatia.

History

The village was first mentioned in 1370 with the name of Cleticz. Until December 31, 2001 it was an autonomous municipality merged into Schipkau.

Geography

Klettwitz, part of the Lower Lusatia region, is located close to the borders with Saxony, 2 km in north of Schipkau. It is 6 km far from Senftenberg, 50 from Cottbus and 63 from Dresden. It is served by the motorway A13, connecting Dresden with Berlin, at the exit nr. 15 ("Klettwitz").

Some municipal localities (Siedlungsgebiete) are part of the suburb of Klettwitz. They are Herrnmühle (Knězny młyń, seat of the old hospital), Staudemühle (Pušćadłowe młyń), Treuhandsiedlung (Drjewojske sedlišćo) and Wilhelminensglück (Wilhelmincowy Gluki).

Sport

Located close to Klettwitz it is the "EuroSpeedway Lausitz", a race track originally named "Lausitzring", opened in 2000. On 25 April 2001, the Italian racing driver Michele Alboreto was fatally injured in a crash at the circuit, and on 15 September of the same year, CART driver Alex Zanardi suffered a horiffic accident at the circuit in what was one of his most competitive races of his CART comeback season. Towards the end of the race, Zanardi collided with fellow driver, Alex Tagliani, whist emerging from the pit lane and his car took heavy impacted damage on the side, splitting the monocoque in half. As a result of the impact, Zanardi lost both legs (one at and one above the knee) and nearly three-quarters of his blood volume, though rapid medical intervention saved his life.