The Town of Calau is situated in the middle of the Niederlausitz, about 27 km west of Cottbus at the eastern edge of the Lower Lusatian Ridge Nature Park as well as at the southern edge of the famous Spreewald. The area around Calau is strongly characterized by former brown coal-mining sites, which are valuable retreat areas for animals and plants nowadays. Many places are left to nature after recultivation, the Heinz-Sielmann-Stiftung adopted numerous areas, others are managed near-natural and sustainably by the "Landesforstverwaltung". Foresters offer walking tours through the region. Particularly the "Geologische und Naturlehrpfad Luttchensberg" is a sight to see.
* Zinnitz has about 300 residents. It was first mentioned in 1255 as Cinnicz. The Name means Ort wo Rohr/Schilf wächst. Known citizen of Zinnitz is Dietrich III. von Bocksdorf, bishop of Naumburg from 1463 to 1466.
Population
There are only a few people with Sorbian roots living in Calau today, although the Sorbs were quite a large minority in 1843 with about 30.8 percent of the overall population. In following years the number of Sorbs decreased rapidly, and in 1900 only 3.5 percent of the population were Sorbs.
Demography
Politics
Mayor
Werner Suchner was elected in 2009 with 55,3 % of the vote.
Municipal Assembly
The municipal assembly consists of 18 "Stadtverordneten" plus the "Buergermeister".
Memorial for actor Joachim Gottschalk. When his Jewish wife Meta and son Michael were to be deported, the whole family decided to commit suicide on November 6, 1941. The bronze figure, which was created by Theo Balden in 1967, resembles the actor. It was initially located in a park but had to be moved due to the building of the localSparkasse in the 1990s. Its new place is a memorial wall in the Joachim-Gottschalk-Straße 35.
Economy and infrastructure
The transmitter station Calau, which belongs to the Deutsche Telekom radiates a variety of VHF-and TV-programmes of the rbb for Brandenburg. Its radio mast is a reinforced concrete tower of 190 m height, the so-called "Langer Calauer", in the southwest of town. It was built in 1982.
Traffic
There are no "Bundesstrassen" going through Calau, the motorway junction Calau is seven km to the northwest at the A 13. Calau is situated at the railroad lines Cottbus–Leipzig and Lübbenau–Senftenberg.
Edification
Schools
Primary school Calau, named Carl-Anwandter-Grundschule since 2008
Carl Anwandter, stands out as leader of the first contingent of German colonists sent by Philippi; Anwandter is also founder of the German school Valdivia
Ernst Dohm, editor and writer, helped the pun in his journal Kladderadatsch to regional awareness
