Prieschka

History

The village was first mentioned in a document in 1325 as Prischka. Other forms of the name were: * 1408 Prischka * 1443 Brissigk * 1463 Brißk * 1484 Prischk * 1486 Brissig * 1540 Brischk * 1550 Prischka * 1577 Brischkaw * 1675 Prischke, Pritschke, Prißke The name forms of 1325 and 1408 have come down to us through later transcriptions. They show writing habits from the 16th century. The most probable derivation of the place names is from Old Sorbian Brež(e)k (place on the shore), perhaps also Brežky or Upper Sorbian brjóh, Lower Sorbian brjog (edge, shore), Polish brzeg and Brezky (small birch trees, birch grove). The oldest traces of human settlement in Prieschka date back to the Middle Stone Age. Traces of settlements from the later Bronze Age have also been found in the fields around the village. There is also a Germanic cemetery from the 3rd and 4th centuries, some of whose graves were properly excavated in 1907 and 1928. The cremation graves found in Prieschka are attributed to the Burgundian tribe. In addition to pottery, the finds include lance and arrowheads, axes, knives, swords, spurs, and bucket handles. Most of them have been donated to the Berlin State Museum, Halle State Museum of Prehistory, and the Bad Liebenwerda District Museum. The village was founded as a Slavic settlement in the middle of the forest on an island surrounded by the waters of the Black Elster. The village had a typical horseshoe shape, also known as a Rundling. Prieschka originally belonged to the manor of Würdenhain. The heart of the manor was the Eichwald, also known as Oppach, which covered about 1700 acres and was located east of Prieschka. At that time only Prieschka had a small open field for the Wendish settlement. In 1442, the lord of Würdenhain Castle, Hans Marschalk,…

Geography

The village is located on the left side of the Breslau-Magdeburg glacial valley, where the Große Röder flows into the Black Elster, which reaches its narrowest point a few kilometers to the east in the seven-kilometer-wide Schraden lowlands between Elsterwerda and Merzdorf, and then swings to the northwest. Prieschka is surrounded by the 6011-hectare Elsteraue landscape conservation area, which is divided into three ecological units, of which Elsteraue II includes Prieschka. One of the purposes of the protected landscape area is to preserve the area because of its special importance for natural recreation in the area of the spa town of Bad Liebenwerda, which is located about five kilometers north of the village. As part of the 484 square kilometer Lower Lusatian Heath Nature Park, the approximately 80-hectare Alte Röder Nature Reserve near Prieschka extends northeast of the village. One of its conservation goals is to preserve and develop this area as a habitat for the Elbe beaver and other endangered species. Declared a nature reserve in 1981, the roeder lowland is home to one of the most enduring populations of the endangered Elbe beaver. The rare subspecies of the European beaver has been known to occur here since before World War II. In 2002, the total world population was 6,000 animals.

Most-observed species

• Great Tit

  Parus major Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  482
• Eurasian Blue Tit

  Cyanistes caeruleus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  442
• Eurasian Blackbird

  Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  436
• Common Wood-Pigeon

  Columba palumbus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  376
• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  365
• Eurasian Magpie

  Pica pica (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  352
• Red Kite

  Milvus milvus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  335
• Common Chaffinch

  Fringilla coelebs Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  332

Most recent

• M 3.3 — 2015-04-16
  1 km NE of Gröbers, Germany
• M 2.8 — 2002-03-23
  1 km ENE of Gößnitz, Germany