Berlin-Brandenburg Capital City Region

With approximately 100,000 inhabitants, Cottbus is the second largest city in the Federal State of Brandenburg and it is located in the middle of the Lusatia Energy Region featuring a wide range of energy-related industries. This favourable situation makes Cottbus a perfect location in between the flourishing German capital of Berlin and the capital of the Federal State of Saxony, Dresden. Cottbus is a significant hub right in the middle of the dynamic economic areas of Berlin-Brandenburg, Saxony and neighbouring Poland.

In 2013, the BER Airport Berlin Brandenburg "Willy Brandt" will be opened for traffic. Both this and the Dresden International Airport can be accessed in less than 60 minutes via the newly extended federal motorways A 13 and A 15. The short distances to Eastern European markets such as Wrocław, Poznań and Prague likewise provide Cottbus with a decisive competitive advantage.

Industrial Region with Tradition

Like no other region in Germany and to this day, Lusatia is characterised by lignite mining, refining and power generation from lignite and thus can draw from a long-standing industrial history. Many people associate the city of Cottbus with energy, and not merely because of the "Energie Cottbus" football club.

The Lusatian lignite mining region provides the raw material for the region's power plants and many people depend on it for employment. Major energy providers, such as Vattenfall Europe Mining AG and envia Mitteldeutsche Energie AG are headquartered here.

Large scale projects in the field of land reclamation, urban redevelopment, renewable raw materials and alternative sources of energy make the Lusatian Energy Region an innovative pioneer with regard to sustainability. The degree of exchange between energy industry, universities, research institutions, entrepreneurs, citizens and politicians taking place here as regards the new energy policy is unequalled.