Cottbus (German pronunciation: [ˈkɔtbʊs] ) or Chóśebuz (Lower Sorbian pronunciation: [ˈxɨɕɛbus]) is a university city and the second-largest city in the German state of Brandenburg after the state capital of Potsdam. With around 100,000 inhabitants, it is the most populous city in Lusatia. Cottbus lies in the Sorbian settlement area (Serbski sedleński rum) of Lower Lusatia, and is the second-largest city on the River Spree after Berlin, which is situated around 125 km (78 mi) upstream. The city is located on the shores of Germany's largest artificial lake, the Cottbuser Ostsee (Chóśebuski pódzajtšny jazor).

Cottbus is considered the political and cultural center of the Lower Sorbian-speaking Sorbs (in Lower Lusatia also called the Wends), while the overall center of all Sorbs (Lower and Upper) is Bautzen (Budyšin). Cottbus is the largest bilingual city in Germany. Signage is mostly in German and Lower Sorbian. The city is the seat of several Lower Sorbian institutions like the Lower Sorbian version of the Sorbischer Rundfunk (Serbski rozgłos/Bramborske Serbske Radijo), the Lower Sorbian Gymnasium, and the Wendish Museum (Serbski muzej). The use of the Lower Sorbian language, however, is more widespread in the surrounding villages than in the city itself. Cottbus Hauptbahnhof (Chóśebuz głowne dwórnišćo) is a major railway junction with extensive sidings/depots.

In the 10th century, the Wends constructed the largest Slavic castle of Lower Lusatia, a gord, on a Spree island. This former gord is considered the nucleus of the city. On it rises the massive 13th century Castle Tower (grodojski torm) with its blue clock.

Cottbus is the seat of the Brandenburg University of Technology (German: Brandenburgische Technische Universität Cottbus–Senftenberg, Lower Sorbian: Bramborska techniska uniwersita Chóśebuz–Zły Komorow). Due to this, the city has the official names Universitätsstadt Cottbus/Uniwersitne město Chóśebuz ('University City Cottbus'). Branitz Castle, built in 1770–71, in the southeast of the city, was a residence of the Prince of Pückler-Muskau. The prince, who also created Muskau Park, designed the extensive Branitz Park on the shores of the Spree, with its two grass pyramids. Cottbus State Theater (Statne źiwadło Chóśebuz) is the only state theater in Brandenburg. The Wendish Quarter is a part of the city supposed to resemble the traditional Sorbian architectural style, constructed of prefabricated concrete slabs in East Germany between 1984 and 1989.

Until the beginning of the 20th century, the spelling of the city's name was disputed. In Berlin, the spelling "Kottbus" was preferred, and it is still used for the capital's Kottbusser Tor ("Cottbus Gate"). Locally the traditional spelling "Cottbus" (which defies standard German-language rules) was preferred, and it is now used in most circumstances. Because the official spelling used locally before the spelling reforms of 1996 had contravened even the standardized spelling rules already in place, the Standing Committee for Geographical Names [de] (German: Ständiger Ausschuss für geographische Namen) stress their urgent recommendation that geographical names should respect the national spelling standards. A citizen of the city may be identified as either a "Cottbuser" or a "Cottbusser".

Names in different languages:

• Czech: Chotěbuz, pronounced [ˈxocɛbus]
• German: Cottbus
• Latin: Cotbusium
• Polish: Chociebuż, pronounced [xɔˈt͡ɕɛbuʂ]
• Lower Sorbian: Chóśebuz
• Upper Sorbian: Choćebuz
• Yiddish: קוטבוס, romanized: Kotbus

The settlement was established in the tenth century, when Sorbs erected a castle on a sandy island in the River Spree. It was captured by the March of Lusatia in 965, then it passed to Poland under Bolesław I the Brave in 1002, and back to the March of Lusatia in 1032. The first recorded mention of the town's name was in 1156. In the 13th century German settlers came to the town and thereafter lived side by side with the Sorbs.

In the Middle Ages Cottbus was known for wool, and the town's drapery was exported throughout Brandenburg, Bohemia and Saxony. It was also located on an important trade route, called the "Salt Road", which was used to transport salt from Halle to Lusatia and further east to Poland. It was part of the Margraviate of Lusatia and later Lower Lusatia, which was held by the House of Wettin until it became a Bohemian Crown Land in 1367.

In 1445 Cottbus was acquired by the Margraviate of Brandenburg from Bohemia. It was an exclave almost completely surrounded by Bohemian Lower Lusatia (with a short border with the Electorate of Saxony to the south-west). In 1514 Jan Rak founded the Universitas Serborum, a Sorbian gymnasium, in the city. In 1635 Lower Lusatia was ceded by Bohemia to Saxony, thereby making Cottbus an enclave of Saxony. In 1701 Brandenburg-Prussia became the Kingdom of Prussia.

In 1807, following the War of the Fourth Coalition, Cottbus was ceded by Prussia to the Kingdom of Saxony by the Treaty of Tilsit, reuniting it with Lower Lusatia. Cottbus was returned to Prussia by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 after the Napoleonic wars. Lower Lusatia was also ceded to Prussia and both became part of the Prussian Province of Brandenburg (and Regierungsbezirk Frankfurt), where they remained until 1947. In the 19th century, the Bramborski Serbski Casnik Sorbian newspaper was published in the city, and in 1880, the first Lower Lusatian department of the Maćica Serbska organization was established there.

In 1871 Prussia, and therefore Cottbus, became part of the German Empire. According to the Prussian census of 1905, the city of Cottbus had a population of 46,270, of which 97% were Germans, 2% were Sorbs and 1% were Poles.

In interwar Germany, the town was the site of a concentration camp for unwanted Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe.

During World War II, a Nazi prison for women was operated in the city with multiple forced labour subcamps located both in the city and other places in the region. Polish actor Władysław Hańcza was imprisoned in a forced labour camp in the city in 1944–1945. In the final weeks of the war, Cottbus was taken by the Red Army on 22 April 1945. In January 1946, Cottbus issued 34 semi-postal postage stamps to help finance rebuilding the city. From 1949 until German reunification in 1990, Cottbus was part of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany). From 1952 to 1990, Cottbus was the administrative seat of Bezirk Cottbus.

• 
  Gothic Franciscan church and later Sorbian Protestant Church
• 
  First issue of the Bramborski Serbski Casnik Sorbian newspaper, 1848

	German	Lower Sorbian	Inhabitants	Surface area (km)	Population density	First mention	Incorporation
1	Mitte (de)	Srjejź	10,732	1.7	6,313
2	Schmellwitz (de)	Chmjelow	14,116	8.1	1,743	1414	1950
3	Sandow (de)	Žandow	15,301	8.7	1,759	1415	1905
4	Spremberger Vorstadt (de)	Grodkojske pśedměsto	13,800	3.6	3,833
5	Ströbitz (de)	Strobice	15,726	11.7	1,344	1452	1950
6	Sielow (de)	Žylow	3,510	18.8	187	1300	1993
7	Saspow (de)	Zaspy	686	4.3	160	1455	1950
8	Merzdorf (de)	Žylowk	1,089	7.4	147	1411	1993
9	Dissenchen (de)	Dešank	1,101	30.7	36	1536	1993
10	Branitz (de)	Rogeńc	1,446	5.4	268	1449	1993
11	Madlow (de)	Módłej	1,630	3.0	543	1346	1950
12	Sachsendorf (de)	Knorawa	10,584	6.6	1,603	1779	1950
13	Döbbrick (de)	Depsk	1,695	15.5	109	1551	1993
14	Skadow (de)	Škódow	568	4.6	123	1407	1993
15	Willmersdorf (de)	Rogozno	633	6.4	99	1449	1993
16	Kahren (de)	Kórjeń	1,259	14.0	90	1300	1993
17	Kiekebusch (de)	Kibuš	1,292	3.7	349	1427	2003
18	Gallinchen (de)	Gołynk	2,768	5.5	503	1421	2003
19	Groß Gaglow (de)	Gogolow	1,487	4.6	323	1389	2003
	Cottbus	Chóśebuz	99,423	164.3	605	1156

• 
  Development of population since 1875 within the current boundaries (Blue Line: Population; Dotted Line: Comparison to Population development in Brandenburg state; Grey Background: Time of Nazi Germany; Red Background: Time of communist East Germany)
• 
  Recent Population Development and Projections (Population Development before Census 2011 (blue line); Recent Population Development according to the Census in Germany in 2011 (blue bordered line); Official projections for 2005-2030 (yellow line); for 2017-2030 (scarlet line); for 2020-2030 (green line))

Cottbus: Population development
within the current boundaries (2020)

Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1875 35,201 —     1890 46,671 +1.90% 1910 65,438 +1.70% 1925 68,228 +0.28% 1933 72,286 +0.72% 1939 75,969 +0.83% 1946 73,010 −0.57% 1950 73,695 +0.23% 1964 84,952 +1.02% 1971 94,606 +1.55% 1981 125,326 +2.85% 1985 133,232 +1.54% 1989 137,366 +0.77% 1990 134,781 −1.88% 1991 131,625 −2.34%

Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1992 131,343 −0.21% 1993 130,756 −0.45% 1994 128,601 −1.65% 1995 126,343 −1.76% 1996 124,389 −1.55% 1997 122,579 −1.46% 1998 119,629 −2.41% 1999 115,970 −3.06% 2000 113,618 −2.03% 2001 111,125 −2.19% 2002 109,144 −1.78% 2003 107,549 −1.46% 2004 106,415 −1.05% 2005 105,309 −1.04% 2006 103,837 −1.40%

Year Pop. ±% p.a. 2007 102,811 −0.99% 2008 101,785 −1.00% 2009 101,671 −0.11% 2010 102,091 +0.41% 2011 99,974 −2.07% 2012 99,913 −0.06% 2013 99,595 −0.32% 2014 99,491 −0.10% 2015 99,687 +0.20% 2016 100,416 +0.73% 2017 101,036 +0.62% 2018 100,219 −0.81% 2019 99,678 −0.54% 2020 98,693 −0.99% 2021 98,347 −0.35%

Cottbus has an oceanic climate (Köppen Cfb) in spite of being far inland on a relatively high latitude. Summers are very warm for being so far north, while winters are often mild due to prevailing trade winds from the Atlantic Ocean facing little natural obstacles on the way to the area. When wind directions come from elsewhere, hard freezes occasionally take place. As a result, the annual temperature amplitude is quite high for an oceanic climate, ranging from 35 °C (95 °F) in summer to −15 °C (5 °F) in winter. Precipitation is frequent, although usually light in accumulation. Snowfall is a regular occurrence with 36 days of snow cover annually, but Cottbus remains mild enough that it usually thaws quickly. Most of the year is gloomy, with a notable exception in late spring.

Cottbus is the cultural centre of the Lower Sorbian minority. Many signs in the town are bilingual, and there is a Lower Sorbian-medium Gymnasium and a Sorbian Quarter, but Sorbian is rarely spoken on the streets.

Next to Cottbus is the famous Branitz Park, created by Prince Hermann von Pückler-Muskau after 1845. Schloss Branitz (Branitz Castle) was rebuilt by Gottfried Semper in a late Baroque style between 1846 and 1852, and the gardens Prince Hermann laid feature two pyramids. One of these, the Seepyramide, is in the middle of an artificial lake and serves as his mausoleum.

Cottbus is also home to the Brandenburg University of Technology (BTU) and the maths/science-oriented Max-Steenbeck-Gymnasium, named after the physicist Max Steenbeck.

Every year Cottbus hosts the East Europe International Film Festival.

Cottbus has a football team, Energie Cottbus, that plays in the Regionalliga Nordost as of the 2021–2022 season. Their home matches are played at the city's Stadion der Freundschaft.

Cottbus is served by Cottbus Hauptbahnhof main railway station.

Two airports serve the city: Cottbus-Drewitz Airport (approximately 25 kilometres (16 mi) north-east of Cottbus), and Cottbus-Neuhausen Airport (approximately 10 km (6.2 miles) south-east of Cottbus).

Berlin Brandenburg Airport can be reached in one hour from Cottbus.

Local public transport is served by trams and buses operated by Cottbusverkehr GmbH and DB Regio Bus Ost GmbH, both of which are members of the Verkehrsverbund Berlin-Brandenburg (VBB).

There are several lignite-fired power stations in the area around Cottbus (Lausitz) fed through local open pit mining. The biggest stations are "Schwarze Pumpe" (1600 MW), "Boxberg" (1900 MW) and "Jänschwalde" (3000 MW). Some of the open-pit mines have already been shut down with the former Cottbus-Nord opencast mine [de] being converted into an artificial lake with 19 km (7.3 sq mi) surface area called Cottbuser Ostsee (Cottbus eastern lake).

The current mayor is Tobias Schick of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) since 2022. The most recent mayoral election was held on 11 September 2022, with a runoff held on 9 October, and the results were as follows:

Candidate		Party	First round		Second round
			Votes	%	Votes	%
	Tobias Schick	Social Democratic Party	13,300	31.8	29,526	68.6
	Lars Schieske	Alternative for Germany	11,026	26.4	13,488	31.4
	Thomas Bergner	Christian Democratic Union	10,302	24.6
	Sveb Benken	Our Cottbus!	2,485	5.9
	Felix Sicker	Free Democratic Party	2,377	5.7
	Lysann Kobbe	dieBasis	1,621	3.9
	Johann Staudinger	Independent	716	1.7
Valid votes			41,827	99.4	43,014	99.1
Invalid votes			260	0.6	383	0.9
Total			42,087	100.0	43,397	100.0
Electorate/voter turnout			78,918	53.3	78,912	55.0
Source: City of Cottbus (1st round, 2nd round)

The city council governs the city alongside the mayor. The most recent city council election was held on 9 June 2024, and the results were as follows:

Party		Votes	%	+/-	Seats	+/-
	Alternative for Germany (AfD)	41,731	29.2	6.9	14	3
	Social Democratic Party (SPD)	27,991	19.6	4.0	9	1
	Christian Democratic Union (CDU)	22,894	16.0	1.2	7	2
	Our Cottbus! (UC!)	12,938	9.0	0.4	4	1
	The Left (Die Linke)	10,173	7.1	6.6	3	4
	Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne)	7,066	4.9	4.2	2	2
	Active Citizens–Free Voters (AUB–FW)	6,195	4.3	1.6	2	1
	Mittle Class Initiative Brandenburg (MIBrb)	5,881	4.1	New	1	New
	Free Democratic Party (FDP)	2,926	2.0	2.0	1	1
	Social Upheavel (SUB)	2,704	1.9	0.0	1	0
	Secure Future Cottbus (ZSC)	2,456	1.7	New	1	New
Valid votes		142,965	100.0		56	±0
Invalid ballots		769	1.6
Total ballots		48,820	98.4
Electorate/voter turnout		78,002	62.6	6.3
Source: City of Cottbus

Cottbus is twinned with:

• Janice Behrendt (born 1983), beauty queen and model
• Carl Blechen (1798–1840), landscape painter
• Kurt Demmler (1943–2009), songwriter; accused of sexual abuse, he hanged himself in his jail cell.
• Rudi Fink (born 1958), amateur boxer and boxing coach
• Gustav Theodor Fritsch (1838–1927), anatomist, anthropologist and physiologist
• Marco Geisler (born 1974), rower
• Otto Hugo Paul Grottkau (1846–1898), socialist and trade unionist and American journalist
• Robert Harting (born 1984), discus thrower
• Martha Israel (1905–c. 1967), politician
• Tony Martin (born 1985), cyclist
• Jens Melzig (born 1965), footballer
• Daniel Musiol (born 1983), cyclist
• Reinhold Platz (1886–1966), aircraft designer and manufacturer at Fokker
• Colin Raak (born 2000), footballer
• Gabriele Reinsch (born 1963), world record holder discus throwing
• Viktoria Schmidt-Linsenhoff (1944–2013), art historian and professor
• Heiko Schwarz (born 1989), footballer

• Cottbus Air Base

• Cottbus travel guide from Wikivoyage
• Official website (in German, English, Polish, and Lower Sorbian)
• Homepage of Brandenburg Technical University
• "Cottbus" . Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). 1911.