Lusatian League

The member towns were Bautzen (Upper Sorbian: Budyšin), Görlitz (Zhorjelc), Kamenz (Kamjenc), Lauban (Lubań), Löbau (Lubij) and Zittau (Žitawa).

Five of the towns are located in present-day Germany; Lubań and Zgorzelec (split from Görlitz after World War II) are within Poland.

The Lusatian League is known by the names Oberlausitzer Sechsstädtebund (German), Zwjazk šesćiměstow (Upper Sorbian), Šestiměstí (Czech) and Związek Sześciu Miast (Polish).

Because Bautzen served as the administrative center and capital of the league, it had the first voice in the local council, as well as several other rights and privileges.

Görlitz achieved this position of economic superiority by being more easily reached by local traffic, and exploited the advantages it gained.

When there was conflict within the cities of the league, Kamenz sided more often with Bautzen, and Lauban with Görlitz, in accordance to their geographical locations.

Löbau was the weakest city in terms of military or economic power, but it laid in the middle of the region, and conciliatory councils between Bautzen and Görlitz were often held there.

Because the cities remained united, despite economic competition with each other, this allowed the league to last a long time.

Görlitz and Lauban were ceded to the Kingdom of Prussia, ending the six town league after almost 500 years of existence.

The league no longer has any political power to speak of, and functions largely as a tourism promotion board.