ZITTAU, a town of Germany, in the kingdom of Saxony, on the left bank of the Mandau, near its confluence with the Neisse, close to the Bohemian and Silesian frontier, 25 m. by rail S.E. of Bautzen, 48 E.S.E. of Dresden and at the junction of lines to Reichenberg (in Bohemia), Eibau and Hermsdorf. Pop. (1905) 34,706. The town hall dates from 1844, and contains a beautiful hall with rich stained glass windows. Among the six Evangelical churches, the following are noticeable: that of St John, rebuilt in 1834–37, with twin spires, and the church of St Peter and St Paul, with its elegant tower, which formerly belonged to an old Franciscan monastery. The latter was restored in 1882 and part of it fitted up as an historical museum. Another wing of this building contains the municipal library of 40,000 volumes and valuable manuscripts. Zittau is well equipped with schools, including a gymnasium and a commercial school, which are both accommodated in the Johanneum, and several technical institutions. There are also a theatre, well-equipped public baths and a richly endowed hospital. Zittau is one of the chief manufacturing towns of Saxony. The leading branch of industry is linen and damask weaving; but woollen stuffs, trimmings, &c., are also produced in the factories of the town, and in the surrounding weaving villages, sixty-six of which, with 113,455 (1900) inhabitants, are included in the municipal jurisdiction. The corporation owns valuable forests on the mountains of Upper Lusatia and other estates, the annual income of which is about £15,000. There are various steam-mills, iron-foundries, brick-fields and potteries near the town, and extensive deposits of lignite.
Zittau is of Wendish origin (Chytawa is its Wendish name), and was made a town by Ottocar II. of Bohemia. It was one of the six towns of the Lusatian League (1346), at which period it belonged to Bohemia. It suffered severely in the Hussite wars and in the Thirty Years' War, and was bombarded and burnt by the Austrians in 1757 during the Seven Years’ War. The musical composer Marschner (1795–1861) was born at Zittau.
See Carpzov, Analecta fastorum Zittaviensium (Leipzig, 1716); Moschkau, Zittau und seine Umgebung (5th ed., Zittau, 1893); and Lamprecht, Wegweiser durch Zittau und das Zittauer Gebirge (Zittau, 1901).