The Cottbus coachman has been a feature of the city for 150 years – and this is where the famous German tongue-twister has its origins. The coachman came into being as a motif for printed Cottbus picture postcards in the middle of the 19th century, created by imaginative advertisers who were looking for a strikingly authentic character to attract attention. There is no newspaper or local chronicle of the period that indicates when he first appeared or was created: his image and the postillion-style tongue-twister “Der Cottbuser Postkutscher putzt den Cottbuser Postkutschkasten…” (“The Cottbus coachman polishes the Cottbus mailcoach”) simply spread all over Germany, promoting Cottbus up and down the land.
For a long time, his creators argued over whether the coachman was a Saxon or a fully-fledged Prussian: after all, Cottbus was an important hub for carriage transport between Saxony and Prussia for a long time. To avoid any further dispute, they put him in a blue doublet – much to the irritation of the Saxons, where the postillions traditionally wore yellow. It happened that one day he was taken for a stable boy and had to clean the mailcoach all by himself, spending long, sorry hours performing this arduous task. But his postillion breast swelled with pride when he appeared with his carriage drawn by four horses in front of the beautiful old Cottbus post office building in Spremberger Strasse. All 12 mailcoaches in use in Cottbus at the time would pass through Spremberger Tor every day. He always had an interesting tale to tell and became a talisman for many townspeople eager to hear good news. Times changed, and even postillions get older – but he was never forgotten. The coachman has now become immortalised as an advertising symbol for the green city on the Spree, and as a city guide he is proud to show visitors to Cottbus his favourite spots almost every day.
- Public city tours: April to October, every Saturday, 6 p.m. from CottbusService (Stadthalle Cottbus) > on some days, tours are also provided by the Cottbuser Baumkuchenfrau
- Guided city tours, musical city tours, event tours for groups: times by arrangement
- Musical advent tours from mid-November to December 26 for groups
All guided tours can be booked at CottbusService.
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