The almost 800-year-old "Kamjenc" – derived from the Slavic term for "place by the stone" – cannot complain of a lack of historical heritage. First mentioned in a document in 1225, in the Middle Ages it had achieved wealth and independence. This is due first and foremost to its position along the "Via Regia" royal trade route and its membership – together with the cities of Bautzen, Löbau, Zittau, Görlitz and Lauban (Polish Luban) – in the Lusatian League founded in 1346. The classical architecture of the city centre symbolises the civic pride of its residents to this day. The Town Hall, built in the Italian neo-Renaissance style, towers majestically above the red-tiled roofs at the Marktplatz and is the focus of the architectural ensemble. Stroll along the Arcade Passage of the Meat Market, slip through the Klostertor (Monastery Gate) as the monks used to do, explore the secret of the old city walls, the Pichschuppen (a former bastion tower later used by local brewers for pitch-sealing their beer barrels to prevent leakage) or the history of the Red Tower. Forgotten are the devastating fires in the city, to which a painting in the “Feuerhaus” building still bears witness. When you get tired from walking, you can experience the history of the city at first hand in the permanent municipal exhibition in the Malzhaus Museum, or alternatively, in the Museum der Westlausitz (West Lusatian Museum), where the cultural and natural history of the whole region is on display.