KOTTBUS, or Cottbus, chief town of a circle in the government district of Frankfort, Prussia, is situated on the Spree, about 72 miles south-east of Berlin by rail, and at the intersection of several important railway lines. It contains a mediaeval castle, and is the seat of a chamber of commerce. The chief industries of the busy little town are wool-spinning and the manufacture of cloth. Cottonspinning, and the manufacture of tobacco, machinery, beer, brandy, &c., are also carried on, while its trade is active. In 1875 the population, including the garrison, was 22,612. At one time Kottbus formed a private lordship, but in 1462 it passed by the treaty of Guben to Brandenburg.