Hoyerswerda is a major district town in the district of Bautzen in the German state of Saxony. It is located in the Sorbian settlement area of the Upper Lusatia, a region where some people speak the Sorbian language in addition to German. In 1991 Hoyerswerda became infamous due to riots in which a gathering of up to 500 people protested against immigration, assaulting immigrants and throwing petrol bombs at a hotel that housed asylum seekers.