In 1955 the brown coal industry developed close to the city. Today this industry is partly in Brandenburg. Houses were built here for the families of the people working in the industry. From 1957 the need of for housing increased even more. The first large blocks of flats were built. Altogether ten residential complexes were built creating housing for tens of thousands of people. In the year 1981 the number of inhabitants of the city reached its maximum of 71.124. At this time Hoyerswerda had the highest birth rate in the GDR. In 1990 the former Prussian province of Lower Saxony decided by popular vote to go over to the Free State Saxony.