Oranienburg
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| Oranienburg | |
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| Coat of arms | Location |
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| Administration | |
| Country | Germany |
|---|---|
| State | Brandenburg |
| District | Oberhavel |
| Town subdivisions | 9 districts |
| Mayor | Hans-Joachim Laesicke (SPD) |
| Basic statistics | |
| Area | 162.37 km² (62.7 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 34 m (112 ft) |
| Population | 41,194 (30/06/2006) |
| - Density | 254 /km² (657 /sq mi) |
| Other information | |
| Time zone | CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2) |
| Licence plate | OHV |
| Postal code | 16515 |
| Area code | 03301 |
| Website | www.oranienburg.de |
| Location of the town of Oranienburg within Oberhavel district | |
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Oranienburg is a town in Brandenburg, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Oberhavel.
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[edit] Geography
Oranienburg is a town located on the banks of the Havel river, 35 km north of the centre of Berlin.
[edit] Division of the town
Oranienburg consists of 9 districts
- Friedrichsthal
- Germendorf
- Lehnitz
- Malz
- Oranienburg
- Sachsenhausen
- Schmachtenhagen
- Wensickendorf
- Zehlendorf
[edit] History
The original name of Oranienburg was Bötzow. The town was founded in the 12th century and was first mentioned in 1216. Albert the Bear is believed to have ordered the construction of a castle on the banks of the Havel. Around the castle there was a settlement of traders and craftsmen.
In 1646, Friedrich Wilhelm I of Brandenburg married Louise Henriette of Orange-Nassau (German: Oranien-Nassau). She was so attracted by the town of Bötzow, that her husband presented the entire region to her. The princess ordered a new castle to be built in Dutch style and called it Oranienburg. In 1653, the town of Bötzow was renamed Oranienburg.
Oranienburg became a showplace of terror during the Nazi era. One of the first Nazi concentration camps was built there in 1933; in 1935 another camp was established in the quarter of Sachsenhausen. While the first camp was dissolved as early as 1934, the Sachsenhausen camp continued to exist until the end of the Nazi regime; 100,000 people were killed in Sachsenhausen before the liberation of the camp by the Soviet Red Army in 1945.
According to the military historian Antony Beevor, possession of as much of the German nuclear energy project was a primary motive for Stalin authorising the launching of the Battle for Berlin.[1] The preemptive destruction of as much of this infrastructure as possible, so that it would not fall into Soviet hands, was the motive behind the raid on 15 March 1945 by the USAAF Eighth Air Force on the German atomic energy research facility in Oranienburg.[2]
[edit] Twin Towns
Bagnolet (France) -- since 1964
Hamm (North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany) -- since 1990
Mělník (Czech Republic) -- since 1974
Vught (Netherlands) -- since 2000- Friedrichsthal (Saarland, Germany) -- since 1991
[edit] Public institutions
The Zehlendorf transmission facility, a large facility for broadcasting in longwave, medium wave and FM-range, is located near Oranienburg, at Zehlendorf.
[edit] See also
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ Antony Beevor Berlin: The Downfall 1945, Penguin Books, 2002, ISBN 0-670-88695-5 Preface xxxiv
- ^ Richard G. Davis,Bombing the European Axis Powers. A Historical Digest of the Combined Bomber Offensive 1939–1945 Alabama: Air University Press, 2006, page 518
[edit] External links
- Official site (German)
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