Barnim () is a district in

Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an area of 29,480 sq ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. It is bounded by (from the east and clockwise)

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

, the district of

Märkisch-Oderland Märkisch-Oderland is a ''Landkreis'' (district) in the eastern part of Brandenburg, Germany. Neighboring are (from the north clockwise) the district Barnim, the country Poland, the district-free city Frankfurt (Oder), the district Oder-Spree and ...

, the city state of

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

and the districts of

Oberhavel Oberhavel is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the northern part of Brandenburg, Germany. Its neighbouring districts are (clockwise from the north): Mecklenburg-Strelitz in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the districts of Uckermark and Barnim, the ''Bunde ...

and

Uckermark The Uckermark () is a historical region in northeastern Germany, straddles the Uckermark District of Brandenburg and the Vorpommern-Greifswald District of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Its traditional capital is Prenzlau. Geography The region is nam ...

History

The name "Barnim" emerged in the 13th century and was applied to a large forest region east of the Havel and north of the

Spree Spree may refer to: Geography * Spree (river), river in Germany Film and television * ''The Spree'', a 1998 American television film directed by Tommy Lee Wallace * ''Spree'' (film), a 2020 American film starring Joe Keery * "Spree" (''Numbers' ...

on the homonymous plateau, where noblemen used to hunt. The present district is roughly identical with, but somewhat smaller than this historical region. The district was established in 1993 by merging the former districts of Bernau and

Eberswalde Eberswalde () is a major town and the administrative seat of the district Barnim in the German State ( Bundesland / ''federated state'') of Brandenburg, about 50 km northeast of Berlin. Population 42,144 (census in June 2005), geographi ...

Geography

Barnim extends from the Oder River to the outskirts of

. The Oder River forms the eastern border. From here the Oder Havel Canal (connecting Oder and Havel) and the historical

Finow Canal The Finow Canal (German ''Finowkanal'') is one of the oldest artificial waterways in Europe. Construction began in 1605 The channel, about long, is in the German state of Brandenburg in the Barnim district. It was built for the first time in 16 ...

lead westwards to Eberswalde and beyond. The portions north of these artificial waterways are called Schorfheide. This is a forest region with several large lakes, e.g.

Werbellinsee Lake Werbellin ( German ''Werbellinsee'') is a lake in the Barnim district of Brandenburg, Germany. It is located south of Joachimsthal in the Schorfheide-Chorin Biosphere Reserve. The southern shore belongs to the Schorfheide municipality. With ...

(8 km²),

Grimnitzsee Grimnitzsee () is a lake in Landkreis Barnim, Brandenburg, Germany. At an elevation of 64 m, its surface area is 7.8 km². It is situated in the municipality of Joachimsthal, Brandenburg, Joachimsthal. See also *Werbellinsee External lin ...

(8 km²) and

Parsteiner See Parsteiner See is a lake in the Schorfheide-Chorin Biosphere Reserve in Brandenburg, Germany. At an elevation of 44 m, its surface area is 10.03 km². It is located in the municipality of Parsteinsee, Barnim Barnim () is a district in Bran ...

(10 km²). The Schorfheide is a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

Biosphere Reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...

and houses several rare animals like the

white-tailed eagle The white-tailed eagle (''Haliaeetus albicilla'') is a very large species of sea eagle widely distributed across temperate Eurasia. Like all eagles, it is a member of the family Accipitridae (or accipitrids) which includes other diurnal raptors ...

greater spotted eagle The greater spotted eagle (''Clanga clanga''), occasionally called the spotted eagle, is a large bird of prey. Like all typical eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. Its feathered legs indicate it is a member of the subfamily Aquil ...

osprey The osprey (''Pandion haliaetus''), , also called sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor reaching more than in length and across the wings. It is brown o ...

black stork The black stork (''Ciconia nigra'') is a large bird in the stork family Ciconiidae. It was first described by Carl Linnaeus in the 10th edition of his ''Systema Naturae''. Measuring on average from beak tip to end of tail with a wingspan, th ...

European beaver The Eurasian beaver (''Castor fiber'') or European beaver is a beaver species that was once widespread in Eurasia, but was hunted to near-extinction for both its fur and castoreum. At the turn of the 20th century, only about 1,200 beavers survi ...

and

Eurasian otter The Eurasian otter (''Lutra lutra''), also known as the European otter, Eurasian river otter, common otter, and Old World otter, is a semiaquatic mammal native to Eurasia. The most widely distributed member of the otter subfamily (Lutrinae) of th ...

Demography

File:Bevölkerungsentwicklung Landkreis Barnim.pdf, Development of Population since 1875 within the Current Boundaries (Blue Line: Population; Dotted Line: Comparison to Population Development of Brandenburg state; Grey background: Time of Nazi rule; Red background: Time of communist rule) File:Bevölkerungsprognosen Landkreis Barnim.pdf, Recent Population Development and Projections (Population Development before Census 2011 (blue line); Recent Population Development according to the

Census in Germany A national census in Germany (german: Volkszählung) was held every five years from 1875 to 1910. After the World Wars, only a few full population censuses have been held, the last in 1987. The most recent census, though not a national census, wa ...

in 2011 (blue bordered line); Official projections for 2005-2030 (yellow line); for 2014-2030 (red line); for 2017-2030 (scarlet line)

Coat of arms

The coat of arms of the district resembles the coat of arms of the former district Oberbarnim. The only difference is that the old one had a silver top half and a red bottom half, while the current one is split into four parts and in the right half exchanged red and silver. The eagle in the top half is the eagle of Brandenburg.

Towns and municipalities

References

External links

* {{Authority control