Hennigsdorf () is a town in the district of Oberhavel, 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 square ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

. It is situated north-west of

Berlin Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...

, just across the city border, which is formed mainly by the

Havel The Havel () is a river in northeastern Germany, flowing through the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Brandenburg, Berlin and Saxony-Anhalt. It is a right tributary of the Elbe and long. However, the direct distance from its source to its mo ...

river.

History

The municipality shared its borders with the former

West Berlin West Berlin (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under m ...

, and so during the period 1961–1990 it was separated from it by the Berlin Wall. In 1951/2, the Havel Canal was constructed to link Hennigsdorf with

Paretz Paretz is a village in the German state of Brandenburg in the district of Havelland, west of Berlin. Recently, a district reform made Paretz into a borough of the city of Ketzin. It has a population of approximately 400. In the late 18th and early ...

, thus avoiding a passage through the reach of the

River Havel The Havel () is a river in northeastern Germany, flowing through the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Brandenburg, Berlin and Saxony-Anhalt. It is a right tributary of the Elbe and long. However, the direct distance from its source to its mo ...

, between

Spandau Spandau () is the westernmost of the 12 boroughs () of Berlin, situated at the confluence of the Havel and Spree rivers and extending along the western bank of the Havel. It is the smallest borough by population, but the fourth largest by la ...

and

Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and, with around 183,000 inhabitants, largest city of the German state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of B ...

, that was under the political control of West Berlin. The canal is still in use, providing a shorter route for shipping from west of Berlin to the Oder–Havel Canal and

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 mill ...

Geography

Subdivision

Hennigsdorf consists of 3 districts: * Hennigsdorf * Nieder Neuendorf (since 1923) * Stolpe-Süd (since May 1, 1998)

Neighbouring places

* Velten * Hohen Neuendorf *

* Schönwalde-Glien * Oberkrämer

Twin towns – sister cities

Hennigsdorf is

twinned Twinning (making a twin of) may refer to: * In biology and agriculture, producing two offspring (i.e., twins) at a time, or having a tendency to do so; * Twin towns and sister cities, towns and cities involved in town twinning * Twinning inst ...

with: * Alsdorf, Germany * Choisy-le-Roi, France * Kralupy nad Vltavou, Czech Republic * Środa Wielkopolska, Poland

Economy

Located in Hennigsdorf is the Bombardier

LEW Hennigsdorf The rail vehicle factory in Hennigsdorf, Germany, was founded in 1910 by AEG. Locomotive production began in 1913, and in the 1930s absorbed the work of the August Borsig locomotive factory, being renamed the Borsig Lokomotiv Werke GmbH until 1 ...

train factory and a steel smelter.

Sport

Hennigsdorf is home to

Stahl Hennigsdorf Rugby The Stahl Hennigsdorf Rugby is a German rugby union club from Hennigsdorf, currently playing in the tier-four Regionalliga East B. The team is part of a larger club, the Stahl Hennigsdorf, which also offers other sports like volleyball, table ten ...

, a

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the Comparison of rugby league and rugby union, two codes of ru ...

club. The team, formed in 1948 under the leadership of Erwin Thiesies, was the most successful side during the East German era of the town, having won 27

national championships A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the best team, i ...

from 1952 to 1990.Rugby in Hennigsdorf - Eine Chronologie
Stahl Hennigsdorf website - club history, accessed: 10 April 2010

Demography

Bevölkerungsentwicklung Hennigsdorf.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) Bevölkerungsprognosen Hennigsdorf.pdf, Recent Population Development (Blue Line) and Forecasts

Notable people

* Michael Hartmann (born 1974), footballer *

Frank Klawonn Frank Klawonn (born 22 March 1966 in Schwedt, Brandenburg) is a German rower who competed for the SG Dynamo Potsdam / Sportvereinigung (SV) Dynamo. He won the medals at the international rowing competitions. In October 1986, he was awarde ...

(born 1966), rower * Dirk Kummer (born 1966), actor, director, writer *

Martin Männel Martin Männel (born 16 March 1988) is a German professional footballer, who plays for and captains club Erzgebirge Aue as a goalkeeper. Since his arrival in 2008, Männel has been spending his career with the ''Veilchen'' side. On 24 May 2015 ...

(born 1988), footballer * Erich Muhsfeldt (1913–1948), SS officer at Auschwitz and Majdanek concentration camps executed for war crimes *

Erich Priebke Erich Priebke (29 July 1913 – 11 October 2013) was a German mid-level SS commander in the SS police force (SiPo) of Nazi Germany. In 1996, he was convicted of war crimes in Italy, for commanding the unit which was responsible for the A ...

(1913–2013), Nazi war criminal *

Karsten Schmeling Karsten Schmeling (born 13 January 1962 in Hennigsdorf, Brandenburg) is a German rower, who competed for the SG Dynamo Potsdam / Sportvereinigung (SV) Dynamo. In October 1986, he was awarded a Patriotic Order of Merit The Patrio ...

(born 1962), rower * Erwin Thiesies (1908–1993), rugby union player who died in Hennigsdorf

References

External links

* {{Authority control Localities in Oberhavel