Zossen (; hsb, Sosny) is a German town in the district of Teltow-Fläming in Brandenburg, about south of Berlin, and next to the B96 highway. Zossen consists of several smaller municipalities, which were grouped together in 2003 to form the city.

Geography

Since the 2003 municipal reform, Zossen consists of the following districts and municipalities:

History

Zossen, like most places in Brandenburg, was originally a Slavic settlement. Its name (Upper Sorbian: ''Sosny'') may derive from ''Sosna'' meaning pine, a tree quite common in the region. In 1875,

Zossen railway station Zossen (german: Bahnhof Zossen) is a railway station in the town of Zossen, Brandenburg, Germany. The station lies on the Berlin–Dresden railway and the train services are operated by Deutsche Bahn The (; abbreviated as DB or DB AG) is the ...

opened on the railway line from Berlin to Dresden and the Prussian military railway to the artillery range at Kummersdorf-Gut in present-day Am Mellensee. Between 1901 and 1904, Zossen adopted the use of different high-speed vehicles, such as electric locomotives and trams, for transportation to and from Berlin- Marienfelde. These vehicles were powered by an alternating current of 15 kV and used a variable frequency. The power was transmitted by three vertical overhead lines. In 1910, a proving ground and a garrison of the

Imperial German Army The Imperial German Army (1871–1919), officially referred to as the German Army (german: Deutsches Heer), was the unified ground and air force of the German Empire. It was established in 1871 with the political unification of Germany under the l ...

was established at the Waldstadt section of the Wünsdorf community – surviving to the present day. In World War I it was the site of several prisoner-of-war camps, including the " crescent camp" (''

Halbmondlager The (known in English as the "Half Moon Camp") was a prisoner-of-war camp in Wünsdorf (now part of Zossen), Germany, during the First World War. The camp housed between 4,000 and 5,000 Muslim prisoners of war who had fought for the Allied s ...

'' for

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

s who had fought for the Triple Entente), where the first wooden mosque in Germany was erected. The camp ran from 1915 until 1917, and was used as a show camp for propaganda purposes, as well as an attempt to encourage the prisoners to fight for the Central Powers. From 1939 to 1945, Wünsdorf hosted the underground headquarters of the German Wehrmacht ( OKW) and Army's High Command (

OKH The (; abbreviated OKH) was the high command of the Army of Nazi Germany. It was founded in 1935 as part of Adolf Hitler's rearmament of Germany. OKH was ''de facto'' the most important unit within the German war planning until the defeat at ...

). After World War II the area became the site of a Soviet military camp in East Germany known as "Little Moscow" or the "Forbidden City", the largest outside Russia, housing as many as 75,000 Soviet men, women and children with daily trains going to Moscow,"The Forbidden City: inside the abandoned Soviet camp of Wünsdorf"
'' The Guardian'', Ciarán Fahey, 11 January 2017 until Soviet troops pulled out in August 1994. Since then it has returned to civilian use as the Wünsdorf-Waldstadt

book town A book town is a town or village with many used book or antiquarian bookstores. These stores, as well as literary festivals, attract bibliophile tourists. Some book towns are members of the International Organisation of Book Towns. List of boo ...

(founded in 1998), although much of it lies abandoned with evidence of Soviet occupation clearly visible. By late 2019, roughly 1,700 apartments were made from the old barracks, with another 700 planned for subsequent years. A 2017 news report indicates that at the peak, the camp was home to some 75,000 Soviet persons; stores, schools and leisure centres were available to them. After the camp was abandoned, the authorities found "98,300 rounds of ammunition, 47,000 pieces of ordnance, 29.3 tonnes of munitions and rubbish, including chemicals ... houses were full of domestic appliances". While new uses have not been found for the installations and bunkers of the unmodified areas of the military camp, they are somewhat maintained and there are various guided tours, exhibits and events. Some parts remain off-limits. Zossen Bahnhof KME

Timeline

*1809/1810: Kietz and the vineyards of Zossen are suburbanised *1885: Monument to the fallen soldiers of the 1864, 1866, and 1870 wars is erected in Kietz *1906: School on Kirchplatz is expanded *1910: Military area between Zossen and Wünsdorf is developed *1932: Flyers of the town councillor and deacon regarding the threatening change in the Protestant community and the city Zossen *1933: As a result of the National Socialists' rise to power, Socialists and Communists in Zossen are arrested by SS troops and are held in the school on Kirchplatz. Emil Phillip is removed from his post, upon the order of Pastor Eckerts *1934: Expansion of the town hall *1939: The military zone in Zossen is developed into military headquarters *1956: The city park is created *1992: The "Alter Krug" Zossen society is founded *1994: Formation of the administrative district of Teltow-Fläming from the old districts of Jüterbog, Luckenwalde, and Zossen *1996: 450th anniversary of Prince Elector

Joachim II Joachim II may refer to: * Joachim II Hector, Elector of Brandenburg (1505–1571) * Patriarch Joachim II of Constantinople Joachim II (1802 – 5 August 1878) was Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople The ecumenical patriarch ( el, Ο� ...

's awarding of rights and privileges to Zossen *1998: Wünsdorf Book Town declared, the only book town in Germany – though Mühlbeck-Friedersdorf, which started in 1997, claims to be the first book town in Germany.

Demography

File:Bevölkerungsentwicklung Zossen.pdf, Population since 1875 within the current borders (blue line: population; dotted line: normalized population of Brandenburg; grey background: time of Nazi rule; red background: time of communist rule) File:Bevölkerungsprognosen Zossen.pdf, Population 2005–2018 (blue lines) and projections to 2030 (dotted lines) from 2005 (yellow line), 2017 (velvet line) and 2020 (green line), including census in 2011

Mayors

* Hans-Jürgen Lüders (SPD) 1993–2003 * Michaela Schreiber: 2003-2019 * Wiebke Schwarzweller: since 2019

Notable people

* Karl Friedrich August Lehmann (1843–1893), stenographer and inventor of the shorthand system *

Frieda Kassen ''Frida'' is a 2002 film about artist Frida Kahlo Frida, Frieda, or Freida may also refer to: People *Frida (given name), a feminine given name * Frieda (surname) * Frieda (''Peanuts''), a character from the comic strip ''Peanuts'' * Afroditi ...

(1895–1970), politician (SPD) *

Walter Budeus Walter Budeus (29 October 1902 – 21 August 1944) was a German communist and resistance fighter against Nazism. Biography Budeus was born in Zossen. He trained as a machine fitter, and joined the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) in 1931. After t ...

(1902–1944), Communist and resistance fighter *

Roy Präger Roy Präger (born 22 September 1971) is a German former football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of footb ...

(born 1971), football player

References

External links

Zossen Home page
— in German only {{Authority control Localities in Teltow-Fläming Teltow (region) Military facilities of the Soviet Union in Germany