Luckenwalde (; Upper and dsb, Łukowc) is the capital of the

Teltow-Fläming Teltow-Fläming () is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the southwestern part of Brandenburg, Germany. Neighboring districts are (from the east clockwise) Dahme-Spreewald, Elbe-Elster, the districts Wittenberg in Saxony-Anhalt, the district Potsdam-Mitte ...

district in the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

state of

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 ...

. It is situated on the Nuthe river north of the

Fläming Heath The Fläming Heath is a region and hill chain that reaches over 100 km from the Elbe river to the Dahme River in the German states Saxony-Anhalt and Brandenburg. Its highest elevation is the Hagelberg (201 m). The name Fläming originates fr ...

, at the eastern rim of the Nuthe-Nieplitz Nature Park, about south 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 ...

. The town area includes the villages of Frankenfelde and Kolzenburg.

Overview

The former Slavic settlement of ''Lugkin'' was conquered by Margrave Conrad Wettin of Meissen in the course of the 1147

Wendish Crusade The Wendish Crusade (german: Wendenkreuzzug) was a military campaign in 1147, one of the Northern Crusades and a part of the Second Crusade, led primarily by the Kingdom of Germany within the Holy Roman Empire and directed against the Polabian Sl ...

. ''Lukenwalde'' Castle was first mentioned in a 1216 deed as a

burgward A burgward or castellanyArnold, Benjamin (1991). ''Princes and territories in medieval Germany'', Cambridge University Press, Cambridge and New York, p. 165. . was a form of settlement used for the organisation of the northeastern marches of the Ki ...

of the

Bishopric of Brandenburg The Prince-Bishopric of Brandenburg (german: Hochstift Brandenburg) was an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire from the 12th century until it was secularized during the second half of the 16th century. It should not be confused wi ...

, it was acquired by

Zinna Abbey Zinna Abbey (german: Kloster Zinna) is a former Cistercian monastery, the site of which is now occupied by a village also called Kloster Zinna, today part of Jüterbog in Brandenburg, Germany, about south of Berlin. The village was established b ...

in 1285. Together with Zinna it remained under the rule of the Archbishopric of Magdeburg and its successor, the

Prussian Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an e ...

Duchy of Magdeburg The Duchy of Magdeburg (german: Herzogtum Magdeburg) was a province of the Margraviate of Brandenburg from 1680 to 1701 and a province of the German Kingdom of Prussia from 1701 to 1807. It replaced the Archbishopric of Magdeburg after its secula ...

until it was attached to the

Margraviate of Brandenburg The Margraviate of Brandenburg (german: link=no, Markgrafschaft Brandenburg) was a major principality of the Holy Roman Empire from 1157 to 1806 that played a pivotal role in the history of Germany and Central Europe. Brandenburg developed out ...

in 1773. Originating in the 17th century, Luckenwalde's cloth and wool factories did not spring up till the reign of King Frederick II of Prussia and soon were among the most extensive in Germany. Other traditional industries were cotton printing and a dye works, brewing, and the making of metal and bronze goods. In 1808 Luckenwalde officially received town privileges. By the turn of the 20th Century Luckenwalde became renowned as a key manufacturer of hats. In 1921 the two biggest hat ateliers, Herrmann and Steinberg, merged and set up their factory on an industrial estate in Luckenwalde. The factory was designed by German architect Erich Mendelsohn in 1923, the factory is considered a milestone of

Expressionist architecture Expressionist architecture was an architectural movement in Europe during the first decades of the 20th century in parallel with the expressionist visual and performing arts that especially developed and dominated in Germany. Brick Expressionis ...

. The hat factory fell into disrepair during and after the war period and was restored in 2001, but as of 2013 the building remains empty. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, there was a ''Stalag'' for prisoners of war (

Stalag III-A Stalag III-A was a German World War II prisoner-of-war camp at Luckenwalde, Brandenburg, south of Berlin. Camp history Planning for the camp commenced before the invasion of Poland. It was designed to hold 10,000 men, was the largest in the 3rd ...

). There was also a work camp for civilians. The

Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in N ...

forced people to work for their war effort or else the families of people who worked there would perish. Lack of food and hard work killed thousands. Among them were Poles, Italians, French and many more. There were several places in the town and surrounding areas where they worked. Luckenwalde was taken by the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army ( Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, afte ...

on 22 April 1945.

Demography

File:Bevölkerungsentwicklung Luckenwalde.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 Luckenwalde.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 2017-2030 (scarlet line); for 2020-2030 (green line)

Politics

Seats in the municipal assembly (''Stadtverordnetenversammlung'') as of 2014 elections: * The Left: 10 * Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD): 9 * Christian Democratic Union (CDU): 6 * Bauernverband (BV): 1 * Free Democratic Party (FDP): 1 *

National Democratic Party of Germany The National Democratic Party of Germany (german: Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands or NPD) is a far-right Neo-Nazi and ultranationalist political party in Germany. The party was founded in 1964 as successor to the German Reich Part ...

(NPD): 1

Transport

Luckenwalde station is located on the

Berlin–Halle railway The Berlin–Halle railway, sometimes called the Anhalt railway (German: ''Anhalter Bahn''), is a twin-track, electrified main line found in the German city and state of Berlin, and the states of Brandenburg and Sachsen-Anhalt. The railway was or ...

Notable people

Marianne Adam Marianne Adam (born 19 September 1951 in Luckenwalde, Brandenburg) is a retired shot putter who competed for East Germany in the 1970s. She was born in Luckenwalde. She was a member of SC Dynamo Berlin. She won the bronze medal at the 1974 Europ ...

(born 1951), shot putter * Carl (Carlos) Anwandter (1801–1889), 1848 revolutionary, emigre to Chile *

Ilka Bessin Ilka Bessin (born 18 November 1971) is a German comedian and actress, best known for her role as Cindy aus Marzahn (German for "Cindy from Marzahn"). Early life Ilka Bessin was born in Luckenwalde, East Germany. After finishing school, she s ...

(born 1971), comedian (Cindy aus Marzahn) *

Rudi Dutschke Alfred Willi Rudolf "Rudi" Dutschke (; 7 March 1940 – 24 December 1979) was a German sociologist and political activist who, until severely injured by an assassin in 1968, was a leading charismatic figure within the West German Socialist Stu ...

(1940–1979), spokesman of the German 1968 student movement, attended school in Luckenwalde *

Hans Freudenthal Hans Freudenthal (17 September 1905 – 13 October 1990) was a Jewish-German-born Dutch mathematician. He made substantial contributions to algebraic topology and also took an interest in literature, philosophy, history and mathematics education ...

(1905–1990), mathematician * Hans Grohe (1871–1955), industrialist * Michael Hanack (1931–2019), chemist * Carl Harries (1866–1923), chemist *

Hans-Joachim Hecht Hans-Joachim Hecht (born January 29, 1939, Luckenwalde, Brandenburg) is a German chess player and twice the national champion. His first name is often abbreviated to ''Hajo''. One of his earliest international tournaments was the Kecskemét zona ...

(born 1939 ), chess master * David Hollwitz (born 1989), footballer * Bernhard Kadenbach (born 1933), biochemist *

Paul Koebe Paul Koebe (15 February 1882 – 6 August 1945) was a 20th-century German mathematician. His work dealt exclusively with the complex numbers, his most important results being on the uniformization of Riemann surfaces in a series of four papers in ...

(1882–1945), mathematician * Niklas Kohrt (born 1980), actor *

Hans Krueger Hans Krueger (also spelled Krüger) (1 July 1909 – 8 February 1988) was a German captain of the Gestapo in occupied Poland during World War II, involved in organizing the string of massacres after the commencement of Operation Barbarossa behind ...

(1909–1988), Gestapo officer and Holocaust perpetrator, attended school in Luckenwalde * Susanne Lahme (born 1951), volleyball player * Werner Lamberz (1929–1978), senior politician in the GDR, apprenticed in Luckenwalde *

Carla Nelte Carla Nyenhuis ( Nelte, born 21 September 1990) is a German badminton player. She started playing badminton at 5 years old in her hometown and became a national team member in 2009. In 2014, she took double victories at the Brasil Open in the w ...

(born 1990), badminton player * Maria Nicklisch (1904–1995), stage actress *

Katherina Reiche Katherina Reiche (born 16 July 1973 in Luckenwalde, Bezirk Potsdam) is a German manager and former politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). Education After receiving her Abitur in 1992, she studied chemistry at the University of Po ...

(born 1973), politician (CDU) * Heinz-Joachim Rothenburg (born 1944), shot putter *

Herbert Schoen Herbert Schoen (18 May 1929 – 8 April 2014) was a German international footballer. Playing career The defender played internationally with the East German national team in the 1950s. On club level he appeared in 179 Oberliga matches. Coachi ...

(1929–2014), footballer * Franz Urbig (1864–1944), banker

International relations

Luckenwalde is twinned with: *

Dieppe, Seine-Maritime Dieppe (; Norman: ''Dgieppe'') is a coastal commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. Dieppe is a seaport on the English Channel at the mouth of the river Arques. A regular ferry service runs to N ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

Bad Salzuflen Bad Salzuflen is a town and thermal spa resort in the Lippe district of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. At the end of 2013, it had 52,121 inhabitants. Geography Bad Salzuflen lies on the eastern edge of the Ravensberg Basin, at the confluence ...

, Germany

References

External links

Notgeld (emergency banknotes) depicting th
industries Luckenwalde was known for
in the early 20th century. http://webgerman.com/Notgeld/Directory/L/Luckenwalde.htm {{Authority control Localities in Teltow-Fläming