Wittenberge () is a town of eighteen thousand people on the middle

Elbe The Elbe (; cs, Labe ; nds, Ilv or ''Elv''; Upper and dsb, Łobjo) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Re ...

in the district of Prignitz,

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 squ ...

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 betwee ...

Geography

Wittenberge is situated at the right (north-eastern) bank of the middle

at its

confluence In geography, a confluence (also: ''conflux'') occurs where two or more flowing bodies of water join to form a single channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main stem); o ...

with the Stepenitz and

Karthane Karthane is a river of Brandenburg, Germany. It flows into the Stepenitz in Wittenberge. See also *List of rivers of Brandenburg A list of rivers of Brandenburg, Germany: A * Alte Oder * Alte Schlaube B * Bäke *Berste * Black Elster * B ...

in the German district of Prignitz. Within the same district, the town borders the '' Ämter''

Lenzen-Elbtalaue Amt Lenzen-Elbtalaue is an ''Amt'' ("collective municipality") in the district of Prignitz, in Brandenburg, Germany. Its seat is in Lenzen (Elbe). The ''Amt'' Lenzen-Elbtalaue consists of the following municipalities: #Cumlosen # Lanz # Lenzen (El ...

and Bad Wilsnack/Weisen as well as the district capital Perleberg. The ''

Verbandsgemeinde A Verbandsgemeinde (; plural Verbandsgemeinden) is a low-level administrative unit in the German federal states of Rhineland-Palatinate and Saxony-Anhalt. A Verbandsgemeinde is typically composed of a small group of villages or towns. Rhinelan ...

'' Seehausen (Altmark) in the district of Stendal,

Saxony-Anhalt Saxony-Anhalt (german: Sachsen-Anhalt ; nds, Sassen-Anholt) is a state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of and has a population of 2.18 million inhabitants, making i ...

, lies on the opposite side of the Elbe.

History

The site was marked out in 1239 at Wendischwalde and in 1300 the

Saxon The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...

king,

Otto I Otto I (23 November 912 – 7 May 973), traditionally known as Otto the Great (german: Otto der Große, it, Ottone il Grande), was East Frankish king from 936 and Holy Roman Emperor from 962 until his death in 973. He was the oldest son of He ...

, established the settlement. The exact date when Wittenberge attained municipal status is unknown. The oldest document in which Wittenberge is mentioned as a "town" dates from 22 July 1300. Wittenberge grew slowly but steadily. The town

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

(1669) survives as the town museum but it suffered fires in 1686 and 1757, and floods from the

in 1709 and 1761. Nevertheless, because of its position, it prospered from the opening of the

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

–

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...

steamship traffic. By 1823 milling, processing and refining of foodstuffs were important industries. In 1846 the railway came and a

silk Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from th ...

factory was built, followed by a chemical factory in 1849. The Reichsbahn railway workshops were established in 1875 and the world-famous Singer Sewing Machine Company opened in 1903 its German manufacturing site Singer Nähmaschinenfabrik Wittenberge. By 1914 the

Rathaus In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...

was built. From 15 August 1942 until 17 February 1945 a

concentration camp Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simpl ...

was established near Wittenberge. The camp was a subcamp to the Neuengamme concentration camp. During

WW 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 ...

Wittenberge suffered severe destruction by five air raids and 216 civilians lost their lives. Between the wars much architecture characteristic of the period was built in the form of workers' housing for the rapidly increased population. Only the railway workshops remain as significant employers of the old industries but the large, skilled workforce remains for the newer industries of precision engineering and applied chemistry.

Sights

The oldest building in Wittenberge is ''Steintor'' (stone Gate) dating from 1450, an ancient gate of the medieval city wall. Only a small part of Wittenberge's old town centre with half-timbered houses is left as many old houses were torn down before 1989. The railway station was built in a

classicist Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Cla ...

style in 1846 and rebuilt after considerable bomb damage in World War II. The Town Hall (Rathaus) with its tower measuring 51 metres was inaugurated in 1914. It represents the style of Gründerzeit. The ''Kultur- und Festspielhaus'', a cultural centre, was built in 1959 in a typical style of

Socialist realism Socialist realism is a style of idealized realistic art that was developed in the Soviet Union and was the official style in that country between 1932 and 1988, as well as in other socialist countries after World War II. Socialist realism is ch ...

. After the German reunification it was renovated in reinaugurated in 1999. It is situated at Paul-Lincke-Platz, a place which is named after the composer Paul Lincke who lived in Wittenberge from 1881 to 1884. In Bahnstraße, Wittenberge's main street, several residential buildings representing Stalinist architecture on a provincial level can be seen close to the Cultural Centre. They were renovated after the

German reunification German reunification (german: link=no, Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) was the process of re-establishing Germany as a united and fully sovereign state, which took place between 2 May 1989 and 15 March 1991. The day of 3 October 1990 when the Ge ...

. A factory for producing sewing-machines was founded in Wittenberge in 1903. Its clock tower measuring 49 metres which was built in 1928 is one of the symbols of Wittenberge.Stadt Wittenberge: ''Wittenberger Stadtspaziergang'', p. 21. Wittenberge 2022

Demography

File:Bevölkerungsentwicklung Wittenberge.pdf, Development of population since 1875 within the current Boundaries (Blue Line: Population; Dotted Line: Comparison to Population development in Brandenburg state; Grey Background: Time of

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

; Red Background: Time of communist

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In t ...

) File:Bevölkerungsprognosen Wittenberge.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, w ...

in 2011 (blue bordered line); Official projections for 2005-2030 (yellow line); for 2017-2030 (scarlet line); for 2020-2030 (green line) Image:WittenbergeBahnhof2022.jpg, Railway Station Image:Steintor Wittenberge.JPG, Steintor (Stone Gate) Image:WittenbergeAltstadtstr.jpg, Old town centre Image:Wittenberge Rathaus.jpg, Town Hall Image:Wittenberge Kultur- und Festspielhaus 2009-07-27 100.jpg, Cultural Centre Image:WittenbergeBahnstraße.jpg, Socialist architecture in Bahnstraße after its renovation Image:WittenbergeBahnstraße3.jpg, Socialist architecture in Bahnstraße after its renovation Image:WittenbergeBahnstraße2.jpg, Wittenberge's main street: Bahnstraße Image:Eisenbahnbrücke Wittenberge - panoramio.jpg, Railway bridge over the

near Wittenberge

Mayor

* 1993–2008: Klaus Petry (SPD) * since 2008: Oliver Hermann (independent) Oliver Hermann was reelected in 2016 with 94,8% of the vote.

International relations

Twin towns – Sister cities

Wittenberge is twinned with: * Châlons-en-Champagne, France * Elmshorn, Germany * Razgrad, Bulgaria

Notable people

Friedrich Burmeister Friedrich Burmeister (1890–1969) was a German geophysicist. He was director of the Munich University’s Geomagnetic Observatory. Burmeister studied mathematics and physics at the University of Munich under Hugo von Seeliger and Arnold ...

(1888–1968), politician of the GDR (Minister of mail and telecommunications) * Klaus Havenstein (1922–1998), German actor and cabaret artist * Emanuel Hirsch (1888–1972), Protestant theologian *

Norbert Klaar Norbert Klaar (born 12 October 1954) is a German sports shooter and Olympic champion. He won gold medal in the 25 metre rapid fire pistol at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most ...

(born 1954), sports shooter, Olympic champion 1976 (fast fire pistol) *

Richard Kruspe Richard Kruspe (born Sven Kruspe; 24 June 1967) is a German musician. He is the lead guitarist of the Neue Deutsche Härte band Rammstein, as well as the lead singer and lead guitarist of the US-based industrial metal band Emigrate. Early life ...

(born 1967), musician, guitarist of the band Rammstein * Carl Lindenberg (1850–1928), jurist and philatelist * Ulrich Makosch (1933–2008), journalist (television of the GDR) *

Uwe Potteck Uwe Potteck (born 1 May 1955) is a German sports shooter and Olympic champion. He won gold medal in the 50 metre pistol at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montréal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in ...

(born 1955), sportsman, Olympic champion 1976 (free pistol) *

Friedrich Schorlemmer Friedrich Schorlemmer (born 16 May 1944) is a German Protestant theologian. He was a prominent member of the civil rights movement in the German Democratic Republic and has continued to take part in politics after German reunification in 1990. ...

(born 1944), theologian * Herman C. Schultz (born 1860), politician *

Otto Telschow Otto Telschow (27 February 1876 – 31 May 1945) was a German Nazi Party official who served as ''Gauleiter'' in Eastern Hanover from 1925 to 1945. Early years Telschow was born in Wittenberge, the son of a judicial officer. Until 1893 he was ...

(1876–1945), politician of the NSDAP, Gauleiter, member of the Reichstag * Stefanie Thurmann (born 1982), sports shooter * Ulrich Woronowicz (1928–2011), Protestant pastor, theologian and social activist

References

External links

{{Authority control Localities in Prignitz Neuengamme concentration camp Populated riverside places in Germany Populated places on the Elbe