Falkensee is a town in the

Havelland Geographically, the Havelland is the region around which the River Havel flows in a U-shape between Oranienburg to the northeast and Rhinow to the northwest. The northern boundary of the Havelland is formed by the River Rhin and the Rhin Canal. ...

district,

Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a states of Germany, 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 ar ...

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 the most populated municipality of its district and it is situated at the western border of

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 constitue ...

History

The commune Falkensee was formed in 1923 by the merger of Falkenhagen and Seegefeld, composing the common name from ''Falken''hagen and ''See''gefeld. 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 opposin ...

, the

Demag Demag Cranes AG is a German heavy equipment manufacturer now controlled by Japan-based Tadano via a $215 million deal. The roots of Demag date back prior to its formation, but became Märkische Maschinenbau-Anstalt, Ludwig A.-G in 1906 as the ...

-Panzerwerke subcamp of the

Sachsenhausen concentration camp Sachsenhausen () or Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg was a German Nazi concentration camp in Oranienburg, Germany, used from 1936 until April 1945, shortly before the defeat of Nazi Germany in May later that year. It mainly held political prisoners ...

was located here. At its height, 2,500 people were imprisoned in the camp and used as

slave labour Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

. In November, 1945, the city issued 6 postage stamps of its own depicting a dove of peace. 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 mi ...

, and so during the period 1961-1990 it was separated from it by the

Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall (german: Berliner Mauer, ) was a guarded concrete barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and East Germany (GDR). Construction of the Berlin Wall was commenced by the government ...

Demography

As a suburban municipality directly neighbouring Berlin, Falkensee grew strongly with Berlin itself. After

, Falkensee's population shrunk due to the relatively isolated position "behind" West Berlin, seen from the GDR capital. Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, Falkensee's population doubled and continues to grow. Detailed data sources are to be found in the Wikimedia Commons. File:Bevölkerungsentwicklung Falkensee.pdf, Development of Population since 1875 within the Current Boundaries (Blue Line: Population; Dotted Line: Comparison to Population Development of Brandenburg state) File:Bevölkerungsprognosen Falkensee.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)

Mayors

* May 1990-October 2007: Jürgen Bigalke (SPD) * since November 2007: Heiko Müller (SPD) Heiko Müller was reelected in October 2015 with 51,3 % of the votes.

Transport infrastructure

Falkensee has a railway station on the Berlin-Hamburg railway. Local trains and Regional Express trains stop here at the two outer platforms, both located on siding tracks, so that long-distance trains linking Hamburg and Berlin can bypass on the two middle tracks. Two local stopping trains linking

Nauen Nauen is a small town in the Havelland district, in Brandenburg, Germany. It is chiefly known for Nauen Transmitter Station, the world's oldest preserved radio transmitting installation. Geography Nauen is situated within the Havelland Luch glac ...

with Berlin call at Falkensee, one going via the Northern Ringbahn (circular railway) to the tunnel level of

Berlin Hauptbahnhof Berlin Hauptbahnhof () (English: Berlin Central Station) is the main railway station in Berlin, Germany. It came into full operation two days after a ceremonial opening on 26 May 2006. It is located on the site of the historic Lehrter Bahnhof, ...

, the other taking the

Berlin Stadtbahn The Berlin Stadtbahn ("city railway") is a major railway thoroughfare in the German capital Berlin, which runs through Berlin from east to west. It connects the eastern district of Friedrichshain with Charlottenburg in the west via 11 interme ...

cross-city railway, terminating currently (in 1914) at the

Berlin Schönefeld Airport Berlin Schönefeld Airport () (formerly ) was the secondary international airport of Berlin, the capital of Germany. It was located southeast of Berlin near the town of Schönefeld in the state of Brandenburg and bordered Berlin's southern bou ...

The northern side of the Falkensee railway station is the location of the central hub of the Falkensee bus network, and provides a covered stand for hundreds of bicycles. Before the previous war, Falkensee was a stop on the suburban line from

via

Jungfernheide Jungfernheide () is an area of forest and heathland located in Berlin in the present-day district of Charlottenburg-Nord, a locality of the borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf. Formerly a large forested area, it was progressively reduced in s ...

to the

Berlin Lehrter Bahnhof Berlin Hauptbahnhof () (English: Berlin Central Station) is the main railway station in Berlin, Germany. It came into full operation two days after a ceremonial opening on 26 May 2006. It is located on the site of the historic Lehrter Bahnhof, ...

station, the Berlin terminus of the Berlin-Hamburg railway. From August 1951 to the end of the 1950s, the Falkensee - Spandau and Spandau - Jungfernheide tracks were electrified with the

Third Rail A third rail, also known as a live rail, electric rail or conductor rail, is a method of providing electric power to a railway locomotive or train, through a semi-continuous rigid conductor placed alongside or between the rails of a railway t ...

of the

Berlin S-Bahn The Berlin S-Bahn () is a rapid transit railway system in and around Berlin, the capital city of Germany. It has been in operation under this name since December 1930, having been previously called the special tariff area ''Berliner Stadt-, Ring ...

, allowing direct rail service from East Berlin to Falkensee, which was part of the GDR then. This link was severed by the Berlin Wall in 1961. From then on, until the reconstruction of the Berlin railway network in 1990, Falkensee could be reached from East Berlin only by the long detour via the

Berlin outer ring The Berlin outer ring (german: Berliner Außenring, BAR) is a long double track electrified railway, originally built by the German Democratic Republic to bypass West Berlin in preparation for the building of the Berlin Wall during the division o ...

Notable people

* Louis Adlon (1874–1945), hotelier Bundesarchiv Bild 102-13848C, Louis Adlon mit Gattin

Hannjo Hasse Hannjo Hasse (31 August 1921 – 5 February 1983) was an East German actor. Biography Hasse began studying acting in 1938, and attended Lily Ackermann's Institute for Stage Artists' Education in Berlin. At 1941, he was drafted for the Labour Ser ...

(1921–1983),

DEFA DEFA (''Deutsche Film-Aktiengesellschaft'') was the state-owned film studio of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) throughout the country's existence. Since 2019, DEFA's film heritage has been made accessible and licensable on the PRO ...

actor * Carlos Rasch (born 1932),

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

author * Klaus Bednarz (1942–2015), journalist *

Ingo Voge Ingo Voge (born 14 February 1958 in Falkensee, GDR) is an East German bobsledder who competed during the 1980s. Competing in two Winter Olympics, he won two silver medals in the four-man event (1984, 1988). Voge also won two medals i ...

(born 1958), bobsledder *

Katarina Witt Katarina Witt (, ; born 3 December 1965) is a German former figure skater. A two-time Olympic champion, Witt is regarded as one of the greatest ladies' singles figure skaters of all time. Her Laureus profile states "she is remembered most for ...

(born 1965), German actress and retired figure skater * Lisa Wender (born 1993)

References

External links

* {{Authority control Localities in Havelland