Rathenow () is a town in the district of

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 Cana ...

Brandenburg Brandenburg, officially the State of Brandenburg, is a States of Germany, state in northeastern Germany. Brandenburg borders Poland and the states of Berlin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony. It is the List of Ger ...

, in eastern

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, with a population of 24,063 (2020).

Overview

The Protestant church of St. Marien Andreas, originally a basilica, and transformed to the Gothic style in 1517-1589, and the Roman Catholic Church of St. George, are noteworthy. Rathenow is known for being the former capital of

eyewear Eyewear is a term used to refer to all devices worn over both of a person's eyes, or occasionally a single eye, for one or more of a variety of purposes. Though historically used for vision improvement and correction, eyewear has also evolved into ...

manufacturing in

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

. It is also known for its stones, called Rathenow stones.

History

In 1675, during the

Scanian War The Scanian War (; ; ; ) was a part of the Northern Wars involving the union of Denmark–Norway, Electorate of Brandenburg, Brandenburg and Swedish Empire, Sweden. It was fought from 1675 to 1679 mainly on Scanian soil, in the former Danish ...

, it was the site of a

battle A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force co ...

between Swedish and Brandenburgian forces. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Rathenow was the location of a

forced labour Forced labour, or unfree labour, is any work relation, especially in modern or early modern history, in which people are employed against their will with the threat of destitution, detention, or violence, including death or other forms of ...

subcamp of the Nazi prison for women and juveniles in

Berlin-Lichtenberg Lichtenberg () is a quarter (''Ortsteil'') of Berlin in the homonymous borough (''Bezirk'') of Lichtenberg. Until 2001 it was an autonomous district with the localities of Fennpfuhl, Rummelsburg, Friedrichsfelde and Karlshorst. History The ...

and a 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 t ...

. Prisoners of the latter were mostly Dutch, Belgian and French.

Demographics

File:Bevölkerungsentwicklung Rathenow.pdf, Development of Population since 1875 within the Current Boundaries (Blue Line: Population; Dotted Line: Comparison to Population Development of Brandenburg state) File:Bevölkerungsprognosen Rathenow.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 (, ) 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, was the 2011 Europea ...

in 2011 (blue bordered line); Official projections for 2005-2030 (yellow line); for 2017-2030 (scarlet line); for 2020-2030 (green line)

Twin towns — sister cities

Rathenow is twinned with: *

Złotów Złotów is a town in northwestern Poland, with a population of 18,303 inhabitants (2011), seat of the Złotów County in the Greater Poland Voivodeship. The town is located on the river Głomia and is surrounded by five lakes. It is part of the ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

Rendsburg Rendsburg (, also ''Rensborg'', , also ''Rensborg'') is a town on the Eider (river), River Eider and the Kiel Canal in the central part of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is the capital of the ''Kreis'' (district) of Rendsburg-Eckernfoerde, Rends ...

, Germany

Notable people

* Christian Beeck (born 1971), footballer * Stephan Bodecker (1384–1459), Bishop of Brandenburg *

Jörg Friedrich (rower) Jörg Friedrich (born 7 July 1959) is a German Rowing (sport), rower who competed for East Germany in the 1980 Summer Olympics. He was born in Rathenow. In 1980, he won the gold medal as crew member of the East German boat in the Rowi ...

(born 1959), rower * Jörg Freimuth (born 1961), high jumper * Jörg Heinrich (born 1969), football player and manager * Wulf Herzogenrath (born 1944), art historian and

curator A curator (from , meaning 'to take care') is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the particular ins ...

* Rosemarie Köhn (1939–2022), 1993-2006 Bishop of

Hamar Hamar is a List of cities in Norway, town in Hamar Municipality in Innlandet Counties of Norway, county, Norway. Hamar is the administrative centre of Hamar Municipality. It is located in the Districts of Norway, traditional region of Hedmarken. ...

(Norway) (world's second woman as a Lutheran bishop) * Joachim Mrugowsky (1905–1948), physician and Nazi war criminal; executed * Mario Streit (born 1967), rower *

Immo Stabreit Immo Stabreit (born 24 January 1933 Rathenow, Province of Brandenburg, Germany) is a German diplomat, and was West German and German Ambassador to South Africa from 1987 to 1992, Ambassador to the United States from 1992 to 1995 and Ambassador to ...

(born 1933), diplomat * George William Ziemann (1809–1881), Christian Missionary

References

External links

* {{Authority control Localities in Havelland