Wildau () is a German town of the

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

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 ...

, located in the district of

Dahme-Spreewald Dahme-Spreewald (, ) is a district in Brandenburg, Germany. It is bounded by (from the east and clockwise) the districts of Oder-Spree, Spree-Neiße, Oberspreewald-Lausitz, Elbe-Elster and Teltow-Fläming, and by the city of Berlin. History Th ...

. It is located close to

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

and easily reached by the ''

S-Bahn The S-Bahn ( , ), , is a hybrid urban rail, urban–suburban rail system serving a metropolitan region predominantly in German language, German-speaking countries. Some of the larger S-Bahn systems provide service similar to rapid transit syst ...

''. As of 2019 its population was 10,404

inhabitants In law and conflict of laws, domicile is relevant to an individual's "personal law", which includes the law that governs a person's status and their property. It is independent of a person's nationality. Although a domicile may change from time ...

History

The history of Wildau began with

fisherman A fisherman or fisher is someone who captures fish and other animals from a body of water, or gathers shellfish. Worldwide, there are about 38 million Commercial fishing, commercial and Artisan fishing, subsistence fishers and Fish farming, fi ...

's families that settled by the Dahme River and then came to deliver

sand Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is usually defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural ...

gravel Gravel () is a loose aggregation of rock fragments. Gravel occurs naturally on Earth as a result of sedimentation, sedimentary and erosion, erosive geological processes; it is also produced in large quantities commercially as crushed stone. Gr ...

and

brick A brick is a type of construction material used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a unit primarily composed of clay. But is now also used informally to denote building un ...

s from the region by

boat A boat is a watercraft of a large range of types and sizes, but generally smaller than a ship, which is distinguished by its larger size or capacity, its shape, or its ability to carry boats. Small boats are typically used on inland waterways s ...

to Berlin.

1889-1933: Growing Industrial Region

Berlin Machine Building Corporation (B.M.A.G.), formerly L. Schwartzkopff, became one of the leading railway locomotive manufacturers in Germany in the late 19th century. The original plant, located in the centre of Berlin, became insufficient to meet the growing demands of railway operators. Therefore, the company began looking for a new plant site in the surrounding area around Berlin. An area of 600.000 sqm adjacent to

Berlin–Görlitz railway The Berlin–Görlitz railway is a main line railway in the German states of Berlin, Brandenburg and Saxony, which was originally built and operated by the Berlin-Görlitz Railway Company (''Berlin-Görlitzer Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft''). The line ...

, close to the town of Hoherlehme, was eventually chosen for this purpose in 1889. The entire production of high-speed rotating machinery, generators, and electrical equipment was not long after relocated to B.M.A.G.'s new plant. From these beginnings, a new company - Maffei-Schwartzkopff Co. Ltd. - emerged, which in the following years equipped all Schwartzkopff and Maffei E-locomotives with electricity. In the aftermath of the Great Depression (1931), however, the site had to be closed.

1933-1945: Wildau under the National Socialist Regime

In 1934

AEG The initials AEG are used for or may refer to: Common meanings * AEG (German company) ; AEG) was a German producer of electrical equipment. It was established in 1883 by Emil Rathenau as the ''Deutsche Edison-Gesellschaft für angewandte El ...

took possession of the former Maffei-Schwartzkopff site and converted it into a feeder plant for aviation industries. Armament production began in 1936. Torpedoes, grenade shells, propeller hubs, cannon tubes, mortars and artillery were all produced. But two larger scale projects would become infamous. The locomotive plant at Wildau produced the infamous “ Schienenwolf” (“rail wolf”), which the German Wehrmacht deployed during their retreat from the Soviet Union and Italy. And in the large locomotive assembly hangar 15/16, AEG employees built the armored locomotive of the “ Führersonderzug“ (or 'Hitler's chartered train'). In April 1945, the Soviet Army occupied Wildau. Not long after, it was decided that all production halls should be demolished and all gear and equipment from B.M.A.G. and AEG removed.

Demography

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

Personalities who are associated with the city

* Walter Lehweß-Litzmann (1907–1986), Luftwaffe and NVA officer, later director of flight operations of Interflug, died in Wildau *

Willi Stoph Wilhelm Stoph (9 July 1914 – 13 April 1999) was a German politician. He served as Council of Ministers of East Germany, Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) from 1964 to 1973, and again from ...

(1914–1999), politician (SED), longtime chairman of the Council of Ministers of the GDR, is buried in the forest cemetery

References

External links

Website of TFH WildauWebsite of Wildau Institute of Technology
Localities in Dahme-Spreewald Teltow (region) {{Brandenburg-geo-stub