Fürstenberg () is a town in the

Oberhavel Oberhavel is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the northern part of Brandenburg, Germany. Its neighbouring districts are (clockwise from the north): Mecklenburg-Strelitz in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the districts of Uckermark and Barnim, the ''Bunde ...

district,

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 ...

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 ...

. Until 1919, Fürstenberg was part of the former Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz

Geography

Fürstenberg is situated on the River Havel, south of

Neustrelitz Neustrelitz (; East Low German: ''Niegenstrelitz'') is a town in the Mecklenburgische Seenplatte district in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is situated on the shore of the Zierker See in the Mecklenburg Lake District. From 17 ...

, and north 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 city lies at the southern edge of the

Mecklenburg Lake District The Mecklenburg Lake Plateau or Mecklenburg Lakeland
- Federal Ministry of Economics ...

and is framed by the

Röblinsee Röblinsee is a lake in the Mecklenburg Lake District, in Germany. It is situated in the district of Oberhavel in the state of Brandenburg, and lies immediately to the west of the town of Fürstenberg. The lake has an east–west orientation, a ...

, Baalensee, and Schwedtsee lakes. The River Havel splits into several channels as it flows through the town, one of which contains a

lock Lock(s) may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainment * ''Lock ...

used by vessels navigating the river. The original town site was situated on an island between these channels.

Districts of Fürstenberg

Fürstenberg includes nine

areas Area is the quantity that expresses the extent of a region on the plane or on a curved surface. The area of a plane region or ''plane area'' refers to the area of a shape or planar lamina, while '' surface area'' refers to the area of an op ...

, named for former villages that are now mostly farmland or little more than a church: * Altthymen * Barsdorf * Blumenow * Bredereiche * Himmelpfort * Steinförde * Ravensbrück * Tornow * Zootzen

Fürstenberg Palace

North from the center of the city is Fürstenberg Palace, which was built between 1741 and 1752 by the architect Christoph Julius Löwe for Dorothea Sophie of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the wife of Adolphus Frederick III, the Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. In World War I and World War II, the palace was used as a hospital.

History

In 1758, the Battle of Tornow was fought near the town between the forces of

Prussia 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 ...

and Sweden during the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (175 ...

. In the

Nazi 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 ...

era, Fürstenberg was the site of Ravensbrück concentration camp. A memorial has been raised on the site. Overrun by the

Soviet Army uk, Радянська армія , image = File:Communist star with golden border and red rims.svg , alt = , caption = Emblem of the Soviet Army , start_date ...

in 1945, post-

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 ...

they established the base of the 2nd Guards Tank Army of the Soviet Forces in Germany. In early 1959, three years before the Cuban Missile Crisis, the site was equipped with six R-5 ''Pobeda'' nuclear missiles, capable of launching from a mobile launcher from one of four tennis-court-sized sites capable of handling the larger R-12 ''Dvina''. Similar sites were set up at

Vogelsang, Zehdenick Vogelsang is a village, one of the thirteen districts of the city of Zehdenick in the Oberhavel district, in Brandenburg, Germany. Geography Vogelsang is located in the northeast of Zehdenick. To the south lies the district of Wesendorf, west Zehd ...

and Lychen (1xpad). After the withdrawal of the missiles in September 1959, the site returned to its original purpose as an army base. Since the formation of the states (German ''Länder'') in the GDR in 1990, Fürstenberg again belongs to the state of

, and from 1993 became part of the newly formed district

. The

Russian Army The Russian Ground Forces (russian: Сухопутные войска �ВSukhoputnyye voyska V}), also known as the Russian Army (, ), are the land forces of the Russian Armed Forces. The primary responsibilities of the Russian Ground Force ...

troops were withdrawn from their former East German bases in 1994.

Demography

File:Bevölkerungsentwicklung Fürstenberg.pdf, Development of Population since 1875 within the Current Boundaries (Blue Line: Population; Dotted Line: Comparison to Population Development of Brandenburg state) File:Bevölkerungsprognosen Fürstenberg.pdf, Recent Population Development (Blue Line) and Forecasts

Transportation

The town lies on the Berlin-Stralsund railway. The railway station is called Fürstenberg (Havel) and is serviced by

DB Regio Nordost DB Regio AG is a subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn which operates regional and commuter train services in Germany. DB Regio AG, headquartered in Frankfurt am Main. It is a 100% subsidiary of the Deutsche Bahn Group and there part of the DB Regio busi ...

. The web site or vending machines of Verkehrsverbund Berlin-Brandenburg can be used to buy tickets. Federal highway

Bundesstraße 96 The Bundesstraße 96 (B 96) is a federal highway in Germany. It begins in Zittau in Saxony, close to the border triangle between Germany, Poland, and the Czech Republic, heads north through Berlin and ends in Sassnitz on the island of Rügen in th ...

passes through town.

Notable residents

* Martin Blumner (1827-1901), composer, conductor and musical theorist * Walter Bartel (1904-1992), resistance fighter and historian * Elsa Ehrich (1914–1948), Nazi SS concentration camp guard executed for war crimes *

Daniel Domscheit-Berg Daniel Domscheit-Berg (; né Berg; born 1978), previously known under the pseudonym Daniel Schmitt, is a German technology activist. He is best known as the former spokesperson for WikiLeaks and the author of ''Inside WikiLeaks: My Time with Jul ...

(1978–), technology activist.

Connected to Fürstenberg

Heinrich Schliemann Johann Ludwig Heinrich Julius Schliemann (; 6 January 1822 – 26 December 1890) was a German businessman and pioneer in the field of archaeology. He was an advocate of the historicity of places mentioned in the works of Homer and an archaeolog ...

(1822-1890), archaeologist, 1836-1841 Apprentice in Fürstenberg * Otto Hammann (1852-1928), lawyer and presser, died in Fürstenberg *

Oskar Minkowski Oskar Minkowski (; 13 January 1858 – 18 July 1931) was a German physician and physiologist who held a professorship at the University of Breslau and is most famous for his research on diabetes. He was the brother of the mathematician Hermann M ...

(1858-1931), physician, died in Fürstenberg * Semyon Konstantinovich Kurkotkin (1917-1990),

Marshal of the Soviet Union Marshal of the Soviet Union (russian: Маршал Советского Союза, Marshal sovetskogo soyuza, ) was the highest military rank of the Soviet Union. The rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union was created in 1935 and abolished in 19 ...

, commander of the 2. Armored Army in Fürstenberg *

(born 1978), former speaker of the Unveiling Platform

WikiLeaks WikiLeaks () is an international non-profit organisation that published news leaks and classified media provided by anonymous sources. Julian Assange, an Australian Internet activist, is generally described as its founder and director and ...

, lives in Fürstenberg

References

Gallery

File:Himmelpfort_brewery.jpg, Former brewery in Himmelpfort File:Tornow_church.jpg, Church in Tornow File:Tornow_castle.jpg, Castle in Tornow

External links

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Furstenberg Havel Localities in Oberhavel Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz Military facilities of the Soviet Union in Germany