Oberhavel is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the northern part of

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 ...

. Its neighbouring districts are (clockwise from the north): Mecklenburg-Strelitz in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the districts of

Uckermark The Uckermark () is a historical region in northeastern Germany, straddles the Uckermark District of Brandenburg and the Vorpommern-Greifswald District of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Its traditional capital is Prenzlau. Geography The region is nam ...

and

Barnim Barnim () is a district in Brandenburg, Germany. It is bounded by (from the east and clockwise) Poland, the district of Märkisch-Oderland, the city state of Berlin and the districts of Oberhavel and Uckermark. History The name "Barnim" emer ...

, the ''Bundesland'' 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 ...

, and the districts of Havelland and Ostprignitz-Ruppin.

Geography

The district is located on the upper course of the Havel river from its source to the outskirts of

. The north is characterised by many lakes including the Großer Stechlinsee, which is well known thanks to a novel by

Theodor Fontane Theodor Fontane (; 30 December 1819 – 20 September 1898) was a German novelist and poet, regarded by many as the most important 19th-century German-language realist author. He published the first of his novels, for which he is best known toda ...

called ''Der Stechlin''.

History

The district was created on 6 December 1993 through the merging of the old Gransee and Oranienburg districts.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms shows the eagle as the symbol of Brandenburg in the upper part. In the lower half are two flying swans on green background representing nature with many lakes. The coat of arms was unofficially used by the precursor district of Oranienburg before the merger, but was never officially granted. It was granted to the district of Oberhavel on 18 May 1994.

Towns and municipalities

Demography

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

Sport

The district is home to three

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

clubs, the RU Hohen Neuendorf, Veltener RC and Stahl Hennigsdorf Rugby. The latter was the most successful rugby club in

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 its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

, winning 27 national championships from 1952 to 1990.Rugby in Hennigsdorf - Eine Chronologie
Stahl Hennigsdorf website - club history, accessed: 10 April 2010

References

External links

Official website
(German) {{Authority control 1993 establishments in Germany