Frohnau () is a locality in the Reinickendorf

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English language, English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History ...

of Berlin, Germany. It lies in the extreme northern part of the city. Frohnau is an affluent area characterized by many patrician villas from the early 20th century.

History

Founded in 1910, Frohnau was created whole as a planned community, corresponding to the early twentieth-century idea of a garden city. Frohnau was founded in the Stolper Heath, which had been bought for the Berlin Terrain Commission by Count Guido Henckel von Donnersmarck in 1907. The competition for the design was won by a plan developed by Joseph Brix and Felix Genzmer. Their concept represented an asymmetrical, seemingly natural development out of the dunes near the Havel River. Even the name "Frohnau" was determined by a contest. In 1920, Frohnau was annexed into the Greater Berlin

city-state A city-state is an independent sovereign city which serves as the center of political, economic, and cultural life over its contiguous territory. They have existed in many parts of the world throughout history, including cities such as Rome, ...

. 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 ...

, in early 1945, a

death march A death march is a forced march of prisoners of war, other captives, or deportees in which individuals are left to die along the way. It is distinct from simple prisoner transport via foot march. Article 19 of the Geneva Convention requires tha ...

of prisoners of various nationalities from the dissolved camp in Żabikowo to 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 ...

passed through the neighborhood. During the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

, it was part of

West Berlin West Berlin ( or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin from 1948 until 1990, during the Cold War. Although West Berlin lacked any sovereignty and was under military occupation until German reunification in 1 ...

Architectures

The natural center of the city has always been the

train station A train station, railroad station, or railway station is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight, or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track, and a station building providing suc ...

and the nearby buildings. The casino tower serves as the symbol of Frohnau. The entire area is noted for its large mansion-like buildings. The architects responsible for the typical mansions include Walter and Johannes Krüger (the Church of St. John), Hart and Lesser (train station and casino tower), Max Meyer ( Buddhist house), Paul Poser, Max Scheidling, and Heinrich Straumer (better known for his work on Berlin's radio tower, ''Funkturm''). Frohnau includes one of the tallest buildings in Germany: The '' Richtfunkmast'' (microwave radio tower) measures 358.6 m (1177 ft) in height and was built between 1977 and 1979. Until

German reunification German reunification () was the process of re-establishing Germany as a single sovereign state, which began on 9 November 1989 and culminated on 3 October 1990 with the dissolution of the East Germany, German Democratic Republic and the int ...

, this was the means for keeping

microwave Microwave is a form of electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths shorter than other radio waves but longer than infrared waves. Its wavelength ranges from about one meter to one millimeter, corresponding to frequency, frequencies between 300&n ...

radio contact with

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

. The receiving tower on the West German side was in Gartow,

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony is a States of Germany, German state (') in Northern Germany, northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ' of the Germany, Federal Re ...

. Alongside the ''Richtfunkmast'' is a 117 m (384 ft) free-standing steel framework tower, which is dwarfed in comparison. This was built between 1970 and 1973, and had 18 m (66 ft) diameter

parabolic antenna A parabolic antenna is an antenna that uses a parabolic reflector, a curved surface with the cross-sectional shape of a parabola, to direct the radio waves. The most common form is shaped like a dish and is popularly called a dish antenna or p ...

e to enable radio connection beyond the horizon to Lower Saxony until 1995. Since 2002

mediumwave Medium wave (MW) is a part of the medium frequency (MF) radio band used mainly for AM broadcasting, AM radio broadcasting. The spectrum provides about 120 channels with more limited sound quality than FM stations on the FM broadcast band. Duri ...

digital radio Digital radio is the use of digital technology to transmit or receive across the radio spectrum. Digital transmission by radio waves includes digital broadcasting, and especially digital audio radio services. This should not be confused with In ...

transmissions have been tested in Frohnau at 1485 kHz. Since neither the ''Richtfunkmast'' nor the parabolic antenna tower was intended for mediumwave transmissions, an additional 10 m (33 ft) long-wire antenna was installed.

References

External links

Frohnau page of Reinickendorfer site
Localities of Berlin * Populated places established in 1910 {{Berlin-geo-stub