Schwielowsee () is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

in the

Potsdam-Mittelmark Potsdam-Mittelmark is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the western part of Brandenburg, Germany. Its neighbouring administrative units are (clockwise from the north) the district of Havelland (district), Havelland, the free cities of Brandenburg (town), ...

district, in

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 ...

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 ...

. It is situated on the shore of the

Schwielowsee Schwielowsee () is a lake in the state of Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated to the south and west of the city of Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and largest city of the Germany, German States of Germany, state of Brandenburg. It is part o ...

lake, through which the River Havel flows. The municipality was founded on December 31, 2002 in merger of the three villages Caputh, Geltow and Ferch. The Caputh Ferry, a

cable ferry A cable ferry (including the types chain ferry, swing ferry, floating bridge, or punt) is a ferry that is guided (and in many cases propelled) across a river or large body of water by cables connected to both shores. Early cable ferries often ...

across the Havel, links Caputh and Geltow. In the east Schwielowsee shares border with the City of

Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and largest city of the Germany, German States of Germany, state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the Havel, River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of B ...

, in the west with the town of

Werder (Havel) Werder (Havel) (; official name derived from ''Werder an der Havel'' ("Werder upon Havel"), colloquially just ''Werder'') is a town in the state of Brandenburg, Germany, located on the Havel river in the Potsdam-Mittelmark district, west of the st ...

History

Geltow (together with Potsdam) was first mentioned as

Slavic Slavic, Slav or Slavonic may refer to: Peoples * Slavic peoples, an ethno-linguistic group living in Europe and Asia ** East Slavic peoples, eastern group of Slavic peoples ** South Slavic peoples, southern group of Slavic peoples ** West Slav ...

''Geliti'' within the

Hevelli The Hevelli or Hevellians/ Navellasîni (sometimes ''Havolane''; or ''Stodoranen''; or ''Stodoranie''; or ''Stodorané'') were a tribe of the Polabian Slavs, who settled around the middle Havel river in the present-day Havelland region of Bra ...

lands in a 993 deed by

Emperor Otto III Otto III (June/July 980 – 23 January 1002) was the Holy Roman emperor and King of Italy from 996 until his death in 1002. A member of the Ottonian dynasty, Otto III was the only son of Emperor Otto II and his wife Theophanu. Otto III was cr ...

, who ceded it to his aunt, abbess Matilda of

Quedlinburg Quedlinburg () is a town situated just north of the Harz mountains, in the Harz (district), district of Harz in the west of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. As an influential and prosperous trading centre during the early Middle Ages, Quedlinburg becam ...

. The ford in the Havel had been a significant river-crossing since ancient times. Today the ''

Bundesstraße 1 The Bundesstraße 1 (abbr. B1) is a German federal highway running in an east-west direction from the Dutch border near Aachen to the Polish border at Küstrin-Kietz on the Oder River. History The road developed from an ancient east-wester ...

'' federal highway crosses the river at the ''Baumgartenbrücke''. File:Baumgartenbrücke03.jpg, Semi-provisional Baumgarten-brücke from 1950 in 1985 File:Baumgartenbrücke 1989.jpg, Current Baumgartenbrücke, since 1989

Demography

File:Bevölkerungsentwicklung Schwielowsee.pdf, Development of population since 1875 within the current Boundaries (Blue Line: Population; Dotted Line: Comparison to Population development in Brandenburg state; Grey Background: Time of

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

; Red Background: Time of communist

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 ...

) File:Bevölkerungsprognosen Schwielowsee.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)

Sights

Caputh

Caputh got a railway station in 1904. Since early 20th century it was appraised as a remote residencial area by wealthy urban people. * Caputh Palace, built in 1662 by Philip de Chiese, quartermaster general of Elector Frederick William of Brandenburg. In 1671 Frederick William gave the palace to his second wife Dorothea of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg. Notable is the Tile Hall (''Fliesensaal'') of 1720 with about 7,500 pieces of

Delftware Delftware or Delft pottery, also known as Delft Blue () or as delf, is a general term now used for Dutch tin-glazed earthenware, a form of faience. Most of it is blue and white pottery, and the city of Delft in the Netherlands was the major cen ...

tiles, placed by order of King

Frederick William I of Prussia Frederick William I (; 14 August 1688 – 31 May 1740), known as the Soldier King (), was King in Prussia and Elector of Brandenburg from 1713 until his death in 1740, as well as Prince of Neuchâtel. Born in Berlin, he was raised by the Hugu ...

. The park was designed by

Peter Joseph Lenné Peter Joseph Lenné (the Younger) (29 September 1789 – 23 January 1866) was a Prussian gardener and landscape architect. As director general of the Royal Prussian palaces and parks in Potsdam and Berlin, his work shaped the development of 1 ...

in 1820. * The Caputh village church is a work by

Friedrich August Stüler Friedrich August Stüler (28 January 1800 – 18 March 1865) was an influential Prussian architect and builder. His masterpiece is the Neues Museum in Berlin, as well as the dome of the triumphal arch of the main portal of the Berliner Schloss. ...

. Built in a

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica (Greek Basiliké) was a large public building with multiple functions that was typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek Eas ...

form, it was

consecrated Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects (a ...

in 1852 in the presence of King

Frederick William IV of Prussia Frederick William IV (; 15 October 1795 – 2 January 1861), the eldest son and successor of Frederick William III of Prussia, was King of Prussia from 7 June 1840 until his death on 2 January 1861. Also referred to as the "romanticist on the th ...

* Summer house of

Albert Einstein Albert Einstein (14 March 187918 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist who is best known for developing the theory of relativity. Einstein also made important contributions to quantum mechanics. His mass–energy equivalence f ...

in Caputh, built in 1929 by the architect

Konrad Wachsmann Konrad Wachsmann (May 16, 1901 in Frankfurt an der Oder, Germany – November 25, 1980 in Los Angeles, California) was a German Jewish modernist architect. He is notable for his contribution to the mass production of building components. Originall ...

. Einstein, though a non swimmer, was a passionate recreational

sailor A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. While the term ''sailor'' ...

on the lake, but was only able to use his retreat until the

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

takeover in 1933. After

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 ...

and the

restitution Restitution and unjust enrichment is the field of law relating to gains-based recovery. In contrast with damages (the law of compensation), restitution is a claim or remedy requiring a defendant to give up benefits wrongfully obtained. Liability ...

to the Einstein family, the house is now a property of the

Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public university, public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. ...

Geltow

Geltow was always passed by a lot of strangers on the main road. Like Caputh it has a railway station since 1904. The village church of Geltow was built according to plans of the unlucky Emperor Frederick III after the model of the church of

Terlan Terlan (; ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in South Tyrol in northern Italy. Geography The municipal area is situated within the Adige Valley, about northwest of the city of Bolzano. Terlan is famous for its Italian wine, wine and asparagus pro ...

o in

Tyrol Tyrol ( ; historically the Tyrole; ; ) is a historical region in the Alps of Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Empire and Austria-Hungary, f ...

, with glazed roof tiles and a

spire A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spire ...

outside the

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

. It was consecrated in 1887. Friedrich's last visit on June 6, 1888 was perpetuated 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 Literary realism, realist author. He published the first of his novels, for which he i ...

in his poem ''Kaiser Friedrich III. Letzte Fahrt''. Caputh and Geltow are connected by one of the busiest ferries of river Havel and by a railway bridge with a sidewalk, Schwielowsee-Ferch-Kirche-05

Ferch

The fishermen's village of Ferch on the southwestern end of lake Schwielowsee kept its rural character into the late 20th century. A colony of painters also settled there. * The village church of Ferch was built in 1635. Galleries allow assemblies of a numerous congregation in the small building. The wooden barrel-vault has the structure of a boat. File:Ferch_church.jpg, Fishermen's church File:Ferch_steeple.jpg, Steeple File:Ferch_Schulhaus.jpg, Former school building File:Ferch_Burg.jpg, "Castle Ferch"

References

{{Authority control Localities in Potsdam-Mittelmark