Luckenwalde (; Upper and , , ) is the capital of the

Teltow-Fläming Teltow-Fläming () is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the southwestern part of Brandenburg, Germany. Neighboring districts are (from the east clockwise) Dahme-Spreewald, Elbe-Elster, the districts Wittenberg in Saxony-Anhalt, the district Potsdam-Mittelm ...

district in the state of

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 ...

in eastern

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

Nuthe The Nuthe is a river in Brandenburg, Germany, left tributary of the Havel. Its total length is . The Nuthe originates in the Fläming region, near Niedergörsdorf. It flows north through Jüterbog, Luckenwalde, Trebbin and Saarmund. The Nuthe joi ...

river north of the

Fläming Heath The Fläming Heath () is a region and hill chain that reaches over 100 km from the Elbe river to the Dahme River in the German states Saxony-Anhalt and Brandenburg. Its highest elevation is the Hagelberg (201 m). The name Fläming originates ...

, at the eastern rim of the Nuthe-Nieplitz Nature Park, about south of

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 ...

. The town area includes the villages of Frankenfelde and Kolzenburg.

Overview

The former

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 ...

settlement of ''Lugkin'' was conquered by Margrave Conrad Wettin of Meissen in the course of the 1147

Wendish Crusade The Wendish Crusade () was a military campaign in 1147, one of the Northern Crusades, led primarily by the Kingdom of Germany within the Holy Roman Empire and directed against the Polabian Slavs (or "Wends"). The Wends were made up of the Slavic ...

. ''Lukenwalde'' Castle was first mentioned in a 1216 deed as a

burgward A burgward or castellanyArnold, Benjamin (1991). ''Princes and territories in medieval Germany'', Cambridge University Press, Cambridge and New York, p. 165. . was a form of settlement used for the organisation of the Marca Geronis, northeastern ma ...

of the

Bishopric of Brandenburg Bishopric of Brandenburg may refer to: * Diocese of Brandenburg, the spiritual jurisdiction of the bishop of Brandenburg, active from the 10th to 16th centuries * Prince-Bishopric of Brandenburg, the state ruled by the bishop of Brandenburg fro ...

, it was acquired by

Zinna Abbey Zinna Abbey () is a former Cistercians, Cistercian monastery, the site of which is now occupied by a village also called Kloster Zinna, today part of Jüterbog in Brandenburg, Germany, about south of Berlin. The village was established by Freder ...

in 1285. Together with Zinna it remained under the rule of the

Archbishopric of Magdeburg The Archbishopric of Magdeburg was a Catholic Church, Latin Catholic archdiocese (969–1552) and Prince-Bishopric, Prince-Archbishopric (1180–1680) of the Holy Roman Empire centered on the city of Magdeburg on the Elbe River. Planned since 95 ...

and its successor, the

Prussian Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, the House of Hohenzoll ...

Duchy of Magdeburg The Duchy of Magdeburg () was a province of the Margraviate of Brandenburg from 1680 to 1701 and a province of the German Kingdom of Prussia from 1701 to 1807. It replaced the Archbishopric of Magdeburg after its secularization by Brandenburg, gi ...

until it was attached to the

Margraviate of Brandenburg The Margraviate of Brandenburg () was a major principality of the Holy Roman Empire from 1157 to 1806 that, having electoral status although being quite poor, grew rapidly in importance after inheriting the Duchy of Prussia in 1618 and then came ...

in 1773. Originating in the 17th century, Luckenwalde's cloth and wool factories did not spring up till the reign of King

Frederick II of Prussia Frederick II (; 24 January 171217 August 1786) was the monarch of Prussia from 1740 until his death in 1786. He was the last Hohenzollern monarch titled ''King in Prussia'', declaring himself '' King of Prussia'' after annexing Royal Prus ...

and soon were among the most extensive in Germany. Other traditional industries were cotton printing and a dye works, brewing, and the making of metal and bronze goods. In 1808 Luckenwalde officially received town privileges. By the turn of the 20th Century Luckenwalde became renowned as a key manufacturer of hats. In 1921 the two biggest hat ateliers, Herrmann and Steinberg, merged and set up their factory on an industrial estate in Luckenwalde. The factory was designed by German architect

Erich Mendelsohn Erich Mendelsohn (); 21 March 1887 – 15 September 1953) was a German-British architect, known for his expressionist architecture in the 1920s, as well as for developing a dynamic functionalism in his projects for department stores and cinem ...

in 1923, the factory is considered a milestone of

Expressionist architecture Expressionist architecture was an architectural movement in Europe during the first decades of the 20th century in parallel with the expressionism, expressionist visual and performing arts that especially developed and dominated in Germany. Bri ...

. The hat factory fell into disrepair during and after the war period and was restored in 2001, but as of 2013 the building remains empty. 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 ...

, the

Stalag III-A Stalag III-A was a German World War II German prisoner-of-war camps in World War II, prisoner-of-war (POW) camp at Luckenwalde, Brandenburg, south of Berlin. It housed Polish, Dutch, Belgian, French prisoners of war in World War II, French, Yugosl ...

prisoner-of-war camp A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured as Prisoner of war, prisoners of war by a belligerent power in time of war. There are significant differences among POW camps, inte ...

was located in Luckenwalde. In April 1941, the Stalag 333 POW camp was established, and then was relocated to Komorowo in

German-occupied Poland German-occupied Poland can refer to: * General Government * Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany * Occupation of Poland (1939–1945) * Prussian Partition The Prussian Partition (), or Prussian Poland, is the former territories of the Polish� ...

in November 1941. There was also a work camp for civilians. The

Nazis 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 ...

forced people to work for their war effort or else the families of people who worked there would perish. Lack of food and hard work killed thousands. Among them were Poles, Italians, French and many more. There were several places in the town and surrounding areas where they worked. Luckenwalde was taken by the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

on 22 April 1945.

Demography

File:Bevölkerungsentwicklung Luckenwalde.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 Luckenwalde.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)

Politics

Seats in the municipal assembly (''Stadtverordnetenversammlung'') as of 2014 elections: * The Left: 10 *

Social Democratic Party of Germany The Social Democratic Party of Germany ( , SPD ) is a social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been the party's leader since the 2019 leadership election together w ...

(SPD): 9 * Christian Democratic Union (CDU): 6 * Bauernverband (BV): 1 *

Free Democratic Party Free Democratic Party is the name of several political parties around the world. It usually designates a party ideologically based on liberalism. Current parties with that name include: *Free Democratic Party (Germany), a liberal political party in ...

(FDP): 1 *

National Democratic Party of Germany National Democratic Party of Germany (, NPD), officially called The Homeland () since 2023, is a Far-right politics, far-right, Neo-Nazism, neo-Nazi and Ultranationalism, ultranationalist political party in Germany. It was founded in 1964 as ...

(NPD): 1

Transport

Luckenwalde station Luckenwalde station is the station of the town of Luckenwalde in the German state of Brandenburg. It was opened in 1841. Luckenwalde was the terminus of a narrow-gauge railway from 1900 to 1939. The present entrance building is its third. Locat ...

is located on the

Berlin–Halle railway The Berlin–Halle railway, sometimes called the Anhalt railway (German: ''Anhalter Bahn''), is a twin-track, electrified main line found in the German city and state of Berlin, and the states of Brandenburg and Sachsen-Anhalt. The railway was o ...

Notable people

Marianne Adam Marianne Adam (born 19 September 1951 in Luckenwalde, Brandenburg) is a retired shot putter who competed for East Germany in the 1970s. She was born in Luckenwalde. She was a member of SC Dynamo Berlin. She won the bronze medal at the 1974 Europea ...

(born 1951), shot putter * Carl (Carlos) Anwandter (1801–1889), 1848 revolutionary, emigre to Chile *

Ilka Bessin Ilka Bessin (born 18 November 1971) is a German comedian and actress, best known for her role as Cindy aus Marzahn (German for "Cindy from Marzahn"). Early life Ilka Bessin was born in Luckenwalde, East Germany. After finishing school, she ...

(born 1971), comedian (Cindy aus Marzahn) *

Rudi Dutschke Alfred Willi Rudolf Dutschke (; 7 March 1940 – 24 December 1979) was a German sociologist and political activist who, until severely injured by an assassin in 1968, was a leading charismatic figure within the Socialist Students Union (SDS) in ...

(1940–1979), spokesman of the German 1968 student movement, attended school in Luckenwalde *

Hans Freudenthal Hans Freudenthal (17 September 1905 – 13 October 1990) was a Jewish-German, Jewish German-born Netherlands, Dutch mathematician. He made substantial contributions to algebraic topology and also took an interest in literature, philosophy, histor ...

(1905–1990), mathematician * Hans Grohe (1871–1955), industrialist *

Benjamin Gutsche Benjamin Gutsche (born 10 November 1985) is a German screenwriter and director. Life Gutsche was born in Luckenwalde and granted with Abitur in 2005. After his Zivildienst in a retirement home he started becoming a screenwriter. Since then he l ...

(born 1985), screenwriter and director * Michael Hanack (1931–2019), chemist *

Carl Harries Carl Dietrich Harries (5 August 1866 – 3 November 1923) was a German chemist born in Luckenwalde, Brandenburg, Prussia. He received his doctorate in 1892. In 1900, he married Hertha von Siemens, daughter of the electrical genius Werner von Si ...

(1866–1923), chemist * Hans-Joachim Hecht (born 1939 ), chess master * David Hollwitz (born 1989), footballer * Bernhard Kadenbach (born 1933), biochemist *

Paul Koebe Paul Koebe (15 February 1882 – 6 August 1945) was a 20th-century German mathematician. His work dealt exclusively with the complex numbers, his most important results being on the uniformization of Riemann surfaces in a series of four papers in ...

(1882–1945), mathematician * Niklas Kohrt (born 1980), actor *

Hans Krueger Hans Krueger (also spelled Krüger) (1 July 1909 – 8 February 1988) was a German captain of the Gestapo in occupied Poland during World War II, involved in organizing the string of massacres after the commencement of Operation Barbarossa behind ...

(1909–1988), Gestapo officer and Holocaust perpetrator, attended school in Luckenwalde * Susanne Lahme (born 1951), volleyball player *

Werner Lamberz Werner Lamberz (14 April 1929 – 6 March 1978) was a senior politician in the East Germany, German Democratic Republic (East Germany). In a system under which political advancement was generally achieved only slowly and the men who reached the ...

(1929–1978), senior politician in the GDR, apprenticed in Luckenwalde * Carla Nelte (born 1990), badminton player *

Maria Nicklisch Maria Nicklisch (1904–1995) was a German stage actress.Holmberg p.24 She also appeared in several films. Selected filmography * ''Kitty and the World Conference ''Kitty and the World Conference'' () is a 1939 German comedy film directed by H ...

(1904–1995), stage actress *

Katherina Reiche Katherina Reiche (born 16 July 1973) is a German manager and politician of the Christian Democratic Union (Germany), Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who has been serving as Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, Federal Minister fo ...

(born 1973), politician (CDU) *

Heinz-Joachim Rothenburg Heinz-Joachim Rothenburg (born 9 April 1944 in Luckenwalde, Brandenburg) is a retired East German shot putter. He competed for the sports club SC Dynamo Berlin The Sports Club Dynamo Berlin was an East German sports club that existed from 195 ...

(born 1944), shot putter * Herbert Schoen (1929–2014), footballer *

Franz Urbig Franz Urbig (23 January 1864 – 28 September 1944) was a German banker. He joined the Disconto-Gesellschaft as a trainee on 15 July 1884 and built much of his career and reputation within this bank in Southeast Asia during the final part of th ...

(1864–1944), banker

International relations

Luckenwalde is twinned with: *

Dieppe, Seine-Maritime Dieppe (; ; or Old Norse ) is a coastal Communes of France, commune in the Seine-Maritime departments of France, department, Normandy (administrative region), Normandy, northern France. Dieppe is a seaport on the English Channel at the mouth ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Bad Salzuflen Bad Salzuflen () is a town and thermal spa resort in the Lippe district of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. At the end of 2013, it had 52,121 inhabitants. Geography Bad Salzuflen lies on the eastern edge of the Ravensberg Basin, at the confluenc ...

, Germany

References

External links

Notgeld (emergency banknotes) depicting th
industries Luckenwalde was known for
in the early 20th century. http://webgerman.com/Notgeld/Directory/L/Luckenwalde.htm {{Authority control Localities in Teltow-Fläming