Marienfelde
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Marienfelde () is a locality in southwest
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 ...
,
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 ...
, part of the Tempelhof-Schöneberg borough. The former village, incorporated according to the Greater Berlin Act of 1920, today is a mixed industrial and residential area.


Geography

The Marienfelde quarter borders the Tempelhof-Schöneberg localities of Mariendorf in the northeast and Lichtenrade in the southeast. In the west, it borders on Lankwitz, part of the Steglitz-Zehlendorf borough. In the south, it is bounded by the Berlin city limits and the border with 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 ...
.


History

The medieval '' Angerdorf'' arose together with neighbouring Mariendorf during the German '' Ostkolonisation'' migration about 1220 AD, then affiliated with the Teltow estates held by the
Knights Templar The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, mainly known as the Knights Templar, was a Military order (religious society), military order of the Catholic Church, Catholic faith, and one of the most important military ord ...
commandry at Tempelhof. A fieldstone church was erected around 1240 which, still preserved, is one of the oldest in the Berlin area. The settlement of ''Merghenvelde'' itself was first mentioned in a 1344 deed, after the
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 ...
lands of the Knights Templar had passed to the Order of Saint John. From 1435 onwards, the estates were held by the City of Berlin. Located in the southwestern suburbs of the Prussian capital, population increased from the mid-19th century on. In 1913 the Marienfelde Studios were constructed, and were later taken over by Terra Film. 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 ...
, Marienfelde was the location of a subcamp of the Sachsenhausen concentration camp for some 500–600 prisoners of various nationalities, including Polish, Czechoslovak, Soviet, Norwegian, Dutch, French, Spanish and Luxembourgish, plus some German political prisoners. The historic village centre was largely destroyed during the bombing of Berlin in World War II.


Transportation and industry

Transportation and industry have played an important role in the development of Marienfelde: Since 1875 the Dresden Railway, a main North-South line entering Berlin, passes through Marienfelde. It is currently served by the Berlin S-Bahn commuter rail network at the Marienfelde, Buckower Chaussee and Schichauweg railway stations. The re-development as a long-distance track is planned. The parallel Royal Prussian Military Railway passed through the Marienfelde area on its way from Berlin to the town of Zossen. Between 1901 and 1904, the track was electrified and used as test track for high-speed locomotive testing. Ten kilovolt, three-phase alternating current with a frequency of 50 hertz was transmitted over three overhead wires, strung one above the other. Experimental electrical locomotives reached speeds of up to on the track. Near the end of
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 ...
, as part of the Elbe-Project, the world's first high-voltage direct current transmission lines were built from a power plant in
Dessau Dessau is a district of the independent city of Dessau-Roßlau in Saxony-Anhalt at the confluence of the rivers Mulde and Elbe, in the ''States of Germany, Bundesland'' (Federal State) of Saxony-Anhalt. Until 1 July 2007, it was an independent ...
, on the Elbe river, to Marienfelde. A substation was located in Marienfelde converted the direct current into alternating current. However, developments in the war prevented the project from ever becoming operational. Today, Marienfelde comprises several industrial parks such as the former Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft assembly plant opened in 1902, today operated by Daimler AG. Other main employers include
IBM International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...
and Stollwerck; as well as branches of the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture, the Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety, and the Friedrich Loeffler Institute.


Refugee processing center

Marienfelde is also known for a large refugee-processing center which operated during the Cold War. The center, which opened in 1953, was the first stop for more than 1.5 million refugees fleeing
communism Communism () is a political sociology, sociopolitical, political philosophy, philosophical, and economic ideology, economic ideology within the history of socialism, socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a ...
in
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 ...
via
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 ...
. Refugees arriving in West Berlin were sent to the center where they received medical treatment, food, identification papers, and housing until they could be permanently re-settled in the West. Even after the fall of the
Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall (, ) was a guarded concrete Separation barrier, barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and the East Germany, German Democratic Republic (GDR; East Germany). Construction of the B ...
in 1989, the center continued processing East German refugees until unification a year later. Today the center remains in use, processing ethnic Germans who are immigrating to Germany from the former Soviet Union.


References


External links


Marienfelde Refugee Center Museum
{{Authority control Localities of Berlin *