Spandau () is the westernmost of the 12 boroughs () of

Berlin Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...

, situated at the

confluence In geography, a confluence (also: ''conflux'') occurs where two or more flowing bodies of water join to form a single channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river ( main stem); ...

of the Havel and Spree rivers and extending along the western bank of the Havel. It is the smallest borough by population, but the fourth largest by land area.

Overview

Modern industries in Spandau include metalworking, and chemical and electrical factories. BMW Motorrad's Spandau factory made all BMW's motorcycles from 1969 until final assembly plants were added in

Rayong Rayong ( th, ระยอง, ) is a city ('' thesaban nakhon'') on the east coast of the Gulf of Thailand and the capital of Rayong province. It covers tambons Tha Pradu and Pak Nam and parts of ''tambons'' Choeng Noen and Noen Phra, all within ...

, Thailand in 2000, and Manaus, Brazil in 2016. , Spandau's seat of government, was built in 1913. Other landmarks include the Renaissance-era Spandau Citadel, the 1848

St. Marien am Behnitz St. Marien am Behnitz is the second-oldest Catholic church in the area of Berlin, Germany, after St. Hedwig's Cathedral. It was built in Spandau on a design by August Soller, and consecrated in 1848. Restored in 2002–2003 by private owners, it ...

Catholic church designed by August Soller, and Spandau arsenal. That arsenal's

Spandau machine gun The ''Maschinengewehr'' 08, or MG 08, was the German Army's standard machine gun in World War I and is an adaptation of Hiram S. Maxim's original 1884 Maxim gun. It was produced in a number of variants during the war. The MG 08 served during Wo ...

inspired the slang ''Spandau Ballet'' to describe dying soldiers on barbed wire during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...

, and later was applied to the appearance of Nazi war criminals at

Spandau Prison Spandau Prison was located in the borough of Spandau in West Berlin. It was originally a military prison, built in 1876, but became a proto-concentration camp under the Nazis. After the war, it held seven top Nazi leaders convicted in the Nurem ...

. In 1979, the English New Romantic band

Spandau Ballet Spandau Ballet () were an English new wave band formed in Islington, London, in 1979. Inspired by the capital's post-punk underground dance scene, they emerged at the start of the 1980s as the house band for the Blitz Kids, playing "European D ...

again re-purposed the term for its name.

History

The history of Spandau begins in the 7th century or 8th century, when the

Slav Slavs are the largest European ethnolinguistic group. They speak the various Slavic languages, belonging to the larger Balto-Slavic language, Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout ...

Heveller The Hevelli or Hevellians/ Navellasîni (sometimes ''Havolane''; german: Heveller or ''Stodoranen''; pl, Hawelanie or ''Stodoranie''; cs, Havolané or ''Stodorané'') were a tribe of the Polabian Slavs, who settled around the middle Havel river ...

first settled in the area and later built a fortress there. It was conquered in 928 by the German King Henry I, but returned to Slavic rule after the rebellion of 983. In 1156, the Ascanian Earl Albrecht von Ballenstedt ("Albrecht the Bear") took possession of the region. 1197 marked the first mention as ''Spandowe'' in a deed of Otto II, Margrave of Brandenburg – thus forty years earlier than the Cölln part of

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

Berlin. Spandau was given city rights in 1232. During Ascanian rule the construction of Spandau Citadel began, which was completed between 1559 and 1594 by Joachim II of Brandenburg. In 1558 the village of Gatow became part of Spandau. In 1634, during the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of battl ...

, Spandau was surrendered to the Swedes. In 1806, after the

Battle of Jena and Auerstedt A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and forc ...

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

troops under Napoleon took possession of the city and stayed there until 1807. In 1812, Napoleon returned, and the Citadel was besieged the following year by

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...

n and

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

n troops. From 1849 the poet and revolutionary Gottfried Kinkel was an inmate of Spandau town prison, until he was freed by his friend

Carl Schurz Carl Schurz (; March 2, 1829 – May 14, 1906) was a German revolutionary and an American statesman, journalist, and reformer. He immigrated to the United States after the German revolutions of 1848–1849 and became a prominent member of the ne ...

in the night of

6 November Events Pre-1600 * 447 – A powerful earthquake destroys large portions of the Walls of Constantinople, including 57 towers. * 963 – Synod of Rome: Emperor Otto I calls a council at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. Pope John XII is dep ...

1850. Before

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, Spandau was a seat of large government cannon foundries, factories for making

gunpowder Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, carbon (in the form of charcoal) and potassium nitrate ( saltpeter) ...

and other munitions of war, making it a centre of the arms industry in the German Empire. It was also a garrison town with numerous

barracks Barracks are usually a group of long buildings built to house military personnel or laborers. The English word originates from the 17th century via French and Italian from an old Spanish word "barraca" ("soldier's tent"), but today barracks are ...

, home of the 5th Guard Infantry Brigade and the

5th Guard Foot Regiment , disbanded=1919 , commander1= , commander1_label= , commander2= , commander2_label= , commander3= , commander3_label= , commander4= , commander4_label= , notable_commanders= , identification_symbol= , identification_symbol_label= , identificatio ...

of the German Army. In 1920, Spandau (whose name had been changed from ''Spandow'' in 1878) was incorporated into Greater Berlin as a borough. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, it was part of the British sector of

West Berlin West Berlin (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under m ...

, which had been rebuilt in 1876, was used to house

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hit ...

war criminals given custodial sentences at the

Nuremberg Trials The Nuremberg trials were held by the Allies against representatives of the defeated Nazi Germany, for plotting and carrying out invasions of other countries, and other crimes, in World War II. Between 1939 and 1945, Nazi Germany invaded ...

. After the death of Spandau Prison's last inmate, Rudolf Hess, in 1987, it was completely demolished by the Allied powers and later replaced by a

shopping mall A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a North American term for a large indoor shopping center, usually anchored by department stores. The term "mall" originally meant a pedestrian promenade with shops along it (that is, the term was used to refe ...

Gatow airfield Royal Air Force Gatow, or more commonly RAF Gatow, was a British Royal Air Force station (military airbase) in the district of Gatow in south-western Berlin, west of the Havel river, in the borough of Spandau. It was the home for the only kno ...

, in the south of the district, was used by the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

during the post-war Allied occupation, most notably during the Berlin Airlift. Since 1995 the airfield has been the Gatow Museum of Military History.

Geography

Outside Berlin, Spandau borders the districts () of Oberhavel to the north, and Havelland to the west, and the city of

Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and, with around 183,000 inhabitants, largest city of the German state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of B ...

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 square ...

, to the southwest. Within Berlin, it borders the boroughs of Steglitz-Zehlendorf to the south, Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf to the east, and Reinickendorf to the northeast. Its land area of is the fourth-largest of the twelve boroughs.

Subdivisions

Spandau Borough is divided into nine quarters (): * Spandau * Haselhorst * Siemensstadt * Staaken * Gatow * Kladow * Hakenfelde * Falkenhagener Feld *

Wilhelmstadt Wilhelmstadt () is a German locality (''Ortsteil'') of Berlin in the borough (''Bezirk'') of Spandau. History In the year 1945 the allied armed forces from the Soviet Union and the United Kingdom accomplished an exchange of territory, among the ...

Demographics

As of 2010, Spandau had a population of 223,962, the smallest of the twelve boroughs of Berlin. 62,000 of those were migrants or other non-ethnic Germans, comprising 27% of Spandau's population.

Politics

District council

The governing body of Spandau is the district council (''Bezirksverordnetenversammlung''). It has responsibility for passing laws and electing the city government, including the mayor. The most recent district council election was held on 26 September 2021, and the results were as follows: ! colspan=2, Party ! Lead candidate ! Votes ! % ! +/- ! Seats ! +/- , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Social Democratic Party (SPD) , align=left, Carola Brückner , 31,250 , 27.7 , 5.5 , 17 , 3 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Christian Democratic Union (CDU) , align=left, Frank Bewig , 30,714 , 27.2 , 1.5 , 16 , ±0 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

Alliance 90/The Greens Alliance 90/The Greens (german: Bündnis 90/Die Grünen, ), often simply referred to as the Greens ( ), is a green political party in Germany. It was formed in 1993 as the merger of The Greens (formed in West Germany in 1980) and Alliance 90 (for ...

(Grüne) , align=left, Elmas Wieczorek-Hahn , 13,460 , 11.9 , 4.3 , 7 , 3 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

Alternative for Germany Alternative for Germany (german: link=no, Alternative für Deutschland, AfD; ) is a right-wing populist * * * * * * * political party in Germany. AfD is known for its opposition to the European Union, as well as immigration to Germany ...

(AfD) , align=left, Andreas Otti , 11,516 , 10.2 , 5.8 , 6 , 3 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

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) , align=left, Matthias Unger , 8,464 , 7.5 , 1.1 , 4 , 1 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, The Left (LINKE) , align=left, Lars Leschewitz , 6,104 , 5.4 , 0.2 , 3 , ±0 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Tierschutzpartei , align=left, Aida Spiegeler Castañeda , 5,063 , 4.5 , New , 2 , New , - , colspan=8 bgcolor=lightgrey, , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Die PARTEI , align=left, , 2,235 , 2.0 , 0.4 , 0 , ±0 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, dieBasis , align=left, , 1,743 , 1.5 , New , 0 , New , - , , align=left, We are Berlin , align=left, , 1,222 , 1.1 , New , 0 , New , - , , align=left, Voter Initiative Social Spandau , align=left, , 677 , 0.6 , 0.8 , 0 , ±0 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Ecological Democratic Party , align=left, , 296 , 0.3 , New , 0 , New , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Liberal Conservative Reformers , align=left, , 138 , 0.1 , New , 0 , New , - ! colspan=3, Valid votes ! 112,882 ! 98.6 ! ! ! , - ! colspan=3, Invalid votes ! 1,577 ! 1.4 ! ! ! , - ! colspan=3, Total ! 114,459 ! 100.0 ! ! 55 ! ±0 , - ! colspan=3, Electorate/voter turnout ! 177,874 ! 64.3 ! 5.0 ! ! , - , colspan=8, Source
Elections Berlin

District government

The district mayor (''Bezirksbürgermeister'') is elected by the Bezirksverordnetenversammlung, and positions in the district government (Bezirksamt) are apportioned based on party strength. Carola Brückner of the SPD was elected mayor on 4 November 2021. Since the 2021 municipal elections, the composition of the district government is as follows:

Sports

The

Wasserfreunde Spandau 04 The Wasserfreunde Spandau 04 is a swimming club in Spandau, Berlin, Germany. The club is known for the water polo team, which has won a record number of German championships with 37, as well as German Cups (31) and Super Cups (17). In Europ ...

have traditionally been an immensely powerful

water polo Water polo is a competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the ball into the opposing team's goal. The team with t ...

team. They have been the most successful ball sports team in Europe with 85 national and international titles. Hagen Stamm, longtime captain of the team, was

German champion German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

fourteen times in a row from 1979 to 1992, and winner of the German cup twelve times and won the

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

in 1982, 1985, 1986 and 1989. He is currently the president of the association (as of 2020). The team's home games do not take place in the district, but in the Sportzentrum

Schöneberg Schöneberg () is a locality of Berlin, Germany. Until Berlin's 2001 administrative reform it was a separate borough including the locality of Friedenau. Together with the former borough of Tempelhof it is now part of the new borough of Te ...

. For 2027, the team plans to move to the then newly constructed arena in Spandau. In 1939, LSV Spandau won the title of the first German basketball championship, which was won by a clear 47:16 victory over Bad Kreuznach. After 1945, the association was dissolved.

Notable people

* Bela B. (born 1962), musician * Hans Berndt (1913–1988), football player * Helmut Bonnet (1910–1944), athlete * Käthe Heinemann (1891–1975), pianist *

Robert Hoyzer In early 2005, German football was overshadowed by the discovery of a €2 million match fixing scandal centered on second division referee Robert Hoyzer, who confessed to fixing and betting on matches in the 2. Bundesliga, the DFB-Pokal (German ...

(born 1979), football referee * Käthe Itter (1907–1992), actress *

Paul Kellner Paul Kellner (June 6, 1890 – April 3, 1972) was a German backstroke swimmer, who competed in the 1912 Summer Olympics. He was born in Spandau and died in Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area ...

(1890–1972), swimmer * Henning Alexander von Kleist (1707–1784), Governor of Spandau citadel, died there *

Rosa Lindemann Rosa Lindemann (née Liesegang, 21 February 1876 – 13 June 1958) was a German communist and member of the German resistance to Nazism. She was born in Spandau, her family moved to Moabit when she was a child. She married Karl Lindemann in 1895, ...

(1876–1958), communist * Arthur Löwenstamm (1882–1965), Spandau Synagogue's first and only rabbi from 1917 to 1938 * Moriz von Lyncker (1853–1932), Prussian officer and Chief of the Military Cabinet of Kaiser Wilhelm II *

Christian Friedrich Neue Christian Friedrich Neue (19 December 1799, Spandau – 14 July 1886, Stuttgart) was a German classical philologist. He obtained his education in Berlin as a student of philologist August Boeckh. Beginning in 1820, he taught classes at Schu ...

(1789–1886), philologist * Oliver Petszokat (born 1978), better known by his stage name Oli.P, singer, actor and TV presenter * Hans von Plessen (1841–1929), Prussian Colonel-General * Ivan Rebroff (1931–2008), singer * Erna Sack (1898–1972), coloratura soprano, known as the German Nightingale for her high

vocal range Vocal range is the range of pitches that a human voice can phonate. A common application is within the context of singing, where it is used as a defining characteristic for classifying singing voices into voice types. It is also a topic of st ...

. *

Sıla Şahin Sıla Şahin-Radlinger (née Şahin, born 3 December 1985) is a German actress, best known for her portrayal of Ayla Özgül in the German soap opera ''Gute Zeiten, schlechte Zeiten''. German ''Playboy'' Şahin-Radlinger posed nude for the G ...

(born 1985), actress *

Richard Schulze-Kossens Richard Schulze-Kossens (2 October 1914 – 3 July 1988, born "Richard Schulze") was a Nazi Party member and SS commander during the Nazi era. Before and during World War II, he served as a personal adjutant to foreign minister Joachim von Rib ...

(1914–1988), SS commander during the Nazi era * Franz Hermann Troschel (1810–1882), zoologist * Carl Albert Weber (1856–1931), botanist *

Kai Wegner Kai Wegner (born 15 September 1972) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who served as a member of the Bundestag, the German federal parliament, from 2005 to 2021. In 2019, he became the chairman of the CDU in Berlin. ...

(born 1972), politician of the

Christian Democratic Union of Germany The Christian Democratic Union of Germany (german: link=no, Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands ; CDU ) is a Christian democratic and liberal conservative political party in Germany. It is the major catch-all party of the centre-rig ...

(CDU)

Twin towns – sister cities

Spandau is

twinned Twinning (making a twin of) may refer to: * In biology and agriculture, producing two offspring (i.e., twins) at a time, or having a tendency to do so; * Twin towns and sister cities, towns and cities involved in town twinning * Twinning inst ...

with: *

Ashdod Ashdod ( he, ''ʾašdōḏ''; ar, أسدود or إسدود ''ʾisdūd'' or '' ʾasdūd'' ; Philistine: 𐤀𐤔𐤃𐤃 *''ʾašdūd'') is the sixth-largest city in Israel. Located in the country's Southern District, it lies on the Mediterra ...

, Israel (1968) * Asnières-sur-Seine, France (1959) *

İznik İznik is a town and an administrative district in the Province of Bursa, Turkey. It was historically known as Nicaea ( el, Νίκαια, ''Níkaia''), from which its modern name also derives. The town lies in a fertile basin at the eastern end ...

, Turkey (1987) *

Luton Luton () is a town and unitary authority with borough status, in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 census, the Luton built-up area subdivision had a population of 211,228 and its built-up area, including the adjacent towns of Dunstable a ...

, United Kingdom (1959) * Nauen, Germany (1988) * Siegen, Germany (1952) * Siegen-Wittgenstein, Germany (1952)

References

External links

Official homepage

Official homepage of Berlin

"Unterwegs in Spandau": Sehenswürdigkeiten, News, Veranstaltungshinweise und Berichte aus Spandau
{{Authority control Districts of Berlin Former boroughs of Berlin