View source for Brandenburg an der Havel

{{Short description|Town in Brandenburg, Germany}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2012}}
{{Infobox German location
|type              = Town
|image_flag        = Flagge der Stadt Brandenburg an der Havel.svg
|image_coa         = DEU Brandenburg an der Havel COA.svg
|image_photo       = St. Johannis in Brandenburg an der Havel 2.JPG
|image_caption     = Brandenburg an der Havel in May 2015
|coordinates       = {{coord|52|25|N|12|32|E|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
|image_plan        =
|state             = Brandenburg
|district          = urban
|elevation         = 32
|area              = 228.80
|postal_code       = 14770, 14772, 14774, 14776
|area_code         = 03381
|licence           = BRB
|Gemeindeschlüssel = 12 0 51 000
|website           = [https://www.stadt-brandenburg.de/ www.stadt-brandenburg.de]
|mayor             = Steffen Scheller<ref>[https://wahlen.brandenburg.de/wahlen/de/kommunalwahlen/bm-wahlen/ergebnisse/~h_25022018_12051000 Ergebnis der Oberbürgermeisterwahl in Brandenburg an der Havel], accessed 30 June 2021.</ref>
|leader_term       = 2018&ndash;26
|Bürgermeistertitel= Oberbürgermeister
|party             = CDU
}}

'''Brandenburg an der Havel''' ({{IPA|de|ˈbʁandn̩bʊʁk ʔan deːɐ̯ ˈhaːfl̩|-|De-Brandenburg an der Havel.ogg}} is a town in [[Brandenburg]], Germany, which served as the capital of the [[Margraviate of Brandenburg]] until it was replaced by [[Berlin]] in 1417.

With a population of 72,040 (as of 2020), it is located on the banks of the [[Havel|River Havel]]. The town of Brandenburg provided the name for the medieval [[Prince-Bishopric of Brandenburg|Bishopric of Brandenburg]], the Margraviate of Brandenburg and the current state of Brandenburg. Today, it is a small town compared to nearby Berlin but was the original nucleus of the former realms of Brandenburg and [[Kingdom of Prussia|Prussia]].

==History==
===Middle Ages===
{{see|Prince-Bishopric of Brandenburg}}
[[File:Goldfund von Eberswalde.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Items from the [[Eberswalde Hoard]] ([[replica]]; [[Museum für Vor- und Frühgeschichte (Berlin)|Museum für Vor- und Frühgeschichte]], [[Berlin]])]]
The name of the city is a combination of two words ''braniti'' – to protect/defend and ''bor'' – forest/wood. 
Brenna, which had been a fort of the [[West Slavs|West Slavic]] tribe [[Stodoranie]], was conquered in 929 after the [[Battle of Lenzen]] by the German King [[Henry the Fowler]] of [[Saxony]]. It was at this time first mentioned in documents as ''Brennaburg''. By the death of King Henry all the tribes between the Middle Elbe and Middle Oder paid tribute to the German King. At the Magdeburg Assembly of Princes in 948 the Bishoprics of Brandenburg and Havelburg were established. The Holy Roman Emperor [[Otto the Great|Otto I]] took control of these new sees. In [[Slavic revolt of 983]] there was a major Slav uprising involving numerous tribes and until the middle of the 12th century the area east of the Elbe remained under their control.<ref>Streidt, Gert, & Feierabend, Peter, editors, ''Prussia'', Konemann pubs., Cologne, 1999, p.14. {{ISBN|3-8290-2590-4}}</ref> During this period the area was ruled by Slavic chiefs of the [[Hevelli]] tribe. The last of them, [[Pribislav of Brandenburg|Pribislav]], died in 1150.

Following Pribislav's death his widow Petrissa enabled [[Albert I of Brandenburg]] to take over Brandenburg fort by agreement and provide it with a joint German-Slav garrison. Albert now styled himself [[Margrave of Brandenburg]]. By 1160 systematic settlement of the Elbe-Havel-Spree basin by nobility, burghers, and peasants from the Schwabengau area (Harz), the [[Netherlands]], the [[Rhineland]], and [[Westphalia]] was in progress. In 1165 the foundation stone for a cathedral was laid on the cathedral island of Brandenburg. It was consecrated five years later in the presence of Albert the Bear and his sons.<ref>Streidt & Feierabend, 1999, p.15.</ref> The town was restricted to the western bank of the Havel until 1196, when it was extended to the eastern side. The parts on either side of the river were regarded as three towns (Old Town, New Town and [[St. Peter and Paul Cathedral, Brandenburg|Brandenburg cathedral]] district) for centuries.

In 1314–1315 the Old and New Towns joined the [[Hanseatic League]]. In the [[Thirty Years' War]] (1618–1648) the towns suffered plundering and destruction; this caused [[Potsdam]] to become the new capital, and the court left the town of Brandenburg. In 1715, Old Town and New Town were merged to form a single town. In 1928, the Brandenburg cathedral district was added.

===Modern history===
[[File:Hauptstraße in Brandenburg an der Havel 2015.JPG|thumb|right|Brandenburg an der Havel old town in 2015]]
In the late 19th century Brandenburg an der Havel became a very important industrial center in the German Empire. Steel industries settled there, and several bicycle brands such as ''[[Brennabor]]'', ''Corona'' and ''Excelsior'' were manufactured in the city. A toy industry was also established. A giant industrial complex, the [[Deutsche Reichsbahn]] (German Imperial Railways) was located in Brandenburg-Kirchmöser between the two world wars and under the former [[East Germany|GDR]].

In 1933/34, a [[Nazi concentration camps|concentration camp]], one of the first in [[Nazi Germany]], was located on ''Neuendorfer Straße'' in Brandenburg Old Town. After closing this inner city concentration camp, the Nazis used the [[Brandenburg-Görden Prison]], located in the suburb of Görden. Later the old jail became the [[Brandenburg Euthanasia Centre]] where the Nazis murdered people with mental diseases, including children. This programme later came to be known as "[[Action T4]]" because of the Berlin address, Tiergartenstraße 4, the headquarters of this planned and well-organized [[forced euthanasia]] organisation. Brandenburg an der Havel was one of the first locations in Nazi Germany where the [[Nazi]]s experimented with murdering their victims [[gas chamber|by gas]].{{fact|date=March 2023}} The lessons here were later applied for mass murders in [[Auschwitz]] and other [[extermination camp]]s. 

In 1934, the Arado [[Aircraft]] Company ([[Arado Flugzeugwerke]]), which originated in [[Warnemünde]], built a [[satellite]] factory in Brandenburg that began producing planes in 1935. The factory was expanded over the next five years, and produced trainers and other aircraft for the [[Luftwaffe]] during World War II. The existence of this factory was one of the reasons Brandenburg was heavily bombed in later stages of the war; by 1945, 70% of the city was destroyed.

[[Friedrich Fromm]], a German officer involved in the [[20 July plot]] to assassinate [[Adolf Hitler]], was executed here in March 1945 for his part in the plot, even though Fromm betrayed those conspirators he knew and ordered their execution.

On 25 July 1952 [[Plaue, Brandenburg|Plaue]] and [[Kirchmöser]] were incorporated in the city of Brandenburg an der Havel.<ref>Gemeinden 1994 und ihre Veränderungen seit 01.01.1948 in den neuen Ländern, Verlag Metzler-Poeschel, Stuttgart 1995, {{ISBN|3-8246-0321-7}}, Hrsg.: Statistisches Bundesamt</ref>

After [[German reunification]] the city's population declined from around 100,000 in 1989 to roughly 75,000 in 2005 through emigration. The migration was mainly by young people.

== Demography ==

<gallery widths="250" heights="200">
File:Bevölkerungsentwicklung Stadt_Brandenburg.pdf|Development of Population since 1875 within the Current Boundaries (Blue Line: Population; Dotted Line: Comparison to Population Development of Brandenburg state)
File:Bevölkerungsprognosen Stadt_Brandenburg.pdf|Recent Population Development and Projections (Population Development before Census 2011 (blue line); Recent Population Development according to the [[Census in Germany]] in 2011 (blue bordered line); Official projections for 2005-2030 (yellow line); for 2017-2030 (purple line); for 2020-2030 (green line)
</gallery>

{{historical populations
|align=none | cols=3 | percentages=pagr
|title = Brandenburg an der Havel: Population development <br>within the current boundaries<ref>Detailed data sources are to be found in the Wikimedia Commons.[http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Population_projection_Brandenburg Population Projection Brandenburg at Wikimedia Commons]</ref>
| 1875 | 34052
| 1890 | 44664
| 1910 | 60339
| 1925 | 70519
| 1933 | 74800
| 1939 | 91208
| 1946 | 85180
| 1950 | 83434
| 1964 | 92741
| 1971 | 96929
| 1981 | 97510
| 1985 | 97615
| 1989 | 96084
| 1990 | 93015
| 1991 | 91332
| 1992 | 90637
| 1993 | 89950
| 1994 | 88503
| 1995 | 86753
| 1996 | 85278
| 1997 | 83263
| 1998 | 81384
| 1999 | 79828
| 2000 | 78404
| 2001 | 77245
| 2002 | 76166
| 2003 | 75485
| 2004 | 74875
| 2005 | 74129
| 2006 | 73475
| 2007 | 72954
| 2008 | 72516
| 2009 | 72264
| 2010 | 71778
| 2011 | 71381
| 2012 | 71149
| 2013 | 71032
| 2014 | 71032
| 2015 | 71574
| 2016 | 71664
| 2017 | 71886
| 2018 | 72124
| 2019 | 72184
| 2020 | 72040
}}

== Transport ==
[[File:BRB Tram 08-13 img1.jpg|thumb|Tram in Brandenburg an der Havel]]
The city is located on the navigable [[Havel|River Havel]], a European Waterway, and vessels travelling through the city have a choice of two routes. The original route used the [[Brandenburg City Canal]], a {{convert|4|km|adj=on}} route through the city centre that descends through the ''Stadtschleuse Brandenburg'', but this route is constrained in size and now limited to leisure craft. Commercial traffic instead uses the [[Silo Canal]] that passes through the eastern and northern fringes of the city.<ref name=bsiwg93>{{cite book | first = Barry | last = Sheffield | publisher = Imray Laurie Norie & Wilson | location = [[St Ives, Cambridgeshire|St Ives]] | title = Inland Waterways of Germany | year = 1995 | pages = 93–100 | isbn = 0-85288-283-1 }}</ref>

The city is located at the junction of [[Bundesstraße 1|Federal Highways 1]] and 102 and the [[Bundesautobahn 2|A2 autobahn]] is nearby. The [[Berlin-Potsdam-Magdeburg Railway|Berlin and Magdeburg railway]] also runs through Brandenburg an der Havel.

The centrepiece of the city's urban public transport system is the [[Trams in Brandenburg an der Havel|Brandenburg an der Havel tramway network]].

== Sights ==
{{wide image|Brandenburg Pano 02 (MK).jpg|1800px|alt=|Panoramic view over Brandenburg}}

The ''Dominsel'' (Cathedral Island) is the historic heart of the town. Here stands its oldest edifice: the [[St. Peter and Paul Cathedral, Brandenburg|St. Peter and Paul Cathedral]]. Although construction began in the Romanesque style in 1165, it was completed as a Gothic cathedral during the 14th century. While the exterior is rather austere, the cathedral surprises the visitor with its sumptuous interior, especially the painted vault of the ''Bunte Kapelle'' (Coloured Chapel) and the Wagner organ (1725), one of the most famous Baroque organs in Germany.

The ''Katharinenkirche'' (St. Catherine's Church) built in 1401 in the Neustadt is an impressive example of northern German [[brick Gothic]] architecture. The ''Gotthardtkirche'' (St. Gotthardt's Church) was built of the same material just a few years later.

Another interesting building is the ''Altstädtisches Rathaus'' (Old Town Hall), a late Gothic brick building with stepped gables and an ornate portal. In front of it stands a 5.35m high [[Roland (statue)|statue of the knight Roland]]. Made of sandstone, the statue was erected in 1474 as a symbol of the town's independence.

There is also a part of Brandenburg's medieval [[city wall]], with four preserved [[watchtower]]s: ''Steintorturm'' and ''Mühlentorturm'' (in the New Town), and ''Rathenower Torturm'' and ''Plauer Torturm'' (in the Old Town).

The ''Brandenburg Industrial Museum'' is an Anchor Point of ERIH, The [[European Route of Industrial Heritage]]. Brandenburg has its own theatre (Brandenburger Theater), a professional symphony orchestra ([[Brandenburger Symphoniker]]) and a wide range of local history and archaeology museums.

<gallery>
Image:Brandenburger-dom-aussenansicht.JPG|Brandenburg Cathedral
Image:Gotthardkirche Brandenburg 2.jpg|St. Gotthardt's Church
Image:BRBHavel asv2022-07 img13 Rathaus.jpg|Altstädtischer Markt, Old Town Hall
Image:Roland - Brandenburg an der Havel.jpg|Roland statue in front of the Old Town Hall
Image:Steintorturm Brandenburg.jpg|Steintorturm
Image:Hauptstrasse-katharinenkirche.jpg|Hauptstraße and St. Catherine's Church
Image:Innenansicht-katharinenkirche-brb.JPG|St. Catherine's Church
Image:Paulikloster-landesmuseum.jpg|Archaeological Museum (former St. Paul's Church)
File:Mahlenzien_manor.jpg|Manor in Mahlenzien
File:Mahlenzien_church.jpg|Church in Mahlenzien
</gallery>

==Notable people==
[[File:Ludwig Chronegk.jpg|thumb|150px|Ludwig Chronegk around 1860]]
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 102-14240, Gustav Noske.jpg|thumb|150px|Gustav Noske 1933]]
* [[Judith of Poland]], (c. 1130/35–1171/75), buried in the cathedral
* [[Georg Sabinus]] (''Georg Schuler''; 1508–1560), academic and rector of the [[University of Königsberg]]
* [[Christian Konrad Sprengel]] (1750–1816), theologian, botanist and naturalist
* [[Julius von Voss]] (1768–1832), officer and writer
* [[Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué|Friedrich de la Motte, Baron Fouqué]] (1777–1843), writer.<ref>{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Fouqué, Friedrich Heinrich Karl de la Motte|volume=10|pages=749–750|first=John George|last=Robertson|author-link=John George Robertson|short=1}}</ref>
* [[Wilhelm Eugen Ludwig Ferdinand von Rohr]] (1782–1851), Prussian general
* [[Theodor Hosemann]] (1807–1875), painter, illustrator and cartoonist in Berlin
* [[Wilhelm Rüstow]] (1821–1878), freedom fighter and revolutionary, military writer and historian.<ref>{{Cite EB1911|wstitle= Rüstow, Friedrich Wilhelm | volume= 23 | page = 937 |short= 1}}</ref>
* [[Ludwig Chronegk]] (1837–1891), actor and director of the [[Meiningen Court Theatre]]
* [[Georg von Waldersee]] (1860-1932), Imperial German Army general in World War I
* [[Paul Matschie]] (1861–1926), zoologist
* [[Gustav Noske]] (1868–1946), politician (SPD), Minister of Defence between 1919 and 1920
* [[Paul Hausser]] (1880–1972), army general
* [[Kurt von Schleicher]] (1882-1934), army general, [[Chancellor of Germany]] and Minister of Defence between 1932 and 1933
* [[Józef Unrug]] (1884–1973), Polish vice admiral
* [[Vicco von Bülow]] (1923–2011), known as Loriot, comedian, film director, actor and writer
* [[Joachim Kemmer]] (1939–2000), film actor
* [[Angelika Barbe]] (born 1951), biologist
* [[Maximilian Beier]] (born 2002), professional footballer for [[Borussia Dortmund]]

==Governance==
===Mayor and city council===
The current mayor is Steffen Scheller of the [[Christian Democratic Union of Germany|Christian Democratic Union]] (CDU) since 2018. The most recent mayoral election was held on 28 February 2018 and the results were as follows:

{{election table}}
! colspan=2| Candidate
! Party
! Votes
! %
|-
| bgcolor={{party color|Christian Democratic Union of Germany}}| 
| align=left| Steffen Scheller
| align=left| [[Christian Democratic Union of Germany|Christian Democratic Union]]
| 16,109
| 66.6
|-
| bgcolor={{party color|Independent politician}}| 
| align=left| Jan van Lessen
| align=left| [[Independent politician|Independent]] ([[Social Democratic Party of Germany|SPD]]/[[The Left (Germany)|Left]]/[[Alliance 90/The Greens|Greens]])
| 8,080
| 33.4
|-
! colspan=3| Valid votes
! 24,189
! 98.7
|-
! colspan=3| Invalid votes
! 316
! 1.3
|-
! colspan=3| Total
! 24,505
! 100.0
|-
! colspan=3| Electorate/voter turnout
! 60,799
! 40.3
|-
| colspan=5| Source: [https://www.stadt-brandenburg.de/rathaus/wahlen/oberbuergermeisterwahl/wahlergebnis-2018 City of Brandenburg]
|}

The city council governs the city alongside the mayor. The most recent city council election was held on 9 June 2024, and the results were as follows:

{{election table}}
! colspan=2| Party
! Votes
! %
! +/-
! Seats
! +/-
|-
| bgcolor={{party color|Alternative for Germany}}| 
| align=left| [[Alternative for Germany]] (AfD)
| 24,228
| 23.8
| {{increase}} 9.6
| 11
| {{increase}} 4
|-
| bgcolor={{party color|Christian Democratic Union of Germany}}| 
| align=left| [[Christian Democratic Union of Germany|Christian Democratic Union]] (CDU)
| 23,990
| 23.6
| {{decrease}} 3.2
| 11
| {{decrease}} 1
|-
| bgcolor={{party color|Social Democratic Party of Germany}}| 
| align=left| [[Social Democratic Party of Germany|Social Democratic Party]] (SPD)
| 18,990
| 18.7
| {{increase}} 1.7
| 9
| {{increase}} 1
|-
| bgcolor={{party color|Brandenburg United Civic Movements/Free Voters}}| 
| align=left| [[Brandenburg United Civic Movements/Free Voters|Brandenburg Free Voters]] (BVB/FW)
| 9,642
| 9.5
| {{decrease}} 1.3
| 5
| {{steady}} 0
|-
| bgcolor={{party color|Alliance 90/The Greens}}| 
| align=left| [[Alliance 90/The Greens]] (Grüne)
| 9,087
| 8.9
| {{decrease}} 4.9
| 4
| {{decrease}} 2
|-
| bgcolor={{party color|The Left (Germany)}}| 
| align=left| [[The Left (Germany)|The Left]] (Die Linke)
| 7,318
| 7.2
| {{decrease}} 5.8
| 3
| {{decrease}} 3
|-

| bgcolor={{party color|Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance}}| 
| align=left| [[Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance]] (BSW)
| 5,066
| 5.0
| New
| 2
| New
|-
| bgcolor={{party color|Free Democratic Party (Germany)}}| 
| align=left| [[Free Democratic Party (Germany)|Free Democratic Party]] (FDP)
| 2,863
| 2.8
| {{decrease}} 1.7
| 1
| {{decrease}} 1
|-
| bgcolor={{party color|Independent politician}}| 
| align=left| Wenzel ([[Independent politician|Independent]])
| 616
| 0.6
| New
| 0
| New
|-
! colspan=2| Valid votes
! 101,800
! 100.0
! 
! 46
! ±0
|-
! colspan=2| Invalid ballots
! 684
! 2.0
! 
! 
! 
|-
! colspan=2| Total ballots
! 34,857
! 100.0
! 
! 
! 
|-
! colspan=2| Electorate/voter turnout
! 60,140
! 58.0
! {{increase}} 9.9
! 
! 
|-
| colspan=7| Source: [https://wahlergebnisse.brandenburg.de/12/200/20240609/kreistagswahl_land/ergebnisse_kreis_51.html City of Brandenburg]
|}

==Twin towns – sister cities==
{{See also|List of twin towns and sister cities in Germany}}
Brandenburg an der Havel is [[Sister city|twinned]] with:<ref>{{cite web |title=Städtepartnerschaften der Stadt Brandenburg an der Havel|url=https://www.stadt-brandenburg.de/stadt/staedtepartnerschaften/|website=stadt-brandenburg.de|publisher=Brandenburg an der Havel|language=de|access-date=2021-02-10}}</ref>
*{{flagicon|DEN}} [[Ballerup Municipality|Ballerup]], Denmark
*{{flagicon|FRA}} [[Ivry-sur-Seine]], France
*{{flagicon|GER}} [[Kaiserslautern]], Germany
*{{flagicon|RUS}} [[Magnitogorsk]], Russia

== See also ==
*[[Brandenburg Euthanasia Centre]]
*[[Brandenburg Gate]] in Berlin
*[[Brandenburg Central Station]]
*[[BSG Stahl Brandenburg]]
*[[Brandenburger SC Süd 05]]
*[[Nikolaus von Halem]]

== References ==
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20071027180731/http://www.stadt-brandenburg.de/stadt-brandenburg/index.php?id=2278 Bevölkerungszahlen]

== External links ==
{{Wikivoyage|Brandenburg an der Havel}}
{{Commons}}
*{{Cite EB1911|wstitle= Brandenburg (town) | volume= 4 | pages = 426&ndash;427 |short= 1}}
{{Americana Poster|year=1920|Brandenburg (city)|Brandenburg an der Havel}}
*{{Official website}} {{in lang|de}}
*[https://www.dom-brandenburg.de/ Cathedral of Brandenburg] {{in lang|de}}
*[https://erlebnis-brandenburg.de/ Brandenburg guide] {{in lang|de}}
*[https://public-transport.net/bim/Brandenburg.htm Tramway in Brandenburg]
*[https://potsdamer-brandenburger-havelseen.de/en/ Potsdamer Brandenburger Havelseen], Tourist information

{{Germany districts brandenburg}}
{{Hanseatic League}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brandenburg An Der Havel}}
[[Category:Brandenburg an der Havel| ]]
[[Category:Urban districts of Brandenburg]]