Wittenberge

Not to be confused withWittenberg.

Wittenberge
Town
Flag Coat of arms
Location of Wittenberge within Prignitz district
Wittenberge Wittenberge
Coordinates:53°00′N11°45′E
Country	Germany
State	Brandenburg
District	Prignitz
Subdivisions	7 Stadtteile/Stadtbezirke
Government
•Mayor(2024–32)	Oliver Hermann(SPD)
Area
• Total	50.44 km2(19.47 sq mi)
Elevation	25 m (82 ft)
Population (2022-12-31)
• Total	16,837
• Density	330/km2(860/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00(CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00(CEST)
Postal codes	19322
Dialling codes	03877
Vehicle registration	PR
Website	wittenberge.de

Wittenberge(German:[ˌvɪtənˈbɛɐ̯ɡə]) is a town of eighteen thousand people on the middleElbein the district ofPrignitz,Brandenburg,Germany.

Geography

Wittenberge is situated at the right (north-eastern) bank of the middleElbeat itsconfluencewith theStepenitzandKarthanein the German district of Prignitz. Within the same district, the town borders theÄmterLenzen-ElbtalaueandBad Wilsnack/Weisenas well as the district capitalPerleberg.TheVerbandsgemeindeSeehausen (Altmark)in the district ofStendal,Saxony-Anhalt,lies on the opposite side of the Elbe.

History

The site was marked out in 1239 at Wendischwalde and in 1300 theSaxonking,Otto I,established the settlement. The exact date when Wittenberge attained municipal status is unknown. The oldest document in which Wittenberge is mentioned as a "town" dates from 22 July 1300. Wittenberge grew slowly but steadily. The towncastle(1669) survives as the town museum but it suffered fires in 1686 and 1757, and floods from theElbein 1709 and 1761. Nevertheless, because of its position, it prospered from the opening of theBerlin–Hamburgsteamship traffic. By 1823 milling, processing and refining of foodstuffs were important industries. In 1846 the railway came and asilkfactory was built, followed by a chemical factory in 1849. The Reichsbahn railway workshops were established in 1875 and the world-famousSinger Sewing Machine Companyopened in 1903 its German manufacturing site Singer Nähmaschinenfabrik Wittenberge. By 1914 theRathauswas built.

From 15 August 1942 until 17 February 1945 aconcentration campwas established near Wittenberge. The camp was a subcamp to theNeuengamme concentration camp.DuringWW IIWittenberge suffered severe destruction by five air raids and 216 civilians died.

Between the wars much architecture characteristic of the period was built in the form of workers' housing for the rapidly increased population. Only the railway workshops remain as significant employers of the old industries but the large, skilled workforce remains for the newer industries of precision engineering and applied chemistry.

Sights

The oldest building in Wittenberge isSteintor(stone Gate) dating from 1450, an ancient gate of the medieval city wall.Only a small part of Wittenberge's old town centre with half-timbered houses is left as many old houses were torn down before 1989. The railway station was built in aclassiciststyle in 1846 and rebuilt after considerable bomb damage in World War II.The Town Hall (Rathaus) with its tower measuring 51 metres was inaugurated in 1914.It represents the style ofGründerzeit.

TheKultur- und Festspielhaus,a cultural centre, was built in 1959 in a typical style ofSocialist realism.After the German reunification it was renovated in reinaugurated in 1999.It is situated at Paul-Lincke-Platz, a place which is named after the composerPaul Linckewho lived in Wittenberge from 1881 to 1884.In Bahnstraße, Wittenberge's main street, several residential buildings representingStalinist architectureon a provincial level can be seen close to the Cultural Centre. They were renovated after theGerman reunification.

A factory for producing sewing-machines was founded in Wittenberge in 1903. Its clock tower measuring 49 metres which was built in 1928 is one of the symbols of Wittenberge.

Demography

• 
  Development of population since 1875 within the current Boundaries (Blue Line: Population; Dotted Line: Comparison to Population development in Brandenburg state; Grey Background: Time ofNazi Germany;Red Background: Time of communistEast Germany)
• 
  Recent Population Development and Projections (Population Development before Census 2011 (blue line); Recent Population Development according to theCensus in Germanyin 2011 (blue bordered line); Official projections for 2005-2030 (yellow line); for 2017-2030 (scarlet line); for 2020-2030 (green line)

Wittenberge: Population development
within the current boundaries (2020)

Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1875 8,407 — 1890 13,294 +3.10% 1910 21,262 +2.38% 1925 26,310 +1.43% 1939 28,496 +0.57% 1950 32,166 +1.11% 1964 33,021 +0.19%

Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1971 33,704 +0.29% 1981 31,765 −0.59% 1985 30,757 −0.80% 1990 28,378 −1.60% 1995 24,890 −2.59% 2000 22,163 −2.29% 2005 19,767 −2.26%

Year Pop. ±% p.a. 2010 18,571 −1.24% 2015 17,206 −1.52% 2016 17,318 +0.65% 2017 17,201 −0.68% 2018 17,015 −1.08% 2019 16,925 −0.53% 2020 16,862 −0.37%

• 
  Railway Station
• 
  Steintor (Stone Gate)
• 
  Old town centre
• 
  Town Hall
• 
  Cultural Centre
• 
  Socialist architecture in Bahnstraße after its renovation
• 
  Socialist architecture in Bahnstraße after its renovation
• 
  Wittenberge's main street: Bahnstraße
• 
  Railway bridge over theElbenear Wittenberge

Mayor

• 1993–2008: Klaus Petry (SPD)
• since 2008: Oliver Hermann (independent)

Oliver Hermann was reelected in 2016 with 94,8% of the vote.

International relations

See also:List of twin towns and sister cities in Germany

Twin towns – Sister cities

Wittenberge istwinnedwith:

• Châlons-en-Champagne,France
• Elmshorn,Germany
• Razgrad,Bulgaria

Notable people

• Friedrich Burmeister(1888–1968), politician of the GDR (Minister of mail and telecommunications)
• Klaus Havenstein(1922–1998), German actor and cabaret artist
• Emanuel Hirsch(1888–1972), Protestant theologian
• Norbert Klaar(born 1954), sports shooter, Olympic champion 1976 (fast fire pistol)
• Richard Kruspe(born 1967), musician, guitarist of the bandRammstein
• Carl Lindenberg(1850–1928), jurist and philatelist
• Ulrich Makosch(1933–2008), journalist (television of the GDR)
• Uwe Potteck(born 1955), sportsman, Olympic champion 1976 (free pistol)
• Friedrich Schorlemmer(born 1944), theologian
• Herman C. Schultz(born 1860), politician
• Otto Telschow(1876–1945), politician of the NSDAP, Gauleiter, member of the Reichstag
• Stefanie Thurmann(born 1982), sports shooter
• Ulrich Woronowicz(1928–2011), Protestant pastor, theologian and social activist

External links

Media related toWittenbergeat Wikimedia Commons