Biesenthal

Biesenthal
Parish church Parish church
Coat of arms of Biesenthal Coat of arms
Biesenthal
Location of Biesenthal within Barnim district 250px
Coordinates:
Country	Germany
State	Brandenburg
District	Barnim
Municipal assoc.	Biesenthal-Barnim
Government
• Mayor	Carsten Bruch (CDU)
Area
• Total	60.48 km2 (23.35 sq mi)
Population (2013-12-31)
• Total	5,564
• Density	92/km2 (240/sq mi)
Time zone	CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes	16359
Dialling codes	03337
Vehicle registration	BAR
Website	www.biesenthal.de

Biesenthal is a town in the district of Barnim in Brandenburg, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Amt ("municipal federation") Biesenthal-Barnim.

Geography

File:2009-05-01-fahrradtour-rr-30.jpg

Finow river

The town is located on the Finow river, about 31 km (19 mi) northeast of Berlin (centre). The sourrounding Biesenthal Basin is part of the Barnim Plateau and the Barnim Nature Park, charcterised by numerous kames and glacial lakes stemming from the Weichselian glaciation.

History

In the early Middle Ages, the region was settled by Polabian Slavs. Conquered by the Ascanian margraves of Brandenburg, Bizdal was first mentioned in a 1258 deed. A local parish was already documented in 1265; the present-day fieldstone church was probably erected at this time. The settlement on the Via Imperii trade route to Berlin was vested with market rights by Margrave John V in 1315.

A castle was mentioned in 1337, it was purchased by the Hohenzollern elector John George of Brandenburg in 1577. Its ruins were cleared away after the Thirty Years' War, only ground walls remained. In 1907, a view tower (Kaiser-Friedrich-Turm) was erected on the castle hill.

During the 18th century, the townscape was devastated by several blazes. The economic development was decisively promoted by the opening of the Berlin–Szczecin railway line in 1843. In World War II, a subcamp of the Sachsenhausen concentration camp was located here. The town was occupied by Red Army forces in 1945 and became part of the Soviet occupation zone.

Demography

File:Bevölkerungsentwicklung Stadt Biesenthal.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)

Biesenthal:
Population development within the current boundaries (2013)

Year Population 1875 2 632 1890 2 732 1910 3 370 1925 3 556 1933 3 879 1939 4 529 1946 4 598 1950 5 120 1964 4 910 1971 4 801

Year Population 1981 4 730 1985 4 892 1989 4 815 1990 4 668 1991 4 624 1992 4 695 1993 4 846 1994 4 911 1995 4 869 1996 4 923

Year Population 1997 5 058 1998 5 183 1999 5 220 2000 5 272 2001 5 340 2002 5 394 2003 5 454 2004 5 509 2005 5 625 2006 5 621

Year Population 2007 5 637 2008 5 507 2009 5 563 2010 5 543 2011 5 498 2012 5 525 2013 5 564

Politics

File:Biesenthal Rathaus.jpg

Town hall

Seats in the town's assembly (Stadtverordnetenversammlung) as of 2014 local elections:

• The Left: 6
• Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU): 4
• Bürger für Biesenthal (independent): 3
• Alliance '90/The Greens: 2
• Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD): 2
• Pro Danewitz (independent): 1

Notable people

• Jürgen Paeke (born 1948), gymnast

External links

• Municipal site (German)