Wittenberge

Not to be confused with Wittenberg.

Wittenberge
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Coat of arms of Wittenberge Coat of arms
Wittenberge
Location of Wittenberge within Prignitz district 250px
Coordinates:
Country	Germany
State	Brandenburg
District	Prignitz
Government
• Mayor	Oliver Hermann (—)
Area
• Total	50.44 km2 (19.47 sq mi)
Population (2013-12-31)
• Total	17,297
• Density	340/km2 (890/sq mi)
Time zone	CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes	19322
Dialling codes	03877
Vehicle registration	PR
Website	www.wittenberge.de

Wittenberge (German pronunciation: [ˌvɪtənˈbɛɐ̯ɡə]) is a town of eighteen thousand people on the middle Elbe in the district of Prignitz, Brandenburg, Germany.

Geography

Wittenberge is situated at the right (north-eastern) bank of the middle Elbe at its confluence with the Stepenitz and Karthane in the German district of Prignitz. Within the same district, the town borders the Ämter Lenzen-Elbtalaue and Bad Wilsnack/Weisen as well as the district capital Perleberg. The Verbandsgemeinde Seehausen (Altmark) in the district of Stendal, Saxony-Anhalt, lies on the opposite side of the Elbe.

History

File:Wittenberge Rathaus.jpg

The Rathaus building

The site was marked out in 1239 at Wendischwalde and in 1300 the Saxon king, Otto I, established the settlement. It grew slowly but steadily. The town castle (1669) survives as the town museum but it suffered fires in 1686 and 1757, and floods from the Elbe in 1709 and 1761. Nevertheless, because of its position, it prospered from the opening of the Berlin–Hamburg steamship traffic. By 1823 milling, processing and refining of foodstuffs were important industries. In 1846 the railway came and a silk factory was built, followed by a chemical factory in 1849. The Reichsbahn railway workshops were established in 1875 and the world-famous Singer Sewing Machine Company set up there in 1903. By 1914 the Rathaus was built.

From August 15, 1942 until February 17, 1945 a concentration camp was established in Wittenberge. The camp was a subcamp to the Neuengamme concentration camp.

Between the wars much architecture characteristic of the period was built in the form of workers' housing for the rapidly increased population. It suffered as most German towns did during WW II. 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.

Demography

• Bevölkerungsentwicklung Wittenberge.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)

• Bevölkerungsprognosen Wittenberge.pdf

  Recent Population Development (Blue Line) and Forecasts

Wittenberge:
Population development within the current boundaries (2013)

Year Population 1875 8 407 1890 13 294 1910 21 262 1925 26 310 1933 25 996 1939 28 496 1946 32 349 1950 32 166 1964 33 021 1971 33 704

Year Population 1981 31 765 1985 30 757 1989 29 780 1990 28 378 1991 27 297 1992 26 691 1993 26 148 1994 25 630 1995 24 890 1996 24 441

Year Population 1997 23 833 1998 23 398 1999 22 825 2000 22 163 2001 21 513 2002 21 112 2003 20 639 2004 20 120 2005 19 767 2006 19 566

Year Population 2007 19 297 2008 19 023 2009 18 710 2010 18 571 2011 17 638 2012 17 476 2013 17 297

International relations

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

Twin towns — Sister cities

Wittenberge is twinned with:

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

Notable residents

• Klaus Havenstein (1922 – 1998), actor
• Richard Z. Kruspe (b. 1967), musician (Rammstein)
• Herman C. Schultz (b. 1860), politician
• Ulrich Woronowicz (1928–2011), Evangelical pastor, theologian and social activist

External links

Media related to at Wikimedia Commons