Königs Wusterhausen

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Coordinates: 52°17′N 13°37′E

Königs Wusterhausen
Coat of arms of Königs Wusterhausen Location of Königs Wusterhausen in Germany
Country Germany
State Brandenburg
District Dahme-Spreewald
Population 32,983 (30/6/2005)
Area 95.82 km²
Population density 344 /km²
Elevation 35 m
Coordinates 52°17′ N 13°37′ E
Postal code 15711 and 15754
Area code 03375
Licence plate code LDS
Mayor Stefan Ludwig (Linkspartei)
Website Stadt Königs Wusterhausen

Königs Wusterhausen is a city in Dahme-Spreewald district in the state of Brandenburg in the Federal Republic of Germany.

Contents

[edit] Geography

[edit] Geographical location

Königs Wusterhausen – or "KW" (IPA /kɑː veː/) as it is often called locally – lies on the Notte Canal and the river Dahme southeast of Berlin. Much farther away to the west lies the state capital Potsdam.


[edit] Parts of town

Königs Wusterhausen is the biggest city in the Dahme-Spreewald district. The municipal reforms in 2003 brought about seven amalgamations, since which time the communities of Zeesen, Kablow, Diepensee, Niederlehme, Senzig, Wernsdorf and Zernsdorf have belonged to Königs Wusterhausen, the city's land area has doubled, and its population has grown sixfold.

[edit] History

In 1320, in connection with an investiture on 19 September, the place ("hus to wosterhusen") and the castle got their first known documentary mention. By 1400, the two were both a fiefdom held by the noble family of Schlieben. In 1500 the estate of Wendisch Wusterhausen was verified for the first time by the Schenken (a noble title) of Landberg zu Teupitz.

On 14 October 1669 Privy Councillor Friedrich von Jena acquired the castle and the village of Wendisch Wusterhausen. In early July 1683, Kurprinz Friedrich, later (1688) Elector Friedrich III, and later still (1701) King Frederick I of Prussia, acquired the castle and the village. In 1698, Kurprinz Friedrich Wilhelm was given the castle along with the attached estate as a gift by his father. In 1707, the Crown Prince and later King Frederick William I of Prussia founded his Company, the "Potsdam Giants". Between 1713 and 1718, the castle was remodelled as a hunting lodge. In 1718, the town, hitherto known as Wusterhausen, was given its current name, Königs Wusterhausen ("Königs" = "king's" in German).

In 1862, novelist and poet Theodor Fontane visited Königs Wusterhausen for his Wanderungen durch die Mark Brandenburg.

Since 1901, Königs Wusterhausen has been home to the Brandenburg School for the Blind and Visually Impaired (Brandenburgische Schule für Blinde und Sehbehinderte), endowed by the Hamburg merchant Hermann Schmidt.

In 1920 came the launch of Germany's first radio transmitter, and in 1935, Königs Wusterhausen was raised to city. In 1937, Saint Elisabeth's Catholic Church was built and consecrated.

In 1938, the Berlin Autobahn ringroad – now Bundesautobahn 10 – was dedicated, and now serves cities and towns around Berlin, including Königs Wusterhausen. By now, the National Socialists were in power, and in 1944 they built a concentration camp for Jews and Poles at the railway goods station.

After the Second World War and until 1990, Königs Wusterhausen was in East Germany.

In 1972, the Central tower, the most prominent structure at the radio transmission facility at 243 m tall, collapsed. That same year, an Ilyushin Il-62 crashed in Königs Wusterhausen, killing 156 people.

[edit] Worship

[edit] Christianity

In Königs Wusterhausen, there is a Catholic as well as an Evangelical parish. The oldest church in town is the village Wehrkirche (a church whose architecture contains typically military elements) in Deutsch Wusterhausen, built in the 13th century. In 1998 the Königs Wusterhausen Evangelical church district melded with the one in Berlin-Neukölln to form the Evangelical Church of Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia. The parishes in Königs Wusterhausen, Deutsch Wusterhausen, Zeesen, Schenkendorf (in the City of Mittenwalde), Senzig, Zernsdorf and Niederlehme today make up Region 9.

The Catholic parish belongs to the Deanship of Köpenick-Treptow in the Archbishopric of Berlin.

Both communities have very active youth groups, the Evangelical Junge Gemeinde ("Young Community") and the Katholische Jugend ("Catholic Youth").

[edit] Jewish life

For some time, there has once again been a Jewish community in the city. It only has 40 members, but positive developments are foreseen.


[edit] Politics

[edit] City council

Königs Wusterhausen's council consists of 33 city councillors, with the mayor (Bürgermeister) as head.

  • PDS 10 seats
  • CDU 7 seats
  • SPD 8 seats
  • BB/UFL Free Voters (citizens' coalition) 4 seats
  • FDP/PUD 3 seats

(as of municipal elections on 26 October 2003)

[edit] City partnerships

[edit] Culture and sightseeing

[edit] Museums

  • Königs Wusterhausen Transmission and Radio Technology Museum on the Funkerberg

Of the once great number of building works on the Funkerberg ("Transmitter Mountain"), only very little is preserved nowadays, as many transmission towers were dismantled for technical reasons after the Central Tower collapsed and fell on 15 November 1972. Today, only a 210-m-high mast and two small freestanding towers are to be found there. Along with the remaining buildings, this forms a technological monument.

Until 1999 this mast bore the transmitting antenna that served as the reserve antenna for the longwave stations at Zehlendorf bei Oranienburg and Donebach.

In 1994, a 67-m-high precast concrete cellular transmission tower was put up. It is today the only active transmitter on the Funkerberg.

The first attempts at transmissions were in 1908. On 22 December 1920, music and speech were transmitted wirelessly from the Funkerberg for the first time on "Welle 2400" – longwave. It went down in history as the German postal system's Christmas concert. Königs Wusterhausen is thus also said to be the cradle of German radio. The artists in that broadcast were, incidentally, postal employees. The initiative was German radio pioneer Hans Bredow's brainchild (for this and other groundbreaking work, he is considered the "Father of German Radio").

Until 1926, the popular Sonntagskonzerte ("Sunday Concerts") were broadcast. The station's studio was in the beginning a remodelled bathroom at the first broadcasting house on the Funkerberg.

[edit] Buildings

Schloß in Königs Wusterhausen
Enlarge
Schloß in Königs Wusterhausen
  • Königs Wusterhausen Hunting Lodge and Garden, known as Prussian King Frederick William favourite place to stay.
  • Kreuzkirche ("Cross Church"), begun in 1693, new glazing in 1949 with 3 choir windows and 4 ornamental round panes by Charles Crodel.
  • Neue Mühle ("New Mill") Canal lock (first documented in 1739), difference in levels: 1.50 m
  • Watertower (begun 1910, shut down 1965), now a café with beergarden and exhibition areas
  • 210-metre transmission mast (built 1925)

[edit] Economy and infrastructure

[edit] Transport

[edit] External links

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