Salzwedel

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Salzwedel


Country	Germany
State	Saxony-Anhalt
District	Altmarkkreis Salzwedel
Population	21,391 (June 30, 2005)
Area	106.66 km²
Population density	201 /km²
Elevation	19 m
Coordinates	52°51′ N 11°09′ E
Postal code	29410
Area code	03901
Licence plate code	SAW
Mayor	Siegfried Schneider
Website	www.salzwedel.de

Salzwedel is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is the capital of the district (Kreis) of Altmarkkreis Salzwedel, and has a population of some 21,500.

[edit] Geography

Salzwedel is situated at the Jeetze river in the northwestern part of the Altmark. It is located between Hamburg and Magdeburg. Distances from Uelzen are 44 km W, 12 km N of Lüchow, 41 km S of Gardelegen and 24 km E of Arendsee.

In 1968 test drillings reveal a significant reservoir of natural gas near the city.

[edit] History

The town was founded in 1112. In medieval ages the town belonged to the Hanseatic league from 1358 to 1518. The city from 1247 began developing as a reestablishment from the old part of the town. In 1713, the two cities became one.

In 1870 it received a railroad connection.

The medieval part of the town remains the commercial and administrative center of the town until today.

As in other German cities during the reign of the NSDAP under Adolf Hitler, the Jewish segment of the population of the city was systematically disowned and driven out of the city.

In 1943, the Neuengamme concentration camp built a female subcamp in Salzwedel, capable of holding more than 1,000 female prisoners. Eventually more than 3,000 women were held there, both Jews and non-Jews. The guard staff at the camp included sixty SS men and women. One Aufseherin is known today by name, Lieselotte Darnstaedt, who was born in 1908. Lieselotte also served at Ravensbruck before coming to Salzwedel.

On April 29, 1945, the US Army liberated the Salzwedel women's subcamp, and also a men's camp nearby for male non-German political prisoners. They were shocked to find more than ninety corpses of women who had died of typhus, dysentery and malaria.

In the beginning of 1945, prior to the arrival of American ground forces, allied war planes attacked the main train station of Salzwedel killing 300 people.

The US Army eventually turned over control of the city to the Soviet Army , causing Salzwedel to eventually become part of the GDR.

On November 9, 1989 the East-West German border crossing near Salzwedel was openend , along with East/West border crossings in the rest of the country, allowing East Germans residing in Salzwedel and vicinity to travel freely to West Germany for the first time since the building of the Berlin Wall.

In 1990 Salzwedel received its first democratically elected city government.

[edit] Main sights

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Salzwedel sites of interest include the historic part of town encompassed by the historic city wall and town gates. The city also contains the birth house of Jenny von Westphalen, the later wife of Karl Marx.

[edit] Transportation

Salzwedel is accessed by route 71 (north to south) and 248 (west to east). Access to the nearest autobahn is A39 which is 59 km away in Wolfsburg, the A250 is 80.9 km away in Lüneburg, the A24 in Dreieck and the A241 is 81.4 km away.

It is linked by a railway which Amerikalinie (America Line) which restored in the 1990s linking Berlin and Bremen. The line belongs to Stendal/Uelzen. Other stations in Wittenberge near Arendsee and in Oebisfelde.