Oranienburg

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Oranienburg


Country	Germany
State	Brandenburg
District	Oberhavel
Population	41,030 (2005)
Area	162.23 km²
Population density	253 /km²
Elevation	35 m
Coordinates	52°45′ N 13°14′ E
Postal code	16515
Area code	03301
Licence plate code	OHV
Mayor	Hans-Joachim Laesicke (SPD)
Website	oranienburg.de

Oranienburg is a town in Brandenburg, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Oberhavel. Population: 41,199.

Oranienburg is located on the banks of the Havel river, just 35 km north of the city centre of Berlin. The town is now part of the growing Berlin metropolitan area.

The original name of Oranienburg was Bötzow. The town was founded in the 12th century and was first mentioned in 1216. Albert the Bear is believed to have ordered the construction of a castle on the banks of the Havel. Around the castle there was a settlement of traders and craftsmen.

In 1646 Friedrich Wilhelm I of Brandenburg married Louise Henriette of Orange-Nassau (German: Oranien-Nassau). She was so attracted by the town of Bötzow, that her husband presented the entire region to her. The princess ordered a new castle to be built in Dutch style and called it Oranienburg. In 1653 the town of Bötzow was renamed Oranienburg.

Oranienburg became a showplace of terror during the Nazi era. One of the first Nazi concentration camps was built there in 1933; in 1935 another camp was established in the quarter of Sachsenhausen. While the first camp was dissolved as early as 1934, the Sachsenhausen camp continued to exist; 100,000 people were killed in Sachsenhausen before the liberation of the camp by the Red Army in 1945.

According to the military historian Antony Beevor possession of as much of the German nuclear energy project was a primary motive for Stalin authorising the launching of the Battle for Berlin.^[1] The pre-emptive destruction of as much of this infrastructure was the motive behind the raid on 15 March 1945 by the USAAF Eighth Air Force on the German atomic energy research facility in Oranienburg, was to keep it from falling intact into Soviet hands.^[2]

The Zehlendorf transmission facility, a large facility for broadcasting in longwave, mediumwave and FM-range, is located near Oranienburg, at Zehlendorf.