Oschersleben

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Oschersleben is a town, the capital of the Bördekreis (district), in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany.

1 Geographie
2 History
3 Population
4 External links

[edit] Geographie

It is located near the river Bode, 24 miles south west of Magdeburg in a region called Magdeburger Börde. The river Bode reaches its norhternmost point outside the town. Oschersleben is the most important railway station of the track from Magdeburg to Halberstadt and Thale.

[edit] History

On November 23rd 994 Oschersleben was first mentioned in a document by the Emperor Otto III. In 1235 it was first referred to as a town. In the 17th century most parts of Oschersleben were destroyed by fires. In 1648 it came under Brandenburg's domination. Oschersleben became a district capital in 1816 and was connected to the railway system in 1843.

In the years previous to World War II Oschersleben expanded due to the airplane manufactory (AGO Flugzeugwerke) that was founded there and needed numerous workers. This armament factory was also the reason why the Allied attacked the town in ten air strikes.

During the period of the German Democratic Republic Oschersleben was a center of agriculture in the region. Besides some industrial establishments settled there, for example the still existing manufacturer of pumps as well as sugar refineries, iron-foundries, breweries, machine-shops and brick works.

Today Oschersleben is the capital of the Bördekreis which was founded in 1994 combining the districts Oschersleben and Wanzleben.

Since 2000, the Motopark Oschersleben race track is used in Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) and other series. In 2005, the circuit was re-named as Motorsport Arena Oschersleben because of an insolvency of the investors.

[edit] Population

The population in 1905 was 13,271, in 2005 about 18,000. Oschersleben is also the seat of the Verwaltungsgemeinschaft ("collective municipality") Oschersleben (Bode), which consists of the following municipalities (population in 2005 between brackets):