Mühlberg, Brandenburg
Mühlberg is a town in the Elbe-Elster district, in the southwesternmost part of Brandenburg, Germany. It is located on the right bank of the river Elbe, about halfway between Riesa to the south and Torgau to the northwest. It is about 60 km east of Leipzig. It is accessed by the Bundesstraße 182 (Riesa - Torgau - Wittenberg) on the left bank of the Elbe, connected with the town by a bridge, opened in 2008. Mühlberg consists of the Ortsteile Mühlberg, Altenau, Brottewitz, Fichtenberg, Koßdorf and Martinskirchen.
History
The earliest documentary mention of Mühlberg is in 1230. The town was founded on a sandy island where the River Elbe could be crossed under protection of a castle. There is archaeological evidence, in the form of burials, of Slavic settlement dating back to ca. 600 A.D. The forces of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor defeated the Schmalkaldic League at the Battle of Mühlberg near the castle on April 24, 1547. From 1939-1945 there existed a World War II prisoner-of-war camp (Stalag IV-B) near Mühlberg. About 300000 prisoners passed the camp and about 3000, most of them Soviet soldiers, died there. After World War II the camp was re-used by the Soviet secret service NKVD as NKVD Special Camp No. 1. About 6700 of the 22000 prisoners of the NKVD are buried in mass graves near the camp area. Today a memorial area remembers on the victims of both camp periods.
Demography
-
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)
-
Recent Population Development (Blue Line) and Forecasts
Mühlberg/Elbe:
Population development within the current boundaries (2013)[2]
| Year |
Population |
|---|
| 1875 | 5 468 |
| 1890 | 5 854 |
| 1910 | 5 895 |
| 1925 | 6 244 |
| 1933 | 6 288 |
| 1939 | 6 700 |
| 1946 | 8 862 |
| 1950 | 8 660 |
| 1964 | 6 836 |
| 1971 | 6 973 |
|
|
| Year |
Population |
|---|
| 1981 | 6 433 |
| 1985 | 6 349 |
| 1989 | 6 193 |
| 1990 | 6 076 |
| 1991 | 5 956 |
| 1992 | 5 916 |
| 1993 | 5 838 |
| 1994 | 5 736 |
| 1995 | 5 662 |
| 1996 | 5 586 |
|
|
| Year |
Population |
|---|
| 1997 | 5 499 |
| 1998 | 5 435 |
| 1999 | 5 307 |
| 2000 | 5 185 |
| 2001 | 5 067 |
| 2002 | 4 957 |
| 2003 | 4 857 |
| 2004 | 4 768 |
| 2005 | 4 698 |
| 2006 | 4 581 |
|
|
| Year |
Population |
|---|
| 2007 | 4 485 |
| 2008 | 4 437 |
| 2009 | 4 334 |
| 2010 | 4 244 |
| 2011 | 4 128 |
| 2012 | 4 051 |
| 2013 | 3 969 |
|
|
Sites of interest
References
External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mühlberg. |
"Mühlberg". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). 1911.