Oranienburg on the Havel river

8 May 2014 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Palaces, Castles, Manors, Parks Reading Time:  8 minutes

Oranienburg Palace © Kds11/cc-by-sa-3.0

Oranienburg Palace © Kds11/cc-by-sa-3.0

Oranienburg is a town in Brandenburg. It is the capital of the district of Oberhavel. Oranienburg is a town located on the banks of the Havel river, 35 km north of the centre of Berlin. 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 the Dutch style and called it Oranienburg or Schloss Oranienburg. In 1653, the town of Bötzow was renamed Oranienburg.   read more…

The Kleist City of Frankfurt (Oder)

28 May 2012 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  7 minutes

Aerial view of Frankfurt (Oder) on the left and the City of Slubice in Poland on the right © Willi Wallroth

Aerial view of Frankfurt (Oder) on the left and the City of Slubice in Poland on the right © Willi Wallroth

Frankfurt (Oder) is a town in Brandenburg, located on the Oder River, on the German-Polish border directly opposite the town of Słubice which was a part of Frankfurt until 1945. At the end of the 1980s it reached a population peak with more than 87,000 inhabitants. The number dropped below 70,000 in 2002 and is just above 60,000 in 2010. The official name Frankfurt (Oder) and the older Frankfurt an der Oder are used to distinguish it from the larger city of Frankfurt am Main.   read more…

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