Rathenow

{{Infobox German location

|type = Stadt

|image_photo = HVL 05-14 img 10 Speicher Aussicht.jpg

|image_caption = Church

|image_coa = DEU Rathenow COA.svg

|coordinates = {{coord|52|36|N|12|20|E|format=dms|display=inline,title}}

|image_plan = Rathenow in HVL.png

|state = Brandenburg

|district = Havelland

|elevation = 29

|area = 113.1

|postal_code = 14702, 14712

|area_code = 03385

|licence = HVL

|Gemeindeschlüssel = 12 0 63 252

|divisions = 6 Ortsteile

|website = [https://www.rathenow.de/ www.rathenow.de]

|mayor = Jörg Zietemann[https://wahlen.brandenburg.de/wahlen/de/kommunalwahlen/bm-wahlen/ergebnisse/~12063000 Landkreis Havelland Wahl der Bürgermeisterin / des Bürgermeisters], accessed 13 November 2022.

|leader_term = 2022–30

|party =

}}

Rathenow ({{IPA|de|ˈʁaːtənoː|lang|De-Rathenow.ogg}}) is a town in the district of Havelland in Brandenburg, in eastern Germany, with a population of 24,063 (2020).

Overview

The Protestant church of St. Marien Andreas, originally a basilica, and transformed to the Gothic style in 1517-1589, and the Roman Catholic Church of St. George, are noteworthy.

Rathenow is known for being the former capital of eyewear manufacturing in East Germany. It is also known for its stones, called Rathenow stones.

History

In 1675, during the Scanian War, it was the site of a battle between Swedish and Brandenburgian forces.

During World War II, Rathenow was the location of a forced labour subcamp of the Nazi prison for women and juveniles in Berlin-Lichtenberg and a subcamp of the Sachsenhausen concentration camp.{{cite web|url=https://www.bundesarchiv.de/zwangsarbeit/haftstaetten/index.php?action=2.2&tab=7&id=1288|title=Außenkommando des Frauen- und Jugendgefängnisses Berlin-Lichtenberg in Rathenow bei der Emil Busch AG Optische Industrie|website=Bundesarchiv.de|access-date=9 January 2024|language=de}}{{cite book|last=Megargee|first=Geoffrey P.|year=2009|title=The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos 1933–1945. Volume I|publisher=Indiana University Press, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum|page=1336|isbn=978-0-253-35328-3}} Prisoners of the latter were mostly Dutch, Belgian and French.

Demographics

File:Bevölkerungsentwicklung Rathenow.pdf|Development of Population since 1875 within the Current Boundaries (Blue Line: Population; Dotted Line: Comparison to Population Development of Brandenburg state)

File:Bevölkerungsprognosen Rathenow.pdf|Recent Population Development and Projections (Population Development before Census 2011 (blue line); Recent Population Development according to the Census in Germany in 2011 (blue bordered line); Official projections for 2005-2030 (yellow line); for 2017-2030 (scarlet line); for 2020-2030 (green line)

{{historical populations

|align=none | cols=3 | percentages=pagr

|title = Rathenow: Population development
within the current boundaries (2020)Detailed data sources are to be found in the Wikimedia Commons.[http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Population_projection_Brandenburg Population Projection Brandenburg at Wikimedia Commons]

| 1875 | 12443

| 1890 | 18841

| 1910 | 29125

| 1925 | 32056

| 1939 | 37449

| 1950 | 32254

| 1964 | 31083

| 1971 | 31834

| 1981 | 33952

| 1985 | 33312

| 1990 | 31945

| 1995 | 30498

| 2000 | 28811

| 2005 | 26973

| 2010 | 25301

| 2015 | 24387

| 2016 | 24243

| 2017 | 24309

| 2018 | 24309

| 2019 | 24208

| 2020 | 24179

}}

Twin towns — sister cities

{{See also|List of twin towns and sister cities in Germany}}

Rathenow is twinned with:

Notable people

File:Joachim Mrugoswski SS-Arzt.jpg]]

References

{{Reflist}}

{{EB1911|wstitle=Rathenow|volume=22|page=916}}