Zossen

Zossen
Church of the Holy Trinity

Coat of arms
Zossen
Location of Zossen within Teltow-Fläming district
Coordinates: 52°13′00″N 13°26′59″E / 52.21667°N 13.44972°E / 52.21667; 13.44972Coordinates: 52°13′00″N 13°26′59″E / 52.21667°N 13.44972°E / 52.21667; 13.44972
Country Germany
State Brandenburg
District Teltow-Fläming
Government
  Mayor Michaela Schreiber (Ind.)
Area
  Total 179.57 km2 (69.33 sq mi)
Elevation 38 m (125 ft)
Population (2017-12-31)[1]
  Total 18,915
  Density 110/km2 (270/sq mi)
Time zone CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes 15806
Dialling codes 03377
Vehicle registration TF
Website www.zossen.de
Church in Nunsdorf

Zossen (Upper Sorbian: Sosny) is a German town in the district of Teltow-Fläming in Brandenburg, approximately 20 miles (30 km) south of Berlin, and next to the B96 highway. Zossen consists of several smaller municipalities, which were grouped together in 2003 to form the city.

Geography

Since the 2003 municipal reform, Zossen consists of the following districts and municipalities:

  • Glienick
  • Horstfelde
  • Schünow
  • Werben
  • Kallinchen
  • Nächst Neuendorf
  • Nunsdorf
  • Schöneiche
  • Wünsdorf
  • Funkenmühle
  • Lindenbrück
  • Neuhof
  • Waldstadt
  • Zesch am See
  • Zossen
  • Dabendorf

History

Zossen, like most places in Brandenburg, was originally a Slavic settlement. Its name may derive from Sosna meaning pine, a tree quite common in the region.

In 1875 Zossen station opened at the railway line from Berlin to Dresden and the Prussian military railway to the artillery range at Kummersdorf-Gut in present-day Am Mellensee. Between 1901 and 1904, Zossen adopted the use of different high-speed vehicles, such as electric locomotives and trams, for transportation to and from Berlin-Marienfelde. These vehicles were powered by an alternating current of 15kV and used a variable frequency. The power was transmitted by three vertical overhead lines.

In 1910 a proving ground and a garrison of the Imperial German Army was established at the Waldstadt section of the Wünsdorf community and also until now it is still established. In World War I it was the site of several prisoner-of-war camps, including the "crescent camp" (Halbmondlager) for Muslim fighters of the Triple Entente, where the first wooden mosque in Germany was erected. From 1939 to 1945, Wünsdorf hosted the underground headquarters of the German Wehrmacht (OKW) and Army's High Command (OKH). After World War II the area was the site of a Soviet military camp, the largest outside Russia, until 1990.[2] Since then has been returned to civilian use as the Wünsdorf-Waldstadt book town.

Zossen station
Church in Schünow

Timeline

  • 1809/1810: Kietz and the vineyards of Zossen are suburbanised
  • 1885: Monument to the fallen soldiers of the 1864, 1866, and 1870 wars is erected in Kietz
  • 1906: School on Kirchplatz is expanded
  • 1910: Military area between Zossen and Wünsdorf is developed
  • 1932: Flyers of the town councillor and deacon Emil Phillip regarding the threatening change in the Protestant community and the city Zossen
  • 1933: As a result of the Nazis' rise to power, Socialists and Communists in Zossen are arrested by SS troops and mistreated in the school on Kirchplatz. Emil Phillip is removed from his post, upon the order of Pastor Eckerts
  • 1934: Expansion of the town hall
  • 1939: The military zone in Zossen is developed into military headquarters
  • 1956: The city park is created
  • 1992: The "Alter Krug" Zossen society is founded
  • 1994: Formation of the administrative district of Teltow-Fläming from the old districts of Jüterbog, Luckenwalde, and Zossen
  • 1996: 450th anniversary of Prince Elector Joachim II's awarding of rights and privileges to Zossen

Demography

Zossen: Population development
within the current boundaries (2017)[3]
YearPop.±% p.a.
1875 7,335    
1890 8,549+1.03%
1910 10,611+1.09%
1925 13,012+1.37%
1933 14,231+1.13%
1939 18,173+4.16%
1946 17,000−0.95%
1950 16,507−0.73%
1964 13,834−1.25%
1971 13,368−0.49%
1981 12,879−0.37%
1985 12,795−0.16%
1989 12,502−0.58%
1990 12,282−1.76%
YearPop.±% p.a.
1991 12,241−0.33%
1992 12,193−0.39%
1993 12,108−0.70%
1994 12,441+2.75%
1995 13,087+5.19%
1996 13,612+4.01%
1997 14,289+4.97%
1998 15,108+5.73%
1999 15,750+4.25%
2000 16,310+3.56%
2001 16,414+0.64%
2002 16,772+2.18%
2003 16,958+1.11%
2004 17,063+0.62%
YearPop.±% p.a.
2005 17,183+0.70%
2006 17,321+0.80%
2007 17,441+0.69%
2008 17,477+0.21%
2009 17,590+0.65%
2010 17,606+0.09%
2011 17,392−1.22%
2012 17,465+0.42%
2013 17,600+0.77%
2014 17,657+0.32%
2015 17,905+1.40%
2016 18,115+1.17%
2017 18,915+4.42%

Mayors

  • Hans-Jürgen Lüders (SPD) 1993-2003
  • Michaela Schreiber: since 2003

Notable people

Walter Budeus
  • Karl Friedrich August Lehmann (1843-1893), stenographer and inventor of the Stenotachygraphie]
  • Frieda Kassen (1895-1970), politician (SPD)
  • Walter Budeus (1902-1944), Communist and resistance fighter
  • Roy Präger (born 1971), football player

See also

References

  1. "Bevölkerung im Land Brandenburg nach amtsfreien Gemeinden, Ämtern und Gemeinden 31. Dezember 2017 (Fortgeschriebene amtliche Einwohnerzahlen auf Grundlage des Zensus 2011)". Amt für Statistik Berlin-Brandenburg (in German). 2018.
  2. The Forbidden City: inside the abandoned Soviet camp of Wünsdorf, The Guardian, Ciarán Fahey, 11 January 2017
  3. Detailed data sources are to be found in the Wikimedia Commons.Population Projection Brandenburg at Wikimedia Commons
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