Bad Freienwalde

Bad Freienwalde

St Nicolas Church and town hall

Coat of arms
Bad Freienwalde

Coordinates: 52°47′08″N 14°01′57″E / 52.78556°N 14.03250°E / 52.78556; 14.03250Coordinates: 52°47′08″N 14°01′57″E / 52.78556°N 14.03250°E / 52.78556; 14.03250
Country Germany
State Brandenburg
District Märkisch-Oderland
Government
  Mayor Ralf Lehmann (Ind.)
Area
  Total 131.73 km2 (50.86 sq mi)
Population (2013-12-31)[1]
  Total 12,403
  Density 94/km2 (240/sq mi)
Time zone CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes 16259
Dialling codes 03344
Vehicle registration MOL, FRW, SEE, SRB

Bad Freienwalde is a spa town in the Märkisch-Oderland district in Brandenburg, Germany.

Geography

The town is situated on the Alte Oder, an old branch of the Oder River at the northwestern rim of the Oderbruch basin and the steep rise of the Barnim Plateau. It is located 15 km (9.3 mi) east of Eberswalde, and 50 km (31 mi) northeast of Berlin, near the border with Poland.

Bad Freienwalde has an Evangelical and a Roman Catholic church as well as manufactures of furniture and machinery. The neighbouring forests and its medicinal springs make it a favorite summer resort of the inhabitants of Berlin. A new tower commands a fine panoramic view over the Oder valley.

The municipal area comprises the villages of Altranft, Altglietzen, Bralitz, Hohensaaten, Hohenwutzen, Neuenhagen and Schiffmühle.

History

Freienwalde Castle

The settlement of Vrienwalde in the Margraviate of Brandenburg was first mentioned in a 1316 deed and appeared as a town in 1364. From 1618, the Freienwalde manor was directly held by the Brandenburg prince-electors (Kurfürsten).

A mineral spring was discovered in 1683. The alchemist Johann Kunckel brought it to the attention of the "Great Elector" Frederick William of Brandenburg, who, gout-ridden, arrived in Freienwalde the next year. Recorded by the physician Bernhardus Albinus in 1685, the Kurfürstenquelle became the foundation of Freienwalde's rise as a spa town. Frederick William's son King Frederick I of Prussia had a first maison de plaisance erected by the architect Andreas Schlüter.

The development was further promoted, when in 1799 the small Neoclassical Freienwalde Castle was built according to plans by David Gilly as a summer residence of Princess Frederika Louisa of Hesse-Darmstadt, the widow of King Frederick William II of Prussia. Its park was redesigned by Peter Joseph Lenné in 1822. The industrialist and politician Walther Rathenau acquired the palace in 1909, it was nationalised after his assassination in 1922. Freienwalde achieved the official status of spa town (Bad) in 1925.

Notable people

Demography

Bad Freienwalde (Oder):
Population development within the current boundaries (2013)
[2]
Year Population
1875 15 003
1890 17 076
1910 19 016
1925 18 825
1933 18 873
1939 19 850
1946 18 611
1950 20 867
1964 19 077
1971 18 769
Year Population
1981 17 455
1985 17 023
1989 16 963
1990 16 659
1991 16 393
1992 16 126
1993 16 034
1994 15 753
1995 15 624
1996 15 500
Year Population
1997 15 324
1998 15 189
1999 15 058
2000 14 808
2001 14 543
2002 14 360
2003 14 107
2004 13 940
2005 13 739
2006 13 538
Year Population
2007 13 315
2008 13 136
2009 12 964
2010 12 788
2011 12 656
2012 12 491
2013 12 403

International relations

Bad Freienwalde is twinned with:

References

External links

Media related to Bad Freienwalde at Wikimedia Commons

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