Seelow

Seelow

Seelow Town Hall

Coat of arms
Seelow

Coordinates: 52°31′00″N 14°22′59″E / 52.51667°N 14.38306°E / 52.51667; 14.38306Coordinates: 52°31′00″N 14°22′59″E / 52.51667°N 14.38306°E / 52.51667; 14.38306
Country Germany
State Brandenburg
District Märkisch-Oderland
Government
  Mayor Jörg Schröder (Ind.)
Area
  Total 25.28 km2 (9.76 sq mi)
Population (2013-12-31)[1]
  Total 5,465
  Density 220/km2 (560/sq mi)
Time zone CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes 15306
Dialling codes 03346
Vehicle registration MOL, FRW, SEE, SRB
Website Official website

Seelow is a German town, seat of the Märkisch-Oderland, a district of Brandenburg. As of 2013 its population was of 5,464.

Geography

It is situated in the extreme east of Germany, 70 km (40 miles) east of Berlin, 16 km (10 miles) west of the boundary with Poland.

History

Church in Seelow.

The village appears in the records held in 1252 by Archbishop Wilbrand of Magdeburg. At that time, listed as Villa Zelou, it was included in the property of the formerly Polish Bishopric of Lebus (Lubusz Land), contested between the Magdeburg archbishops and the Ascanian margraves of Brandenburg.

Seelow suffered damaging town fires in 1630, 1788 and again in 1809.

From 1816 Seelow was included for administrative purposes in the Lebus district, a subdivision of the Frankfurt Region within the Prussian Province of Brandenburg. In 1863 the district council office was relocated to Seelow and in 1950 "Lebus district" was renamed "Seelow district"; following frontier changes agreed with the Soviet Union in 1945, the town of Lebus itself had lost to Poland much of the agricultural area that had traditionally supported it. Between 1952 and 1993, Seelow was the administrative centre for the eponymous district within the larger Frankfurt territory.

Seelow was the location of one of the last major pitched battles in Europe during the Second World War - the Battle of the Seelow Heights. In this battle, from 16 to 19 April 1945, Soviet troops under Marshal Zhukov opened the way to Berlin. By the time the slaughter was over the town was largely destroyed, primarily through a major air attack which took place on 17 April 1945, and which was followed by extensive burning and plunder.

Cultural references

Because of its importance in the Second World War, Seelow is today featured in many video games, books and films. Seelow is a playable map in the popular PS3 and Xbox 360 game Call of Duty: World at War. The Battle of the Seelow Heights is featured extensively in Men of War. The planet Тзаэло (Tzaelow) in the Warhammer 40,000 universe is a likely reference to the town of Seelow, particularly the way that the battle is fought.

Demographics

Seelow:
Population development within the current boundaries (2013)
[2]
Year Population
1875 5 736
1890 5 205
1910 4 492
1925 4 754
1933 4 736
1939 4 420
1946 4 022
1950 4 667
1964 5 652
1971 5 804
Year Population
1981 6 304
1985 6 457
1989 6 328
1990 6 231
1991 6 190
1992 6 069
1993 5 943
1994 5 852
1995 5 829
1996 5 875
Year Population
1997 5 896
1998 6 028
1999 6 042
2000 6 082
2001 6 054
2002 6 007
2003 5 995
2004 5 896
2005 5 776
2006 5 736
Year Population
2007 5 688
2008 5 599
2009 5 575
2010 5 540
2011 5 445
2012 5 464
2013 5 465

Twin towns

Seelow is twinned with:[3]

See also

References

External links

Media related to Seelow at Wikimedia Commons


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Tuesday, July 21, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.