Finsterwalde

Finsterwalde
Town hall
Coat of arms
Finsterwalde
Location of Finsterwalde within Elbe-Elster district
Coordinates:
Country	Germany
State	Brandenburg
District	Elbe-Elster
Government
• Mayor	Jörg Gampe (CDU)
Area
• Total	76.91 km2 (29.70 sq mi)
Population (2013-12-31)
• Total	16,561
• Density	220/km2 (560/sq mi)
Time zone	CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes	03238
Dialling codes	03531
Vehicle registration	EE, FI, LIB
Website	www.finsterwalde.de

Finsterwalde (German pronunciation: [fɪnstɐˈvaldə], Lower Sorbian: Grabin) is a town in the Elbe-Elster district (German: Landkreis), in Brandenburg, Germany.

Overview

It is situated on the Schackebach, a tributary of the Kleine Elster, 28 m. W.S.W of Cottbus by rail. Pop. (2005) 18,840. The town has a Gothic church (1581), a castle, schools, cloth and cigar factories, iron-foundries, flour and saw mills and factories for machine building. The town, which is first mentioned in 1288, came into the possession of the Electorate of Saxony from 1635 and of Prussia in 1815. Popular are the "four singers from Finsterwalde" and their "singer-song".

Demography

• 

  Development of population since 1875 within the current boundaries (Blue line: population; dotted line: Comparison to population development of Brandenburg state; grey background: Time of Nazi rule; red background: Time of communist rule)

• 

  Recent Population Development (Blue Line) and Forecasts

Finsterwalde:
Population development within the current boundaries (2013)

Year Population 1875 10 098 1890 11 466 1910 17 297 1925 17 474 1933 18 072 1939 20 120 1946 22 613 1950 22 374 1964 23 609 1971 23 976

Year Population 1981 24 870 1985 24 781 1989 24 427 1990 23 777 1991 23 019 1992 22 985 1993 22 556 1994 22 029 1995 21 744 1996 21 457

Year Population 1997 21 343 1998 20 908 1999 20 482 2000 20 103 2001 19 704 2002 19 378 2003 19 152 2004 18 985 2005 18 693 2006 18 516

Year Population 2007 18 162 2008 17 861 2009 17 517 2010 17 407 2011 16 876 2012 16 680 2013 16 561

Known persons

Beach volleyball player Stephanie Pohl.

The following well known persons are from Finsterwalde:

• Hansgeorg Bätcher Oberstleutnant in the Luftwaffe and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves.
• Inge Deutschkron, German-Israeli journalist and author
• Thomas Eisfeld, Football player for Arsenal FC
• Catrin G Grosse Artist and painter
• Kurt Haehling Generalmajor in the Wehrmacht and a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
• Detlef Irrgang, Football player
• Sonja Kesselschläger, Heptathlon athlete
• Hermann Kotzschmar, German-American musician, conductor and composer
• Peggy Kuznik, Football player
• Otto Ostrowski, Mayor of Finsterwalde in the 1920s
• Stephanie Pohl, Beach volleyball player
• Hans-Jürgen Riediger, Football player

Buildings

• Finsterwalde Solar Park
• Janusz-Korczak-Gymnasium, formerly Knabenschule by Max Taut (1913)

References

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: 

External links

Media related to at Wikimedia Commons