| Main | Births etc |
|---|
| Schönhausen | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Country | Germany |
| State | Saxony-Anhalt |
| Admin. region | |
| District | Stendal |
| Municipal assoc. | Elbe-Havel-Land |
| Founded | |
| First mentioned | |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Catherine Tanne-Roloff |
| Area | |
| • Total | 74 km2 (29 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 34 m (112 ft) |
| Population (2010-12-31)[1] | |
| • Total | 2,340 |
| • Density | 32/km2 (82/sq mi) |
| Time zone | CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2) |
| Postal codes | 39524 |
| Dialling codes | 039323 |
| Vehicle registration | SDL |
| Website | www.schoenhausenelbe.de |
Schönhausen is a municipality in the district of Stendal in Saxony-Anhalt in Germany. It is the seat of the Verbandsgemeinde ("collective municipality") Elbe-Havel-Land.
Geography[]
It is situated on a terminal moraine, stretching along the eastern bank of the Elbe River. The municipality is located about 70 km (43 mi) north of the state capital of Magdeburg, halfway between Stendal in the west and Rathenow in the east. Since 1 January 2010 Schönhausen includes the fomer municipality of Hohengöhren.
History[]
Schönhausen was founded by the Bishops of Havelberg, who had the Romanesque brick church erected in 1212. After the Protestant Reformation, the Schönhausen estate was secularized by the Electors of Brandenburg.
Bismarck's birthplace, 1905 postcard
In 1562 the administrator of Havelberg, Joachim III Frederick of Brandenburg, gave Schönhausen to the Bismarck family from Stendal, who had to swap it against their estates at Burgstall in the Altmark. The village was devastated by Swedish troops during the Thirty Years' War. In 1680 it became part of the Brandenburgian Duchy of Magdeburg, a constituent land of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1701. The Bismarcks built two Baroque residences, the castles of Schönhausen I (about 1700) and Schönhausen II (from 1729). On 1 April 1815 the later German chancellor Otto von Bismarck was born at Schönhausen I, he nevertheless grew up at his family's estate in Kniephof, Pomerania.
After World War II, Schönhausen became part of the Soviet occupation zone and the Bismarcks were disseized of their property by the Soviet Military Administration in 1945. The Communist East German government had the castle of Schönhausen I demolished in 1958, denoting it a symbol of Prussian militarism. In 1998 a Bismarck museum was established in a preserved outhouse.
Twin town[]
Schönhausen is twinned with:
Kirchlinteln, Germany
Notable people[]
- Otto von Bismarck (1815–1898), first Chancellor of Germany
- Otto Christian Archibald von Bismarck (1897–1975), politician and diplomat
- Annett Louisan (born 1977 in Havelberg), singer, grew up in Schönhausen.
See also[]
- Romanesque Road
References[]
- ^ "Bevölkerung der Gemeinden nach Landkreisen" (in German). Statistisches Landesamt Sachsen-Anhalt. 31 December 2010. http://www.statistik.sachsen-anhalt.de/download/stat_berichte/6A102_hj_2010_02.pdf.
Template:Cities and towns in Stendal District
| This page uses content from the English language Wikipedia. The original content was at Schönhausen. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with this Familypedia wiki, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons License. |