DEUTSCHLAND	GERMANY
Bundesland: Brandenburg
Landkreis: Oberhavel

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Fürstenberg / Havel is situated on the river Havel between the three Havel lakes Röblinsee, Baalensee and Schwedtsee in northern Brandenburg. It was first mentioned in a document of 1287. The castle was built on an island in the tiver by the margraves of Brandenburg in the mid-12th century. The surrounding area was inhabited by mostly slavic people. The castle and the German settlement that developed beneath it were called Vorstenberghe because they were situated at the front line (German vorderst means foremost). From 1350, Fürstenberg belonged to the Duchy of Mecklenburg. Situated at the border between Mecklenburg and Brandenburg, the place became an important trading town. After the division of Mecklenburg in 1701 it belonged to the Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz which, like Mecklenburg-Schwerin, became a Grand Duchy in 1815. After the opening of the Berliner Nordbahn railway in 1877, Fürstenberg lost its position as trading emporium, but gained a new position as a popular summer tourist resort and climatic spa. The Nazis built the concentrations camp Ravensbrück near Fürstenberg in 1938. In 1952, Fürstenberg became part of the district Potsdam of the GDR. Since the reunification of Germany in 1990 Fürstenberg / Havel is part of the state of Brandenburg.

The Protestant town church Sankt Marien [bottom left] was built in 1845–1848. It is a rare example of Neo-Byzantine style in Germany. The spire has a height of 50 m.

The bottom right picture shows view of the lake Röblinsee, just west of Fürstenberg. The earliest written document mentioning the lake as stagnum Röbelin dates from 1299 and refers to the monastery Himmelpfort, which was founded in that year and which received the utilisation rights of the lake as one of its endowments. The Augustapark was later used as recreation home of the Chamber of Handicrafts of Berlin. The building depicted in the image is the former Kurhaus.

[https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Röblinsee, http://www.moz.de/heimat/lokalredaktionen/eisenhuettenstadt/artikel0/dg/0/1/959246/]