Eisenhüttenstadt is a town in the Oder-Spree district of the state of
Brandenburg on the west bank of the Oder. It was created as a planned
city after a decision from July 1950 as a socialist residential city for
the Eisenhüttenkombinat Ost (EKO). The factory is still a major employer
today. It was built near the historic town of Fürstenberg (Oder), which
has existed since the 13th century, with which the district called
Stalinstadt since 1953 was united to form Eisenhüttenstadt in 1961. The
city is a middle center and formed its own urban district until 1993.
Since then it has had the status of an independent large district town.
Due to its history as a completely new city and the urban
development with various monuments, Eisenhüttenstadt is considered a
special building ensemble.
The Evangelical Peace Community in Eisenhüttenstadt initially used a
room in a restaurant for services in Schönfliess. In Neustadt there was
initially a so-called gospel car, in the meantime a tent and from 1952 a
barracks. For the planned housing estates, at that time still called
Stalinstadt, no church facilities and especially no church towers were
planned by Walter Ulbricht. Today's Protestant church building and
community center in Neustadt was completed in 1981 and goes back to the
many years of service by the future honorary citizen, Pastor Heinz
Bräuer.
In the district of Fürstenberg, the Nikolaikirche, which
was badly damaged in the war, was provisionally rebuilt and thoroughly
renovated after reunification. The New Apostolic congregation in
Eisenhüttenstadt has a church in the district of Fürstenberg.
Baptist church work has existed since the 1920s, from which the
Evangelical Free Church Church emerged as an independent church in 1990.
The Catholic parish of Beata Maria Virgo in Neuzelle includes the
Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Fürstenberg in Eisenhüttenstadt
and the Church of the Holy Cross in Schönfliess, which was consecrated
in 1994 and formed a separate parish until 2019.
The list of architectural monuments in Eisenhüttenstadt and the list of ground monuments in Eisenhüttenstadt include the city's cultural monuments that have been placed under monument protection by the state of Brandenburg.
Area monument Residential town of the ironworks (largest area
monument in Germany)
Large restaurant Aktivist, built in 1953 and now
listed as a monument.
The building in the style of socialist
classicism was privatized after reunification and restored by August
2010 for around five million euros. A new restaurant with 100 seats was
inaugurated on part of the previous area. The remaining larger area was
converted into office space.
Technical Monument Twin Shaft Lock
(built from 1925 to 1929)
Soviet memorial on the memorial square for at least 4109 Soviet
prisoners of war. The memorial was erected in 1951 and the bones from
the original mass graves were reburied in a crypt under the memorial, as
they had to make way for the steelworks.
Memorial in the cemetery of
the district of Fürstenberg on Kastanienstraße for 101 prisoners of war
from the main camp.
Memorial stone on the grounds of Stalag III B,
made of granite blocks that were intended for the "soldiers' hall" of
the world capital Germania.
Memorial stone in the Jewish cemetery on
Kirchhofweg for the murdered Jewish merchant family Fellert in
Fürstenberg
Memorial plaque at the birthplace of the shot Jewish
citizen Siegfried Fellert and his wife Emma at Königstraße 61
Soviet
memorial in Fürstenberg for 23 soldiers of the Dnieper flotilla who fell
in the battle for the Erlenhof bridgehead against the Russian liberation
army.
In the district of Fürstenberg, Stolpersteine for Emma and
Siegfried Fellert were laid at Königstraße 61 by the artist Gunter
Demnig.
Friedrich-Wolf-Theater (named after Friedrich Wolf) with 711 seats
and the small stage (kb) with 120 seats
Documentation Center for
Everyday Culture in the GDR
Municipal Museum and Gallery
Fire
Brigade Museum
library
cultural center
Club Hans Marchwitza
Evangelical Community Center Robert-Koch-Str.37
Open-air stage in the
Diehlo mountains with 2130 seats.
Inselhalle on the Inselvorplatz
The former self-service department store on Saarlouiser Strasse was
acquired by Holger Friedrich and now houses exhibitions
City festival (usually on the last weekend in August, 2007 with
250,000 visitors)
Bridge festival in the district of Fürstenberg/Oder
(suspended)
Schönfliess local festival in the district of Schönfliess
Dragon boat races at the dry dock
Dance week for amateur dancers,
professional dance theater and solo artists
Musical Snowman Snowy's
Adventures (every year in December at the Friedrich-Wolf-Theater)
Presumably because of its bulkiness, which arouses countless
associations and does not lack a certain rhythm, there are various music
titles with the city name:
2004: Mariachis feat. Ivo Lotion:
Eisenhüttenstadt (four version single; reggae)
2004: The Plan: The
Conspiracy: Eisenhüttenstadt (pop)
2004: Dirk Michaelis:
Eisenhüttenstadt
2005: Aki Takase, Alex von Schlippenbach & DJ
Illvibe: Locomotive 03: Eisenhüttenstadt. (Jazz)
2006: Theodore
Angst: Eisenhüttenstadt (Rock)
2013: Sven Helbig: Eisenhüttenstadt
(avant-garde)
2018: Eight buckets of chicken hearts: Eisenhüttenstadt
(Punk)
2020: Los Banditos: Eisenhüttenstadt (surf music)
1963: The Search for the Wonderfully Colorful Bird (children's film,
directed by Rolf Losansky; with Lieselott Baumgarten and Fred Delmare)
1963: Ofenbauer (documentary film, director: Jürgen Böttcher)
1963:
New Year's Eve at the blast furnace (documentary film, director: Jürgen
Böttcher)
1967: The Frozen Lightning (DEFA spy film, directed by
János Veiczi)
1992: Iron Age (Documentary, Director: Thomas Heise)
1997: Pi - The Policewoman (feature film, director: Carolin Otto)
2000: Half a Century (Documentary, vds, Director: Tilo Schönherr)
2005: The Swallow's Nest (TV movie, directed by Maris Pfeiffer)
2006:
Hüttenstadt (documentary, director: Johanna Ickert)
2007: Lunik - The
Movie (feature film, directed by Gilbert Beronneau)
2010: 60 years
city and work (documentary film, vds, director: Tilo Schönherr)
2012:
Teratrom (short film, director: Maik Richter)
2017: The Silent
Classroom (feature film, directed by Lars Kraume)
2018: H. Beckert,
(short film, director: Maik Richter)
2019: And facing the future
(feature film, director: Bernd Böhlich)
By plane
The nearest commercial airport is Berlin Brandenburg
Airport (IATA: BER) .
Anyone arriving by plane can use the
airfield north-west of the city in Pohlitz, which belongs to the
municipality of Siehdichum.
By train
The Frankfurt
(Oder)–Cottbus railway runs through Eisenhüttenstadt. The 1
Eisenhüttenstadt train station is located near the district of
Fürstenberg. Regional trains and regional express trains stop, some are
also connected to Berlin.
On the street
The federal highway B
112 runs through Eisenhüttenstadt. It is around 30 km to the A12
motorway, exit Frankfurt (Oder). You can also reach Eisenhüttenstadt via
the B 246 from the direction of Beeskow.
By boat
Eisenhüttenstadt is located on the navigable Oder. There are berths in
the district of Fürstenberg.
As early as 1251, the city of Fürstenberg
was founded in what is now the city area as part of the territorial
policy of the Meissen margrave Henry the Illustrious. In 1286 it is
attested as a civitas and customs post. In the 14th century, Emperor
Charles IV ordered the construction of a city wall. From 1316 to
1817 the manor was with the Neuzelle monastery with few
interruptions. The council formed in the first half of the 14th
century held the lower courts and, together with the abbot von
Neuzelle, also the higher courts.
After the Peace of Prague
in 1635, Fürstenberg and Niederlausitz became part of the Electorate
of Saxony, and in 1815 it fell to Prussia. The small town located
off the Frankfurt (Oder) - Guben highway on a less important Oder
ferry, but important as a customs post, in which fishing and
shipping were also carried out, had 1,686 inhabitants in 1830. With
the construction of the railway from Frankfurt (Oder) to Breslau in
1846 and following the Oder-Spree Canal, which flows into the Oder
(1891), industrial development began with glassworks, shipyards,
sawmills, oil and grain mills. The city's Jewish community began
using its cemetery in 1890, which was later destroyed by the Nazis.
Between 1871 and 1900 the population doubled to 5,700, by 1933 it
had increased to 7,054. In 1925 an Oder harbor was created.
DEGUSSA's central chemical plant was built between the canal, the
railway line and Schönfließer Chaussee (today Beeskower Strasse) for
war preparations by the National Socialists, in which during the
Second World War prisoners of a satellite camp of the Sachsenhausen
concentration camp and prisoners of war of the main camp III B
(prisoners of war) Team main camp) performed forced labor that
killed thousands. They were also used in the Oder device
construction, an armaments factory outsourced from
Rheinmetall-Borsig, in the Vogelsang power plant on the Oder, in
forestry and in road construction. Between 1940 and 1943 the GBI
port was built on the Oder-Spree Canal, with a granite store for the
planned imperial capital, today's port of Eisenhüttenstadt.
On April 24, 1945, the Red Army occupied the city. Fürstenberg
(Oder) became a garrison town for the Soviet troops. Most of the
industrial facilities were dismantled as a reparation payment.
On the III. At the SED party congress from July 20 to 24, 1950,
the decision was made to build the Eisenhüttenkombinat Ost (EKO) and
a socialist residential town near Fürstenberg (Oder). The new
residential town was to be built according to the “16 principles of
urban development” and in the architectural style of socialist
classicism.
On August 18, 1950, the symbolic first ax blow
was made to mark the start of construction on the ironworks combine.
On January 1, 1951, Minister Fritz Selbmann laid the foundation
stone for the first blast furnace, which went into operation on
September 19, 1951. Five more blast furnaces were built by 1955. On
February 1, 1953, the residential town was detached from the
Fürstenberg district as an independent urban district and renamed
Stalinstadt on May 7, 1953 on the occasion of the death of Stalin.
Originally, on the 70th anniversary of Karl Marx's death, the city
was to be given the name Karl-Marx-Stadt, which was then given to
Chemnitz instead. At the end of 1953 the city had 2,400 inhabitants,
in 1960 already 24,372. Fürstenberg (Oder) became a district town in
1952 and in 1960 had a population of 6,749.
On November 13,
1961, the cities of Fürstenberg (Oder) (with the Schönfließ
district) and Stalinstadt were merged to form Eisenhüttenstadt in
order to erase the name that had become undesirable as part of the
de-Stalinization. The city of Fürstenberg (Oder) was separated from
the Fürstenberg district and added to the city already existing
under the name Stalinstadt. Eisenhüttenstadt was then until the
formation of the Oder-Spree district, both an independent city and a
district town in the Eisenhüttenstadt district in the Frankfurt
(Oder) district.
On September 19, 1986, with great political
participation in the Federal Republic of Germany, an agreement on
the first German-German town twinning between Saarlouis and
Eisenhüttenstadt was signed.
With the expansion of the iron
and steel works, the number of inhabitants rose to an all-time high
of over 53,000 by 1988. In 1993 the village of Diehlo was
incorporated. In 1996 the new dyke bridge was rebuilt over the
Oder-Spree Canal. With the structural change after reunification,
the population almost halved. In order to cope with the shrinking
process, an urban redevelopment program has been started, which
involves the demolition and renovation of numerous apartments.
The somewhat cumbersome name of the city has always encouraged
people to create more catchy names. In colloquial language, the city
is often shortened to “Hüttenstadt” or “Hütte”. Due to the decline
since 1989, the city is now popularly called "Schrottgorod". Scrap
corrupted the iron as a material to be recycled, the ending -gorod
the Russian ending for -stadt.
Incorporations
The
community of Diehlo became part of Eisenhüttenstadt in 1993.
Eisenhüttenstadt is located on a valley sand terrace of the
Warsaw-Berlin glacial valley. In the south it is bordered by the hills
of a terminal moraine, the Diehloer mountains. The Oder-Spree Canal
flows into the Oder in Eisenhüttenstadt.
The city is about 25
kilometers south of Frankfurt (Oder), 25 kilometers north of Guben and
110 kilometers from Berlin.
Eisenhüttenstadt is located in the
extreme north of Lower Lusatia and is the third largest city after
Cottbus and Żary (Sorau). In the Oder-Spree district, Eisenhüttenstadt
is the second largest city after Fürstenwalde/Spree.
On August 18, 1950, the Minister of Industry of the GDR, Fritz
Selbmann, gave the go-ahead for the construction of the
Eisenhüttenkombinat Ost (EKO) with the first blows of an ax to fell a
pine tree.
Today, the economy in Eisenhüttenstadt is dominated by
ArcelorMittal Eisenhüttenstadt GmbH. ArcelorMittal Eisenhüttenstadt is
an integrated metallurgical plant and belongs to ArcelorMittal, the
world's largest steel group. The company, which emerged from VEB
Eisenhüttenkombinat Ost and EKO Stahl GmbH, is currently the largest in
Brandenburg.
The Canadian raw materials company 5N Plus opened a
plant in Eisenhüttenstadt in 2008.
Neue Oderwerft manufactures
and repairs inland vessels of all kinds. It emerged from several
shipyards based in Fürstenberg.
Progroup AG has been producing
corrugated base paper for the packaging industry in Europe since spring
2011. In the course of the settlement of the new paper factory, a new
thermal power station from the company EnBW Propower GmbH and a new
sewage treatment plant of the local drinking and waste water association
were put into operation on the site.
The city was the seat of the district court of Eisenhüttenstadt,
which belonged to the district of the regional court of Frankfurt
(Oder). The court has been a branch of the District Court of Frankfurt
(Oder) since 2023.
In addition to seven clinics, three day
clinics and an MVZ in Eisenhüttenstadt, the municipal hospital also
operates day clinics in Beeskow (psychiatry) and Guben (geriatrics).
road traffic
Eisenhüttenstadt is crossed by federal highway 112,
which has enabled a fast connection to Frankfurt (Oder) since 2015 due
to the expansion of the Neisse route. The federal highway 246 to Beeskow
begins in the city. The nearest motorway junction is Frankfurt
(Oder)-Mitte on the A12.
Although Eisenhüttenstadt is right on
the Polish border, it does not have a direct border crossing. The
nearest border crossings are in Coschen (15 km), Frankfurt (Oder) (25
km) and in Guben (30 km).
rail transport
Eisenhüttenstadt
train station is on the Frankfurt (Oder)–Cottbus railway line and is in
the Fürstenberg district. There are connections every two hours with the
regional express line RE 10 Frankfurt (Oder)-Cottbus-Leipzig and the
regional train line RB 43 Frankfurt (Oder)-Cottbus-Falkenberg (Elster),
which overlap between Frankfurt (Oder) and Cottbus via Eisenhüttenstadt
at hourly intervals .
In addition, there is another regional
express line RE 1 with individual trains during rush hour, which creates
a direct connection to Berlin.
shipping
Eisenhüttenstadt is
located on a class III federal waterway, the Oder-Spree Canal flows into
the Oder here. The coasts of the North and Baltic Seas as well as many
European metropolises can be reached by water. The city operates the
port of Eisenhüttenstadt with rail and road connections.
air
traffic
The nearest airport is Berlin Brandenburg. A commercial
airfield is located on the north-west edge of the city in Pohlitz, which
belongs to the municipality of Siehdichum.
License Plate
From
1994, the distinguishing sign EH was replaced by the district-wide sign
LOS. Due to the license plate liberalization, the EH sign can also be
selected again for registrations since 2017, after the
Eisenhüttenstadt-based majority in surveys had spoken out in favor of
the reintroduction of the old license plate.
Today there are five primary schools in Eisenhüttenstadt, a
comprehensive school with a high school and a high school. There is also
an upper school center with an attached vocational high school, three
vocational schools and technical colleges, two special needs schools and
two other further education institutions. The schools are sponsored by
the city of Eisenhüttenstadt, the Oder-Spree district and private
sponsors.
Albert Schweitzer High School
In 1991, the
grammar school supported by the city district of Eisenhüttenstadt was
established as the Municipal Gymnasium Eisenhüttenstadt. With the
formation of the Oder-Spree district in 1993, the sponsorship changed.
On October 30, 1996, the school was given the name Albert Schweitzer
Gymnasium. The naming took place in the presence of the then Federal
President Roman Herzog and Prime Minister Manfred Stolpe. Since May
2009, an Albert Schweitzer exhibition can be visited on the school
grounds, which is on permanent loan from the Lower Lusatia Albert
Schweitzer Circle of Friends.
Oberstufenzentrum Oder-Spree
The Oberstufenzentrum Oder-Spree, with over 3,500 trainees and
students, is the largest educational institution in the Oder-Spree
district and operates the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz branch at Waldstraße
10. The institution combines courses from the vocational school, the
vocational school, the technical college and the vocational grammar
school. A key focus of the educational work is the maintenance of
diverse international relationships with partner schools in Japan,
Sweden, France, Holland, Denmark and Poland, among others. In 2012, the
school merged with the OSZ Palmnicken in Fürstenwalde/Spree, where the
school management and secretariat are based.
School for Health
and Nursing Professions e. V
The school has been a
state-recognized technical school for healthcare and nursing professions
since 1954. Its former name is Medical College Eisenhüttenstadt - MeFa.
It is supported by an association whose members are health facilities in
the region.
State school and technical facility for fire and
disaster control LSTE
The LSTE is dedicated to the training and
further education of members of the fire brigades and civil protection
units. Furthermore, special maintenance of equipment and vehicles for
fire and disaster control is carried out and technology and specialist
staff are available in the event of major disasters.
In Eisenhüttenstadt, the Märkische Oderzeitung appears as a daily
regional newspaper with its own local section. The advertising papers
Märkischer Markt and Märkischer Sonntag are also published.
In
addition, a local television program is produced in the city with the
Oder-Spree-Fernsehen (OSF), which can be received via cable in
Eisenhüttenstadt, Neuzelle and Beeskow.
The Hüttenwerker stadium is located in the Waldstraße sports
facilities.
With the Eisenhüttenstädter FC Stahl, the FSV Dynamo
Eisenhüttenstadt, the SG Aufbau Eisenhüttenstadt and the 1. FC
Fürstenberg, the city provided four clubs in the field of football until
June 30, 2016. These were represented from the Brandenburg league to the
district league. On July 1, 2016, Eisenhüttenstadt FC Stahl, SG Aufbau
Eisenhüttenstadt and 1. FC Fürstenberg merged and started playing as FC
Eisenhüttenstadt on the 6th level (Brandenburg League), to which it also
belongs in the 2018/2019 season.
Heinz Bräuer (1916-2007), first pastor of Stalinstadt from 1953 to 1983
Bernhard Loener (1890–1952), National Socialist lawyer, born in
Fürstenberg (Oder).
Oskar Haidinger (1908–1987), lawyer and federal
judge, born in Fürstenberg (Oder).
Manfred Sader (1936-2009), Lord
Mayor of Eisenhüttenstadt, born in Schönfliess
Friedrich
Liechtenstein (born 1956), musician and entertainer
Elke Pollack
(born 1960), painter and graphic artist
Thomas Sonnenburg (* 1963),
social worker
Ekkehard Steinhäuser (born 1964), Protestant theologian
Mathias Noack (born 1967), drama teacher and actor
Sven Helbig (born
1968), producer, musician
Paul van Dyk (born 1971), DJ, composer and
music producer
Sebastian Nakayev (born 1976), actor
Susann Engert
(born 1978), politician (SPD)
Martin Maleschka (born 1982),
photographer and installation artist
Clemens Rostock (born 1984),
politician (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Cordula Hanns (born 1986),
actress, singer, video artist
Bernhard Hansky (born 1988), opera
singer
Udo Beyer (* 1955), shot putter, Olympic champion 1976
Eckhardt
Kreutzer (1955–2014), soccer player and coach
Hans-Georg Beyer (*
1956), handball player, Olympic champion 1980
Detlef Gerstenberg
(1957–1993), track and field athlete
Frank Schaffer (born 1958),
track and field athlete
Catherine Bullin (born 1959), volleyball
player
Gisela Beyer (born 1960), track and field athlete
Hendrik
Heron (born 1962), rower
Ute Langenau (born 1966), volleyball player
Torsten Gutsche (* 1968), canoeist, Olympic champion in 1992 and 1996
Kathrin Boron (* 1969), rower, multiple Olympic champion
Soren
Lausberg (born 1969), cyclist
Amadeus Wallschläger (born 1985),
soccer player
Roger Kluge (born 1986), cyclist
Florian Müller
(born 1986), soccer player
Christian John (born 1993), wrestler
Pia Kästner (born 1998), volleyball player
Paul Jaeckel (born 1998),
soccer player
Leon Schneider (born 2000), soccer player
Karl-Heinz Zieger (1911–1982) production director of the iron and
steel combine East
Erich Markowitsch (1913-1991), works director of
the ironworks combine East, general director of the VEB steel strip
combine and GDR minister
Otto Schutzmeister (1920–1985), painter and
graphic artist, lived in Eisenhüttenstadt
Herbert Burschik
(1922–1990), sculptor, lived in Eisenhüttenstadt
Werner Bauer
(1925-1994), author of children's and youth books, lived in
Eisenhüttenstadt
Johannes Hansky (1925-2004), Sorbian painter,
graphic artist and creator of the city coat of arms, lived in
Eisenhüttenstadt for a long time
Helmut Preißler (1925–2010), writer,
lived in Eisenhüttenstadt
Sepp Womser (1931-2008), painter and
graphic artist, lived in Eisenhüttenstadt
Rudolf Bahro (1935-1997),
GDR regime critic, spent his school days in the city
Tamara Bunke
(1937–1967), fellow fighter of Che Guevara in Bolivia, passed her Abitur
in Eisenhüttenstadt
Karl Döring (* 1937), general director of VEB
Bandstahlkombinat and chairman of the board of EKO Stahl AG
Eisenhüttenstadt
Rolf Henrich (* 1944), lawyer, author and former GDR
dissident, first signatory of the founding appeal of the New Forum,
lives in Eisenhüttenstadt
Andreas Ludwig (* 1954), founder and
long-time director of the Documentation Center for Everyday Culture in
the GDR in Eisenhüttenstadt
Matthias Steier (* 1959), painter, lives
in Eisenhüttenstadt
Sabine Rennefanz (* 1974), journalist and author,
grew up in Eisenhüttenstadt