Beelitz

Infobox Ort in Deutschland
Art = Stadt
Wappen = Wappen Beelitz.pnglat_deg = 52 |lat_min = 14
lon_deg = 12 |lon_min = 58
Lageplan = Beelitz in PM.pngBundesland = Brandenburg
Landkreis = Potsdam-Mittelmark
Höhe = 40
Fläche = 180.08
Einwohner = 12147
Stand = 2007-03-31
PLZ = 14547
Vorwahl = 033204
Kfz = PM
Gemeindeschlüssel = 12 0 69 017
Gliederung = 12 Ortsteile
Straße = Berliner Str. 202
Website = [http://www.beelitz.de/ www.beelitz.de]
Bürgermeister = Thomas Wardin
Partei = SPD

Beelitz is a town in the Potsdam-Mittelmark district, in Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated about 18 km south of Potsdam, in a glacial sandur plain surrounded by extended pine woods. Beelitz is known for its cultivation of white asparagus ("Beelitzer Spargel"), which is quite popular within the Berlin-Brandenburg region.

History

A 997 deed by Emperor Otto III mentions a settlement with the Slavic name "Belizi", though this denotation may also refer to the nearby town of Belzig. The Saint Mary and Saint Nicholas parish church was first mentioned in a 1247 report of a bleeding host miracle, that made Beelitz a medieval pilgrimage site. Since 1370 the host was kept in a small chapel adjacent to the church. When in 1731 King Frederick William I of Prussia billeted a husar regiment, Beelitz became a garrison town and today is home to a Bundeswehr command. The cultivation of asparagus was first documented in 1861.

The village of "Kanin", a subdivision of Belzig since 2001, had been an exclave of the Electorate of Saxony until 1815 and therefore a notorious smuggling area as well as a destination for deserters from the Prussian army. Its fieldstone church was erected about 1138 and today is the oldest preserved one within the Brandenburg state.

In 1928 the Telefunken company erected a radio station in the subdivision of "Schönefeld" for the wireless communication with North America. Together with the Nauen Transmitter Station it was incorporated by the Reichspost in 1932 After World War II the station was used by the Deutsche Post of the GDR until it finally went out of service in 1991.

Beelitz-Heilstätten

Beelitz-Heilstätten, a district of the town, is home to a large hospital complex of about 60 buildings including a cogeneration plant erected from 1898 on according to plans of architect Heino Schmieden. Originally designed as a sanatorium by the Berlin workers' health insurance corporation, the complex from the beginning of World War I on was a military hospital of the Imperial German Army. During October and November 1916, Adolf Hitler recuperated at Beelitz-Heilstätten after being wounded in the leg at the Battle of the Somme. In 1945, Beelitz-Heilstätten was occupied by Soviet forces, and the complex remained a Soviet military hospital until 1995, well after the German reunification. In December 1990 Erich Honecker was admitted to Beelitz-Heilstätten after being forced to resign as the head of the East German government.

Following the Soviet withdrawal, attempts were made to privatize the complex, but they were not entirely successful. Some sections of the hospital remain in operation as a neurological rehabilitation center and as a center for research and care for victims of Parkinsons disease. The remainder of the complex, including the surgery, the psychiatric ward, and a rifle range, was abandoned in 2000. As of 2007, none of the abandoned hospital buildings or the surrounding area were secured, giving the area the feel of a ghost town. This has made Beelitz-Heilstätten a destination for curious visitors and a film set for movies like The Pianist from 2002.

Transportation

Beelitz is located at an old trade route from Berlin to Leipzig, today the Bundesstraße 2. It also has access to the Bundesautobahn 9 at the "Beelitz-Heilstätten" and "Beelitz" junctions. Train service to Potsdam and Berlin is available at two railway stations.

Twin towns

*Ratingen, North Rhine-Westphalia since 1990
*Alfter, North Rhine-Westphalia

Links

* [http://www.heilstaetten.beelitz-online.de/ Beelitz-Heilstätten online] (in German)
* [http://www.forbidden-places.net/urban-exploration-Beelitz-Heilstaetten_Sanatorium History, maps, and photos of the uildings early 2008 (English)]
* [http://www.rehaklinik-beelitz.de/ Neurologische Rehabilitationsklinik Beelitz-Heilstätten] (in German)
* [http://www.marodes.de/marodesueberregional/fotogaleriebeelitz/index.html Photo gallery of the abandoned hospital buildings] (in German)