Oranienburg is located 35 km north of the centre of Berlin. It was first mentioned in documents in 1216. Margrave Albert the Bear ordered the construction of the castle on the banks of the Havel River. Around the castle grew a settlement of traders and craftsmen. In 1646, Friedrich Wilhelm I of Brandenburg married Louise Hen
riette of Orange-Nassau. She loved the town so much that Wilhelm gifted the entire region to her. A new castle was built and renamed Oranienburg.
Oranienburg was the site of one of the earliest Nazi concentration camps. Located on the outskirts of the town, 200 000 people were interned there over the nine years of operation. About 20 000 people died there. It was liberated by the Soviet Red Army in 1945. The Soviets reopened the site as Soviet Special Camp 7. About 12 000 people, mostly Nazis not awaiting trail, died here before the camp was closed in 1950. The remains of the 12 000 people were discovered in the 1990s.
Oranienburg was also the centre of Nazi Germany's nuclear energy project. Germany's uranium production facility was located here, plus there was an aircraft plant and railway junctions, all of which were of military importance. Soviet leader Josef Stalin wanted the nuclear facility and launched the Battle for Berlin in April and May of 1945. However, the United States Air Force's Eighth Air Force destroyed the facilities in March in order to prevent the Soviets from getting the facility.
In April 1945, the 1st Belorussian Front of the Red Army captured Oranienburg.
Oranienburg is the "most dangerous town in Germany" due to unexploded ordinace from World War II. It is the only town in Germany that looks for unexploded bombs based on postwar aerial photos and magnetic or radar underground measurements. As of 2017, 200 bombs had been disposed of, adn there is estimated to be up to 400 more remaining. There was one case where all 12 000 residents were evacuated due to a discovery.
This card comes from Elbsandsteingebirge - Elbe Sandstone Mountains. It is located on the border of Saxony, Germany and the North Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. The Elbe breaks through the mountain range in the steep and narrow valley.
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