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 ...

Hennigsdorf shared its borders with the former West Berlin. From 1961-1990, Hennigsdorf and Berlin were seperated by the Berlin Wall. The East Germans built the Havel Canal in 1951-52 in order to avoid a water passage through the River Havel between Spandau and Potsdam, both were under West Berlin control. The canal is still is use.

Potsdam is found just outside of Berlin. Johanna says there has been a rivalry between Berlin and Potsdam since the German monarch decided that Berlin would be the capital of Germany, while Potsdam would be where they live.  Johanna goes on to say that many people that work in Berlin, don't live in Berlin. Berliners think that everything outside Berlin "seems provincial." When I thanked Johanna for her card I told her that's how Canadians view Toronto - they see Torontonians as arrogant and that they view the rest of Canada as 'not Toronto.' In fact, the joke in Canada is that Toronto is an indigenous word that means 'centre of the universe.' I would imagine most countries have that one or two cities they loathe Johanna's card says "Moin Moin" which means "good morning."