Rathenow

Rathenow is a town in the district of Havelland in Brandenburg, in eastern Germany, with a population of 24,063 (2020).

Overview
The Protestant church of St. Marien Andreas, originally a basilica, and transformed to the Gothic style in 1517-1589, and the Roman Catholic Church of St. George, are noteworthy.

Rathenow is known for being the former capital of eyewear manufacturing in East Germany. It is also known for its stones, called Rathenow stones.

History
In 1675, during the Scanian War, it was the site of a battle between Swedish and Brandenburgian forces.

During World War II, Rathenow was the location of a forced labour subcamp of the Nazi prison for women and juveniles in Berlin-Lichtenberg and a subcamp of the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. Prisoners of the latter were mostly Dutch, Belgian and French.

Twin towns — sister cities
Rathenow is twinned with:
 * 🇵🇱 Złotów, Poland
 * 🇩🇪 Rendsburg, Germany

Notable people

 * Christian Beeck (born 1971), footballer
 * Stephan Bodecker (1384–1459), Bishop of Brandenburg
 * Jörg Friedrich (rower) (born 1959), rower
 * Jörg Freimuth (born 1961), high jumper
 * Jörg Heinrich (born 1969), football player and manager
 * Wulf Herzogenrath (born 1944), art historian and curator
 * Rosemarie Köhn (1939–2022), 1993-2006 Bishop of Hamar (Norway) (world's second woman as a Lutheran bishop)
 * Joachim Mrugowsky (1905–1948), physician and Nazi war criminal; executed
 * Mario Streit (born 1967), rower
 * Immo Stabreit (born 1933), diplomat
 * George William Ziemann (1809–1881), Christian Missionary