Erkner | |
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 Coat of arms | |
Location of Erkner within Oder-Spree district  | |
  Erkner  Erkner | |
| Coordinates:52°25′N13°45′E / 52.417°N 13.750°E /52.417; 13.750 | |
| Country | Germany |
| State | Brandenburg |
| District | Oder-Spree |
| Government | |
| • Mayor(2018–26) | Henryk Pilz[1] |
| Area | |
• Total | 16.60 km2 (6.41 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 40 m (130 ft) |
| Population (2022-12-31)[2] | |
• Total | 11,970 |
| • Density | 720/km2 (1,900/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+01:00 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (CEST) |
| Postal codes | 15537 |
| Dialling codes | 03362 |
| Vehicle registration | LOS |
| Website | www.erkner.de |
Erkner (German pronunciation:[ˈɛʁknɐ]ⓘ) is a town in theOder-Spree District ofBrandenburg,Germany, located on the south-eastern edge of the German capital cityBerlin.
The town is located between the lakesDämeritzsee, a part of the riverSpree, and Flakensee, surrounded by a mainly forested landscape. Neighbouring municipalities areWoltersdorf in the north,Grünheide (Mark) in the east,Gosen-Neu Zittau in the south andBerlin in the west.
In 1579, Erkner was first mentioned in theRüdersdorf church records as "Arckenow", a fishermen's place of residence („Mittwoch s post Convers, Pauli hat Hans der Fischer im Arckenow taufen lassen Und ist genant Maria.“). This field name developed to Erkenau-Erkener-Erkner. Until 1701 the settlement only had seven houses.
This changed in 1712, when acoaching inn for the newPost road from Berlin toFrankfurt (Oder) was built. As of 1748, three Palatine farming families settled "on the Buchhorst" (a locality within Erkner). Later they moved their homesteads to the present-day Buchhorster Straße. One of those homesteads now houses the Heimatmuseum (local history museum) with Erkner's oldest house.
In 1752, Prussian kingFriedrich II installed aMulberry plantation with 1,500 trees, of which only one is still standing in today's Friedrichstraße.
From 1815 to 1947, Erkner was part of thePrussianProvince of Brandenburg.
The village grew up to 260 inhabitants in 1805. At this time Erkner was a barge-men's village with several localities: „The Erkner“, Neu Buchhorst, Schönschornstein, Alte Hausstelle, Hohenbinde, Jägerbude and until 1884 Woltersdorfer Schleuse. Along the waterways between the riversOder,Spree,Havel andElbe, were mass transports oflime, coal and other materials from the limestone mine in nearby Rüdersdorf to Berlin and from the industrial areas ofSilesia to Berlin respectively. In 1822, two thirds of the families had a barge-men as head of the household. Supported also by five wharfs in the village, this profession continued to be important for Erkner until the end of the 19th century.
In 1842, theBerlin-Frankfurt Railway opened with a stop in Erkner, which was upgraded to a railway station the following year due to the large number of excursionists from Berlin. From 1846, this railway connected Berlin via Erkner withBreslau and thereby two important industrial areas ofPrussia.
The industrialisation of Erkner began in 1860 with the founding of the first Continental Europeantar production unit by Julius Rütgers. In 1909, the world's first industrialised production of Plastics (Bakelite) began on his premises in cooperation withLeo Baekeland. On May 25, 1910 the Bakelite Gesellschaft m.b.H. Berlin-Erkner (Link to German Wikipedia) was founded here. A few months later, on October 10, Baekeland founded the General Bakelite Company inPerth Amboy, New Jersey.
From 1885 to 1889 the German writer and later Nobel laureateGerhard Hauptmann lived in Erkner, incorporating several local people and places into his stories. His three sons were born at this time. In 1888, the town officially adopted the name Erkner. The Catholic parishSt. Boniface Erkner was founded in 1910.
From 1947 to 1952, Erkner was part of the State ofBrandenburg, from 1952 to 1990 of theBezirk Frankfurt ofEast Germany and since 1990 again of Brandenburg.
On June 6, 1998 Erkner was the first town inEastern Germany to be grantedcity rights after theGerman Reunification.
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Erkner is a twin town ofGołuchów in theGreater Poland Voivodeship.
Media related toErkner at Wikimedia Commons
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