
Observatory on the Babelsberg
'Potsdam-Babelsberg' or short Babelsberg is the largest district of the city of
Potsdam,
Germany today. It is named after the small hill ''Babelsberg''.
History
Babelsberg was first mentioned in the ''Landbuch'' (Landbook) in 1375 by Kaiser
Karl IV as an independent settlement. The city has been bombed several times and was severely damaged during the
Thirty Years' War. In 1939 Babelsberg was incorporated into Potsdam and became the district Potsdam-Babelsberg. During the
Potsdam Conference in 1945 Josef Stalin, Harry S. Truman und Winston Churchill resided in the mansions of Babelsberg. Because of the closeness to
Berlin and Potsdam, Babelsberg's history has much in common with its neighbours, notably the common history of
Prussia, the German Separation during the Cold War and
German reunification.
Babelsberg developed into an industrial centre during the industrial revolution. Textile production and railway manufacturing were situated in the city.
Babelsberg
The neighbourhood shares a direct border with
Berlin, there are some remains of the
Berlin Wall left. Babelsberg is widely known as a European media centre with the
Babelsberg Studios, the oldest large-scale film studio in the world. It is also famous for its parks and castles which are a part of the
UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Park Babelsberg surrounding the castle was planned and created by famous architects and garden-designers like
Karl Friedrich Schinkel,
Ludwig Persius,
Peter Joseph Lenné and
Hermann von Pückler-Muskau. There are two parts of the
University of Potsdam in Babelsberg, one of them is situated in the Park Babelsberg.
See also
★
Steinstücken
★
West Berlin
★
Babelsberg Studios
External links
★ http://www.potsdam-babelsberg.de/ (in German)
★ http://www.potsdam.de/cms/ziel/26670/EN/ (official site of Potsdam in English)