Fürstenwalde
Fürstenwalde/Spree (; Lower Sorbian: "Pśibor pśi Sprjewje") is the most populous town in the Oder-Spree District of Brandenburg, Germany. Geography. The town is situated in the glacial valley ("Urstromtal") of the Spree river north of the Rauen Hills, about east of Berlin and west of Frankfurt (Oder). The district capital Beeskow is about to the southeast. In the north, the municipal area comprises the village of Trebus. The town is located on the western part of historic Lubusz Land (Land Lebus). The Fürstenwalde station is a stop on the railway line from Berlin to Frankfurt (Oder), the former  Lower Silesian-Marcher Railway. It also has access to the parallel Bundesautobahn 12. The 39 MW Fürstenwalde Solar Park supplies electricity to the local grid. History. The settlement of "Fürstenwalde" in the Margraviate of Brandenburg was first mentioned in a 1272 deed, founded in the course of the German "Ostsiedlung" migration at a ford across the Spree river, probably near the site of a former Slavic settlement. The Lebus Land had been acquired from Poland by the Ascanian margraves in 1248/1249. The town's importance rose as a staple port and terminal of the transportation of goods on the river . In 1373 Emperor Charles IV, since 1367 also Margrave of adjacent Lower Lusatia campaigned the Brandenburg lands and enforced the renunciation of the Wittelsbach margrave Otto VII of Brandenburg by the Treaty of Fürstenwalde. As also the collegiate church in Lebus was destroyed, Bishop Wenceslaus moved the official seat of the Bishopric of Lebus to Fürstenwalde, where the St Mary's Church was raised to a cathedral. The last Catholic bishop was Georg von Blumenthal (1490–1550), who was besieged in his palace by Lutheran robbers led by Nickel von Minckwitz. The Bishop had to escape through a window in disguise . The bishopric was secularized during the Reformation in 1555, and was completely disbanded at the ascension of Joachim Frederick as Margrave of Brandenburg in 1598. Politics. Seats in the town's assembly ("Stadtverordnetenversammlung") as of 2014 local elections: Twin towns – sister cities. Fürstenwalde is twinned with: