South:
Kleinbeeren & Großbeeren
Small villages, big battles: More than 200 years ago, Germans and French fought here over the future of Europe. In addition, museums, monuments and memorials invite visitors to visit, reflect and linger.
A walk through the centuries
Small villages, big battles
Europe’s fate was also decided here
Napoleon’s troops were defeated in the Battle of Großbeeren in 1813. This ended the French occupation. Before that, a national spirit had already begun. Its extreme led to cruel excesses: labor education camp Großbeeren – one of 200 in the entire National Socialist Reich. The tranquility of the two villages today almost makes one forget this.
Kleinbeeren
In Kleinbeeren, Paleolithic bone finds and traces of a Germanic village indicate a long period of settlement. In written form we know about the existence of this place since 1285. It belonged to the von Beeren family. Changing ownership and ecclesiastical patronage resulted over the centuries. In the 13th century, in addition to the village church, there was already a pub, then called a jug. Around 1600 a manor house was built, which was extended to a knight’s seat in 1608. However, only a few inhabitants survived the Thirty Years’ War, just three peasants, and it took more than a hundred years before the village really recovered. At the end of the 18th century, there is evidence of a private windmill, as well as a park, called a “pleasure garden”. During the wars of liberation it became a theater of war: General Graf von Bülow had General von Borstell occupy the village, which was the prelude to the Battle of Großbeeren on August 23, 1813 (for more on the battle see below). From here 35,000 Prussians started their attack on French and Saxon troops in Großbeeren at six o’clock in the evening. After that it became quiet again around the village, which developed slowly and steadily. In 1881, the city of Berlin acquired the village in order to establish so-called Rieselfelder (see below) here, i.e. to treat sewage. As in the whole of Brandenburg, in 1928 the manor was united with the estate district to form a municipality. A Rieselmeisterhaus and forestry houses were added in 1932. Agriculture continued to dominate, so that after WW II in 1959 a LPG type was established, which was transformed into a type III in 1969. With the unification of the LPG Mahlow-Ohlsdorf in 1975 the administration moved into the manor house. Kleinbeeren belongs to the district of Teltow and has been incorporated into Großbeeren since 1950.
Kleinbeeren village church
The village church (7.5 km from your accommodation) is, typical for the area, built of hewn fieldstones; probably in the second half of the 13th century, at the latest in the beginning of the 14th century. South portal, later added and replaced by a central portal in the south, and priest’s gate gave access to the hall church, which probably once had a flat ceiling. The original triple window group in the chancel was also later bricked up. Around 1700 a brick tower replaced a first tower (around 1500). Likewise, in the course of this revision, the church was built higher with bricks and the former narrow windows were reshaped in Baroque style.
Like the pulpit altar, the wooden acanthus-decorated baptismal font, also called a fountain in northern Germany, was probably created by artisans around 1700; it was renovated in 1996. The epitaphs, artistically designed plaques commemorating the deceased in or on a church, date to the 18th and early 19th centuries. The bell is said to have been cast as late as the 15th century. In 1975, the parish renewed the gable roof, cornice and tower cross, which were double-roofed with plain tiles, and in 1987 followed the renovation of the interior, which can be heated with a tiled stove, and the roof truss. South of the sacral building there is a memorial dedicated to the fallen of the two world wars. Church service Sundays 11:15. ev-kirche-grossbeeren.de
Manor house Kleinbeeren
Right next to the church stands the manor house (7.5 km) from probably the 16th century, which as a so-called “big house” in T-shape with a square extension servants already integrated and no longer housed in separate servants’ quarters. Above a barrel-vaulted cellar stand walls 1.10 m thick, tapering towards the top. The von Beeren families had the house converted into a manor in 1608. After that, mostly the respective owners of Kleinbeeren lived in the building – among others, the Mumme family from 1824, from which Theodor Fontane’s grandmother came. Visits to “Uncle Mumme” in the manor house are part of Fontane’s childhood memories (see Fontane, Theodor: “Meine Kinderjahre”). From 1866 to 1945, an “educational institution for neglected girls” used the premises, and in the 1930s the porch facing the street served as a bakery. Damages from the Second World War as well as a fire in the 1960s let the building decay more and more, after it was also temporarily used as the seat of an LPG. A group of investors renovated the dilapidated property from the ground up in 2015/16, creating a multi-family house with apartments ranging from 50 to 130 square meters.
Friederikenhof
Großbeeren
The village of Großbeeren owes its fame mainly to the battle of the same name in the wars of liberation. Once a year, the community celebrates the victory at a folk festival with historical uniforms and military equipment. However, the history of the village goes back further than just to 1813. It was first mentioned in a document in 1271 as Grossen Bern due to the owners, the von Berne (von Beeren) family. In 1450 it appeared in the documents as Großenberne and it was 52 hectares in size, had a jug (inn) and a mill. During the Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648) the number of inhabitants was reduced to three farmers. It was also badly devastated in the Seven Years’ War (1757-1763), but recovered comparatively quickly. In 1773, for example, there was a noble windmill and around 1800 there were six Ganzbauern and six Ganzkötter living in the village. The Vorwerk, i.e. a farm as a branch farm, Neubeeren was added. The last lord of the manor from the von Beeren family was Hans Heinrich Arnold von Beeren, whom Theodor Fontane called “Geist von Beeren” in his “Wanderungen durch die Mark Brandenburg”. In 1824 the Mumme family took over the manor (see above), from 1827 the von Beyer family.
Thereafter, there were changing ownerships until Berlin acquired Groß- und Kleinbeeren in 1881 in order to create so-called Rieselfelder on the surrounding areas (see below). From 1906 to 1945, the jurisdiction changed to Berlin-Lichterfelde. During the Third Reich, more precisely in September 1942, the Gestapo established a “labor education camp” for political opponents as well as for forced laborers (see below). On April 23, 1945, the Red Army occupied Großbeeren. 51 ha of land were expropriated and distributed among old and new farmers. Großbeeren, which still belonged to the district of Teltow, became part of the district of Zossen in the district of Potsdam in 1952 as a result of the reorganization of the GDR until 1990. In the Volkseigene Betrieb (VEB) Fahrzeugwerke Großbeeren, 86 employees produced from 1956 onwards as a continuation of Siegfried Karosserie KG (from 1880) bodywork superstructures and trailers for trucks as well as field and box hand trucks for small settlers and new farmers. The company was affiliated to the VEB IFA-Automobilwerk Ludwigsfelde in 1967. The LPG Type I, founded in 1960, was dissolved in 1970 and the Lehr- und Versuchsgut Großbeeren was created, which in turn became a Kooperative Abteilung Pflanzenproduktion (KAP) in 1973 in accordance with SED objectives. and a Produktionsgenossenschaft des Handwerks (PGH) Rundfunk und Fernsehen. Since 1993, Großbeeren has belonged to the district of Teltow-Fläming and became an independent municipality in 2001.
Schinkel Church
The Evangelical Schinkel Church (7, 8 km from your accommodation; Berliner Straße) was designed by Karl Friedrich Schinkel and saw it become a reality in 1818-20. This gift to the community from Frederick William III in gratitude for the Battle of Großbeeren (see below) replaced the sacred building burned down by Russian and Austrian troops in 1760 during the Seven Years’ War , although this too was already a replacement for the fieldstone church of 1409 destroyed in the Thirty Years’ War. However, the money for the new building did not come solely from FW’s coffers, as money was collected for it in Berlin.The two original bells were replaced in 1890 by a triple bell from Bochum, a tower clock was added in 1896, and more seats were created by altering the gallery and pulpit. Likewise, in 1912 the original organ was replaced by one made by Alexander Schule of Potsdam. Slate roofing replaced the original zinc roof in 1960. And finally, after a comprehensive renovation in 2011, the church received three new bronze bells in 2020. service Sun 10:00. ev-kirche-grossbeeren.de
Obelisk battle of Großbeeren
The obelisk commemorating the Battle of Großbeeren (7.8 km; see below) was created by Karl Friedrich Schinkel in 1817 and rests on a stone pedestal in the former churchyard of the Protestant Church. Also, the officer corps of the Collberg Grenadier Regiment Count Gneisen donated the memorial stone for the Prussian Grenadier Regiment No. 9 in the churchyard. The inscription reads: “To the braves of the Collberg Regiment who took this churchyard by storming hand on August 23, 1813.”
Museum Prussian Traditions
The Museum of Prussian Traditions (7.7 km; Berliner Str. 51) is a private museum that can be visited by appointment only. It is dedicated to military history, especially Prussian, through the wars of liberation, the NVA to the Bundeswehr. Contact A. Bujak +49 33701 / 5 59 48.
Community School
The former community school (7.8 km; Teltower Str. 1), today Otfried-Preußler-Schule, was built in 1910. schule-grossbeeren.de
Administration building of the trickle
The administrative building of the Rieselgut (7.9 km; Am Rathaus 1) is used today as the town hall of the municipality of Großbeeren. Citizens can take care of all their concerns in the three-story building. It was once used to manage the Riesel fields (see below).
Station building
The station building (9.9 km) of Großbeeren, which is no longer in use today, and its adjoining buildings are listed monuments; after all, the structure, inaugurated in 1868, is one of the oldest stations in Brandenburg. Situated on the Anhalter Bahn, i.e. the Berlin-Halle line, the station was originally just a water station to supply steam locomotives; in 1848 it became a railroad station. The original station building from 1841, which had served as a residential building since the new construction in 1868, was presumably demolished when the line was extended in 1940. This was because the National Socialist administration had grand plans for the world capital Germania, also for rail transport, which were only implemented in rudimentary form due to the war. The large marshalling yard at Großbeeren became only an auxiliary marshalling yard in 1941, and the freight ring around Berlin was only completed as a single track and on a provisional basis. These tracks were dismantled as reparations after the Second World War. However, local trains still ran from here to Anhalter Bahnhof in Berlin until 1952, and until the Berlin Wall was built in 1961, there was still the option of changing trains via the S-Bahn in Teltow. After that, Großbeeren and Teltow could only be reached from the south. DEFA filmed the movie “The Adventures of Werner Holt” here in 1964/65 and in 1994 – before the tracks were rebuilt – scenes of “Totes Gleis” from the series “Polizeiruf 110” were shot. After the fall of the Wall, the site of the Nazi marshalling yard was now used to build the Deutsche Bahn’s freight transport center (GVZ), which went into operation in 1998. Then, from 2006, the newly built line between Ludwigsfelde and Teltow via Großbeeren could be fully used. Instead of the old station from 1868, passenger traffic now uses a new building a bit south of it, officially only a so-called stopping point, so almost like in the days of the steam locomotive.
Manor workers’ houses
The two estate workers’ houses in the Dorfaue 8/8a them and theBeamtenwohnhaus with scales and enclosure (7.9 km; Dorfaue 3) and the Landarbeiter-Wohnhaus (8.2 km; Ruhlsdorfer Str. 4) are listed. More detailed information about architects, history and origin are unfortunately not known.
Memorial tower Battle of Großbeeren
The memorial tower to Battle of Großbeeren is a 32 m high, listed structure made of reinforced concrete in trapezoidal shape, which was inaugurated by Prince Eitel Friedrich of Prussia on the memorial day in 1913. The tower stands at the intersection of Bahnhofstrasse, Am Sportsplatz, Berliner Strasse and Genshagener Strasse. The exhibition hall in the base shows a diorama with a battle scene. Since the renovation in 1998-2001, not only has an interior steel skeleton stabilized the structure, but 137 steps lead to the viewing platform under the cupola roof, which is clad in copper sheeting. On the north facade, above the battle scene with a horse, are the dates 1813 and 1913, between them an Iron Cross and below a crown the initials FW (Friedrich Wilhelm) and the inscription: “Here, on August 23, 1813, the French army was defeated by Prussian troops under General von Bülow. The victory saved Berlin from imminent French occupation.”
The military conflict in and around the village also ended Napoleon’s seven-year rule over Prussia and set the stage for the defeat of the French at the Battle of Leipzig. Encouraged by Bonaparte’s defeat in Russia in 1812, Frederick William III of Prussia called in February 1813 for “Prussians and Germans to fight for an honorable peace or a glorious downfall.” Due to the “national mass sentiment” and formation of volunteer units that now followed, Napoleon marched a 70,000-man army to occupy Berlin after the expiration of an armistice. The French and the Saxons allied with them crossed the Prussian border at Lukau and were 22 km from Berlin on August 21, 1813. General Friedrich Wilhelm Bülow von Dennewitz, in position in southern Berlin, ignored the directive of the supreme commanding Swedish Crown Prince Karl Johann (positioned in Charlottenburg, the Russian forces were in Spandau) to move out to Tempelhof. Instead, von Bülow had General von Borstell occupy Kleinbeerens to prevent the French from advancing further. The seizure of Kleinbeeren formed a prelude to the Battle of Großbeeren, which General Reynier captured after the artillery of his 7th Army Corps drove the Prussians from there to the village of Heinersdorf (see above). After an exchange of gunfire, 35,000 Prussians moved from Kleinbeeren to the bayonet charge at six o’clock in the evening – assuming not to face the full force of troops. In doing so, they took advantage of the pouring rain, which prevented the use of muskets with flintlocks, thus depriving the French of their technical advantage. Instead, a “slashing and stabbing” with rifle butts and bayonets ensued, leaving 3,000 Prussians, Saxons and French dead. A night attack by 2,000 cavalry in support of their comrades at Großbeeren (from nearby Ahrensdorf) by Marshal Oudinot was beaten back by the Prussians. Oudinot and Reynier decided to retreat to Wittenberg the same night, and Girard’s division, advancing from Magdeburg, was routed at Hagelberg on August 27. Opening hours of the tower: May-Sept. every 2nd and 4th Sunday of the month 15:00-18:00, admission 2 €, reduced 1€; guided tours by arrangement +49 33701/328843 or pressestelle@grossbeeren.de.
Memorial to the victims of fascism
The Memorial to the Victims of Fascism is dedicated to the 1,197 prisoners who met their deaths here in the “labor education camp” (AEL) of the Secret State Police (Gestapo). The AELs were intended for workers who refused to work or, in the view of the Third Reich, endangered work morale, which amounted to sabotage. The first AELs existed before Heinrich Himmler, Reichsführer SS and Chief of the German Police, issued his decree on May 28, 1941. The first precursors were improvised during the construction of the Westwall in 1939, and others were built, especially near projects of wartime economic importance. The number grew from eight in 1940 to 200 toward the end of the war. Camp directors were Gestapo officials, but guards were Schutzpolizei, and to ensure their jurisdiction, imprisonment was presented as a preventive measure.
Thus, labor education detention was established as a third form of arbitrary repressive measures alongside protective and preventive detention. Unlike in concentration camps (KZs), where release had not been envisaged since the beginning of the war at the latest, detention in AELs usually lasted six weeks to three months. In this relatively short time, inmates were to be broken so that they could be quickly returned to work. This made the camps all the more brutal, which is why two inmates per day died in some camps.
The inmates were primarily forced laborers who had tried to escape forced labor by escaping. At the request of the labor offices, however, Germans were also admitted. Only after special departments had been set up in the second half of the war were women found in the camps. In most cases, they had violated prohibitions against contact between Germans and foreigners or belonged to social fringe groups. From 1944, members of resistance groups and “conscientious objectors” who had gone into hiding were also imprisoned in AELs. From September 1942 to the end of the war, approximately 45,000 people from 25 countries had passed through the Großbeeren labor education camp. The dead (1,197 or 1,289) were buried in the former gravel pit or the nearby cemetery.
Bülow Pyramid
The Bülow pyramid, i.e. field stones stacked ten meters high, is provided with a plaque: With the words “Our bones shall bleach before Berlin, not backward.” General von Bülow is said to have disobeyed the order of the Swede Karl Johann (see above). Berlin citizens had collected and assembled granite boulders on the former battlefield in 1906. Architect Voß and master stonemason C. Witschel erected the memorial from them on the windmill wing. The pyramid stands on Ruhlsdorfer Straße, very close to the tennis court of the TC Rot-Weiss Großbeeren.
Technical monument Rieselfeld
The Rieselfeld technical monument (Trebbiner Str./Rohrweg) southwest of the village consists of a clarifier, standpipe, two settling basins, irrigation ditch, secondary clarification pond and standpipe, etc.. It is listed as a historical monument, because it gives an idea of the idea of the sewage fields of the Prussian town planner James Hobrecht (1825-1902) for sewage disposal. For this purpose, wastewater is “trickled” on water-permeable soil and the retained ingredients are broken down by microorganisms. This practice was also implemented by the then still independent municipalities of Charlottenburg, Spandau and Schöneberg, and thus Berlin, with its sewerage system comprising twelve radial systems with independent underground canals and the trickling fields, was at that time the most modern and cleanest major city in the world. Despite the sewage treatment plant built in Stahnsdorf in 1906, the city of Berlin continued this practice until 1998. The GDR, however, made the West pay for importing feces just as well as it did for taking in the garbage from the class enemy. Apple Maps / Google Maps