Bernauer Heerstrasse
The Bernauer Heerstraße was a medieval road connection between the former Spandau Castle (later: Spandau Citadel ) and the town of Bernau on the edge of Barnim , from where it was continued to Oderberg and Stettin . It played an important role in the conquest and settlement of Barnim by the Ascanian margraves in the 13th century and not only served the rapid relocation of armed divisions between the military center in Spandau and the border castles in the north. It was also indispensable for the rapid transmission of messages by messengers and for the transport of goods, although the problem of military supplies may have played a subordinate role, since the crews of the border castles largely obtained their supplies from the area around their facilities.
Historical background
An important base of the Brandenburg Margraves was from the late 12th to the former in the mid-15th century Slavs fixed Spandau at the confluence of the Spree and Havel , the - was expanded to the castle - after they had arrived in askanischen possession. A bailiff is mentioned as early as 1192. From Spandau a rapid settlement of the Spree and Nuthe valley between the Teltow and Barnim began , which was accompanied by significant expansion efforts towards the northeast. Initially bypassing the impassable, densely wooded areas of the high Barnims, which at that time were still under Wettin rule, they reached the regions of the lower Oder along the Havel and Finow . There, under the rule of Albrecht II of Brandenburg, various castles were built as border fortifications as early as the beginning of the 13th century, for example in Oderberg, Hohenfinow and Eberswalde . The internal development of the Barnim by the Ascanians took place later. The Bernauer Heerstrasse played an important role in this.
Lines
The Bernauer Heerstrasse led from Spandau via Lübars , Schönerlinde and Schönow to Bernau. In the former sewage fields north of Hobrechtsfelde, there is still a lime- tree, unpaved road called Bernauer Heerweg . The linden trees were only planted later, during the reign of Frederick the Great . The entire distance was around 40 kilometers and could be covered by a mounted detachment under arms in a good day. The city of Bernau then offered the opportunity to rest and spend the night. Originally, the road that crossed the Panke River at the height of today's cattle drift by means of a ford passed the town. It was not until 1317 that the Heerstraße, which now increasingly assumed the function of a trade route, was led directly through the city. For the merchants, this was associated with the compulsion to have to pay a duty to the Bernau magistrate .
In a further day's stage, the route from Bernau to Oderberg could then be covered. The route led via Grüntal in the direction of Schönholz, today a district of Melchow , and on via Hohenfinow to Oderberg. Eberswalde initially played no role. Only with the economic growth of the city at the beginning of the 14th century was the route of the Heerstraße in the direction of Eberswalde changed by order of the margraves.
Tracks today
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Traditional street and path names allow the route of the Bernauer Heerstraße from Spandau to Bernau to be reconstructed relatively precisely. In Berlin-Tegel found in the immediate vicinity of Lake Tegel , the Bernauer Strasse . It continues south-east of Lübars, where the Old Bernauer Heerweg leads towards Blankenfelde . This street name is probably of more recent origin and was chosen in memory of the old Heerstraße. North-east of Schönerlinde you come across the Bernauer Heerweg again, which now runs in the direction of Schönow.
There are also several references to the old route between Bernau and Oderberg or Eberswalde, such as the Alte Heerstraße in Rüdnitz or the street name Bernauer Heerstraße in Schönholz and Eberswalde .
Further military roads via Bernau
In the Middle Ages, the Spandau Heerstraße was not the only transport link of this kind that led via Bernau to the northeast of the expanding Mark Brandenburg . With the development of Berlin and Cölln , the former center of Spandau lost its importance. Traffic and trade shifted and now started in Berlin. A new long-distance connection now led from the former Oderberger Tor in Berlin via Weißensee , Malchow , Lindenberg , Schwanebeck and Zepernick to Bernau. The course of the later Bundesstraße 2 (today: partly Landesstraße 200) is already largely predetermined here.
Another long-distance connection was the Uckermärkische Heer- und Handelsstrasse , which was probably also built in the 13th century. It can be assumed that it too initially had its starting point in Spandau, but in contrast to Bernauer Heerstraße it followed the course of the Panke. Via Buch and Schönow, but past Bernau, the route ran via Lanke and Prenden to Groß Schönebeck and on towards Uckermark . The most important reason for the construction of this military route was the disputes over the Uckermark, which continued into the 15th century.
Here, too, the starting point was soon relocated from Spandau to Berlin. Otto Koch noted the following course of the old country road in his history of the village of Schönow: “Between the old Wittenze (Weißensee) and Pangkow [Pankow], branching off from the older Uckermark Heerstraße [obviously meant Bernauer Heerstraße], the road led via Hinriksdorp [Heinersdorf], Blanckenborg [Blankenburg], Kare [Karow] and Wendisch Bug [Buch] nach Schönow ”and emphasizes that the location of the place has developed according to the“ lines of the former Uckermark country road ”. At the north-western exit of the village, the "today's 'Lanker Weg' [...] was the continuation of the Uckermark country road".
In later centuries this route obviously changed again and led from Zepernick past Bernau via Ladeburg to the north. A reference to this street layout can also be found in W. Hedergott, who wrote about Bernau around 1800: “Many vehicles passed the city daily from and to the Uckermark [...], but most of the vehicles were on the Ladeburg-Zepernicker Landstrasse. The residents drove to Berlin in these cars. Since there was no road yet, mail and freight cars often had to take 8 horses to get through the mud. "
A confirmatory reference to this route can be found in Wernicke's Bernauer Stadt-Chronik from 1894, where a crossroad "from Zepernick to Ladeburg (Uckermärkerstraße)" is shown under the important rural roads of Bernau.
Along with the expansion of the road network to and from Berlin in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the main connection from Berlin to the western Uckermark was no longer via Lanke and Prenden, but via Wandlitz and Klosterfelde (today: Bundesstraße 109 ).
literature
- Wilhelm Dräger: Zepernick and his three military routes. In: Zepernicker Geschichtsverein "Heimathaus" e. V. (Ed.): Zepernick. Contributions to the history of the community of Zepernick. Volume 2, Zepernick 2000, pp. 14-18.
- M. Schönfeld: Old military roads in the Niederbarnim district , in: Calendar for the Niederbarnim district , Oranienburg 1927.
- Hans Mundt: The army and trade routes of the Mark Brandenburg from the age of East German colonization to the end of the 18th century , Reimer Verlag, Berlin 1932.
- Otto Koch: From Schönow's past. Self-published by Otto Koch, Schönow 1934.
Web links
- History of Barnim
- Bernauer town history with reference to the Heerstrasse
- Bikepacking event along Bernauer Heerstraße
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Otto Koch: From Schönow's past. Self-published by Otto Koch, Schönow 1934, p. 7.
- ^ W. Hedergott: Bernau in seven centuries. In: Otto Wüllenweber (Hrsg.): Festschrift for the 700th anniversary of the city of Bernau and the 500th anniversary of the Hussite Festival. 11-13 June 1932. Buchdruckerei A. Höhne, Bernau near Berlin 1932, p. 28.
- ↑ Bernauer City Chronicle . Based on official and other reliable sources, edited by August Wernicke, city councilor and church elder, printing and publishing house by L. Röther's Buchdruckerei, Bernau (Mark) 1894, new printing 1992, p. 60