Editing Seelow

{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2023}}
{{Infobox German location
|type              = Stadt
|image_coa         = DEU Seelow COA.svg
|image_photo       = Seelow Rathaus.jpg
|image_caption     = Seelow Town Hall
|coordinates       = {{coord|52|31|00|N|14|22|59|E|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
|image_plan        = Seelow in MOL.png
|plantext          =
|state             = Brandenburg
|district          = Märkisch-Oderland
|elevation         = 52
|area              = 25.28
|postal_code       = 15306
|area_code         = 03346
|licence           = MOL, FRW, SEE, SRB
|Gemeindeschlüssel = 12 0 64 448
|website           = {{official website|http://www.seelow.de/}}
|mayor             = Robert Nitz<ref>[https://wahlen.brandenburg.de/wahlen/de/kommunalwahlen/ergebnisse/buergermeisterwahlen/ergebnisse/~12064000 Landkreis Märkisch-Oderland Wahl der Bürgermeisterin / des Bürgermeisters]. Retrieved 3 July 2024.</ref>
|leader_term       = 2023&ndash;31
}}
'''Seelow''' ({{IPA|de|ˈzeːloː|-|De-Seelow.ogg}}) is a German town, seat of the [[Märkisch-Oderland]], a [[Districts of Germany|district]] of [[Brandenburg]]. As of 2013 its population was of 5,464.

==Geography==
It is situated in the extreme east of [[Germany]], 70&nbsp;km (40 miles) east of [[Berlin]], 16&nbsp;km (10 miles) west of the border with [[Poland]].

==History==
[[File:Seelow Kirche.jpg|thumb|left|Church in Seelow]]
The village appears in the records held in 1252 by Archbishop [[Wilbrand von Käfernburg|Wilbrand]] of [[Archbishopric of Magdeburg|Magdeburg]]. At that time, listed as ''Villa Zelou'', it was included in the property of the formerly Polish [[Bishopric of Lebus]] ([[Lubusz Land]]), contested between the Magdeburg archbishops and the [[House of Ascania|Ascanian]] margraves of [[Margraviate of Brandenburg|Brandenburg]].

Seelow suffered damaging town fires in 1630, 1788 and again in 1809.

From 1816 Seelow was included for administrative purposes in the {{Interlanguage link multi|Lebus (district)|de|3=Landkreis Lebus|lt=Lebus district}}, a subdivision of the [[Regierungsbezirk Frankfurt|Frankfurt Region]] within the [[Prussia]]n [[Province of Brandenburg]]. In 1863 the district council office was relocated to Seelow and in 1950 "Lebus district" was renamed "Seelow district"; following [[Potsdam Agreement|frontier changes]] agreed with the [[Soviet Union]] in 1945, the town of [[Lebus]] itself had lost to [[Poland]] much of the agricultural area that had traditionally supported it. Between 1952 and 1993, Seelow was the administrative centre for the {{Interlanguage link multi|Seelow (district)|de|3=Kreis Seelow|lt=eponymous district}} within the larger [[Frankfurt (Bezirk)|Frankfurt territory]].

Seelow was the location of one of the last major [[pitched battle]]s in Europe during the [[Second World War]] - the [[Battle of the Seelow Heights]]. In this battle, from 16 to 19 April 1945, Soviet troops under [[Field Marshal|Marshal]] [[Georgy Zhukov|Zhukov]] opened the way to [[Berlin]]. By the time the slaughter was over the town was largely destroyed, primarily through a major air attack which took place on 17 April 1945, and which was followed by extensive burning and plunder.

==Cultural references==
Because of its importance in the Second World War, Seelow is today featured in many video games, books and films. Seelow is a playable map in the popular video game [[Call of Duty: World at War]]. The Battle of the Seelow Heights is featured extensively in [[Men of War (video game)|Men of War]]. The planet Тзаэло (Tzaelow) in the [[Warhammer 40,000]] universe is a likely reference to the town of Seelow, particularly the way that the battle is fought{{Citation needed|date=August 2017}}.

==Demography==
<gallery widths="250" heights="200">
File:Bevölkerungsentwicklung Seelow.pdf|Development of Population since 1875 within the Current Boundaries (Blue Line: Population; Dotted Line: Comparison to Population Development of Brandenburg state; Grey Background: Time of Nazi rule; Red Background: Time of Communist rule)
File:Bevölkerungsprognosen Seelow.pdf|Recent Population Development and Projections (Population Development before Census 2011 (blue line); Recent Population Development according to the [[Census in Germany]] in 2011 (blue bordered line); Official projections for 2005-2030 (yellow line); for 2017-2030 (scarlet line); for 2020-2030 (green line)
</gallery>

{{historical populations
|align=none | cols=3 | percentages=pagr
|title = Seelow: Population development <br>within the current boundaries (2020)<ref>Detailed data sources are to be found in the Wikimedia Commons.[http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Population_projection_Brandenburg Population Projection Brandenburg at Wikimedia Commons]</ref>
| 1875 | 5736
| 1890 | 5205
| 1910 | 4492
| 1925 | 4754
| 1939 | 4420
| 1950 | 4667
| 1964 | 5652
| 1971 | 5804
| 1981 | 6304
| 1985 | 6457
| 1990 | 6231
| 1995 | 5829
| 2000 | 6082
| 2005 | 5776
| 2010 | 5540
| 2015 | 5387
| 2016 | 5451
| 2017 | 5415
| 2018 | 5426
| 2019 | 5422
| 2020 | 5394
}}

==Twin towns – sister cities==
{{See also|List of twin towns and sister cities in Germany}}
Seelow is [[Sister city|twinned]] with:<ref>{{cite web |title=Städtepartnerschaften|url=https://www.seelow.de/seite/69004/st%C3%A4dtepartnerschaften.html|website=seelow.de|publisher=Seelow|language=de|accessdate=24 March 2020}}</ref>
{{div col|colwidth=25em}}
*{{flagicon|GER}} [[Moers]], Germany (1990)
*{{flagicon|POL}} [[Kostrzyn nad Odrą]], Poland (1998)
*{{flagicon|POL}} [[Gmina Międzychód|Międzychód]], Poland (1998)
*{{flagicon|FRA}} [[Nangis]], France (1998)
{{div col end}}

==See also==
*[[Seelow Heights]]
*[[Battle of the Seelow Heights]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category-inline}}

{{Cities and towns in Märkisch-Oderland (district)}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Seelow| ]]
[[Category:Localities in Märkisch-Oderland]]