Editing Salzwedel (section)

==History==
The castle of Salzwedel in the Altmark was first documented in 1112. As part of the [[Margraviate of Brandenburg]], the settlement was first mentioned as a town in 1233. To the northeast of the old town (''Altstadt''), a new town (''Neustadt'') began development in 1247. In the [[Middle Ages]] Salzwedel belonged to the [[Hanseatic League]] from 1263 to 1518. As to religion Salzwedel belonged to the [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Verden|Diocese of Verden]] (till 1648).

The city from 1247 began developing as a reestablishment from the old part of the town. In 1701 it became part of the [[Kingdom of Prussia]]. In 1713, the two towns Altstadt and Neustadt became one. Salzwedel became part of the Prussian [[Province of Saxony]] in 1815 after the [[Napoleonic Wars]]. In 1870 it received a railroad connection. The medieval part of the town remains the commercial and administrative center of the town until today.

As in other German cities and towns during the time of [[Nazi Germany]], the [[History of the Jews in Germany#Jews under the Nazis (1933–1939)|Jewish]] residents of the city were systematically deprived of their rights, then expelled from the city. Salzwedel was hit by five air raids from 1942-1945, and more than 300 people lost their lives, especially on 22 February 1945.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.volksstimme.de/sachsen-anhalt/angriffe-in-der-region-570893 | title=Angriffe in der Region }}</ref>

[[File:Salzwedel-1652-Merian.jpg|thumb|left|Salzwedel in 1652]]

In 1943, the [[Neuengamme concentration camp]] built a female subcamp in Salzwedel, capable of holding more than 1,000 female prisoners. Eventually more than 3,000 women were held there, both Jews and non-Jews. The guard staff at the camp included sixty SS men and women.  One [[Aufseherin]] is known today by name, Lieselotte Darnstaedt, who was born in 1908.  Darnstaedt also served at [[Ravensbrück]] before coming to Salzwedel. On April 14, 1945, the [[US Army]] liberated the Salzwedel women's subcamp, and also a men's camp nearby for male non-German political prisoners.  They were shocked to find more than ninety corpses of women who had died of typhus, dysentery and malaria. At the beginning of 1945, prior to the arrival of American ground forces, Allied war planes attacked the main train station of Salzwedel, killing 300 people. The US Army eventually turned over control of the city to the Soviet [[Red Army]], causing Salzwedel to become part of the [[German Democratic Republic]].

On November 9, 1989 the East-West German border crossing near Salzwedel was opened, along with East-West border crossings in the rest of the country, allowing East Germans residing in Salzwedel and elsewhere to travel freely to West Germany for the first time since the building of the [[Berlin Wall]]. In 1990 Salzwedel received its first democratically elected city government.

The official name of the city was changed into ''Hansestadt Salzwedel'' on 1 April 2008, in reference to its history as a member of the Hanseatic League.

In January 2003 the town incorporated the former municipalities Brietz, Dambeck and Mahlsdorf, in January 2009 [[Benkendorf]], in January 2010 [[Chüden]], [[Klein Gartz]], [[Langenapel]], [[Liesten]], [[Osterwohle]], [[Pretzier]], [[Riebau]], [[Seebenau]] and [[Tylsen]], and in January 2011 [[Steinitz, Germany|Steinitz]] and [[Wieblitz-Eversdorf]].