Bezirk Spandau

Spandau is the fifth of the twelve boroughs (Bezirke) of Berlin, Germany. It has the smallest population, and fourth largest in land area of the twelve boroughs. It is Berlin's westernmost borough, situated at the confluence of the Havel and Spree rivers and along the western bank of the Havel, but the least populated.OverviewModern industries in Spandau include metal working, and chemical, and electrical factories. BMW Motorrad's Spandau factory made all BMW motorcycles from 1969 until final assembly plants were added in Rayong, Thailand in 2000, and Manaus, Brazil in 2016. Rathaus Spandau, Spandau's seat of government, was built in 1913. Other landmarks include the Renaissance fortress Spandau Citadel, built in 1594, the 1848 St. Marien am Behnitz Catholic church designed by August Soller, and Spandau arsenal, Germany's arms development center until 1919, now a museum. That arsenal's Spandau machine gun inspired the slang Spandau Ballet to describe dying soldiers on barbed wire during the First World War, and later was applied to the appearance of Nazi war criminals hanged at Spandau Prison. In 1979, the English New Romantic band Spandau Ballet again re-purposed the term for its name. The notorious prison, built in 1876, held Nazi war criminals after World War II until 1987, when it was demolished upon the death of the last surviving prisoner, Rudolph Hess.