How a German arsenal’s machine gun inspired a New Romantic pop band’s name
In short: Spandau is the westernmost borough of Berlin, defined by its confluence of the Havel and Spree rivers. Beyond its industrial history and Renaissance citadel, the district’s name became an unlikely cultural touchstone, evolving from a grim military slang term for dying soldiers into the moniker of a famous 1980s band.
The history of Spandau stretches back to the 7th or 8th century, when the Slavic Heveller people established a fortress at the site. By 1197, the area was recorded as Spandowe, predating the Cölln section of medieval Berlin by four decades. Over centuries, the region transitioned through various rulers, including the Ascanian Earl Albrecht the Bear in 1156, and later endured the Thirty Years' War, during which it was surrendered to the Swedes in 1634. Napoleon’s forces occupied the city in 1806, and the local citadel faced a siege by Prussian and Russian troops in 1813.
By the early 20th century, Spandau had become a powerhouse of the German arms industry, hosting large cannon foundries and munitions factories. The Spandau machine gun, produced at the local arsenal, gained a dark reputation during the First World War. Soldiers used the term 'Spandau Ballet' as slang to describe the sight of men being struck by machine-gun fire while entangled in barbed wire. This grim association persisted, later surfacing in references to the appearance of Nazi war criminals held at Spandau Prison. In 1979, the English band Spandau Ballet repurposed the term for their own name, stripping it of its original, tragic context.
Today, Spandau serves as a borough of Berlin, though it retains a distinct identity. It is the smallest borough by population, with 223,962 residents as of 2010, yet it ranks as the fourth-largest by land area at 91.91 square kilometers. While the infamous Spandau Prison was demolished in 1987 following the death of its final inmate, Rudolf Hess, the district remains home to the Renaissance-era Spandau Citadel and a history that spans from medieval Slavic settlements to the modern era of industrial manufacturing and international sports success.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: Spandau
- Also: Wikidata — Spandau · CC0
- Also: Wikidata — Spandau · CC0
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