 A castle at "Spandowe", erected on a Havel island to secure the eastern borderlands of the Margraviate of Brandenburg, was already documented in an 1197 deed issued by the Ascanian margrave Otto II.The city itself was first mentioned on 7 March 1232, when the Spandau citizens were vested with further privileges by the Brandenburg margraves John I and Otto III.A first church is documented in 1240; the present-day Saint Nicholas Church was built in the late 14th century.