Mecklenburg
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Mecklenburg | |
---|---|
Mecklenburg-Strelitz, from 1866 to 1934. | |
Coordinates: 53°50′14″N 11°28′16″E / 53.83722°N 11.47111°E | |
Largest city | Rostock |
Demonym | Mecklenburgian • Mecklenburger |
Mecklenburg (German pronunciation:
The name Mecklenburg derives from a castle named
Linguistically Mecklenburgers retain and use many features of Low German vocabulary or phonology.
The adjective for the region is Mecklenburgian or Mecklenburgish (German: mecklenburgisch); inhabitants are called Mecklenburgians or Mecklenburgers (German: Mecklenburger).
Geography
Mecklenburg is known for its mostly flat countryside. Much of the terrain is boggy, with ponds, marshes and fields as common features, with small forests interspersed. The terrain changes as one moves north towards the Baltic Sea.
Under the peat of Mecklenburg are sometimes found deposits of ancient lava flows. Traditionally, at least in the countryside, the stone from these flows is cut and used in the construction of homes, often in joint use with cement, brick and wood, forming a unique look to the exterior of country houses.
Mecklenburg has productive farming, but the land is most suitable for grazing for livestock.
List of urban centers in Mecklenburg
Town/ municipality |
District | Population as of December 31, 2012 |
Image |
---|---|---|---|
Rostock | district-free city | 206,011 (12-31-2015) | |
Schwerin | district-free city | 91,264 | |
Neubrandenburg | Mecklenburgische Seenplatte
|
63,509 | |
Wismar | Nordwestmecklenburg
|
42,433 | |
Güstrow | Rostock
|
28,586 | |
Neustrelitz | Mecklenburgische Seenplatte
|
20,322 | |
Waren (Müritz) | Mecklenburgische Seenplatte
|
21,074 | |
Parchim | Ludwigslust-Parchim
|
17,174 | |
Ludwigslust | Ludwigslust-Parchim
|
11,998 | |
Bad Doberan | Rostock
|
11,427 | |
Hagenow | Ludwigslust-Parchim
|
11,324 | |
Grevesmühlen | Nordwestmecklenburg
|
10,621 | |
Boizenburg/Elbe
|
Ludwigslust-Parchim
|
10,169 | |
Teterow | Rostock
|
8,733 | |
Malchin | Mecklenburgische Seenplatte
|
7,657 |
History
Early history
Mecklenburg is the site of many prehistoric dolmen tombs. Its earliest organised inhabitants may have had Celtic origins. By no later than 100 BC the area had been populated by pre-Christian Germanic peoples.
The traditional symbol of Mecklenburg, the grinning steer's head (Low German: Ossenkopp, lit.: 'oxen's head', with osse being a synonym for steer and bull in Middle Low German), with an attached hide, and a crown above, may have originated from this period.[citation needed] It represents what early peoples would have worn, i.e. a steers's head as a helmet, with the hide hanging down the back to protect the neck from the sun, and overall as a way to instill fear in the enemy.
From the 7th through the 12th centuries, Mecklenburg was inhabited by Western Slavs who migrated there from what is now eastern
In the late 12th century,
Since the 12th century, the territory remained stable and relatively independent of its neighbours; one of the few German territories for which this is true. During the
History, 1621–1933
Like many German territories, Mecklenburg was sometimes partitioned and re-partitioned among different members of the ruling dynasty. In 1621 it was divided into the two duchies of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Mecklenburg-Güstrow. With the extinction of the Güstrow line in 1701, the Güstrow lands were redivided, part going to the Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, and part going to the new line of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.
In 1815, the two Mecklenburgian duchies were raised to
Traditionally Mecklenburg has always been one of the poorer German regions.[citation needed] The reasons for this may be varied, but one factor stands out: agriculturally the land is poor and can not produce at the same level as other parts of Germany.[citation needed] The two Mecklenburgs made attempts at being independent states after 1918, but eventually failed as their dependence on the rest of the German lands became apparent.[citation needed]
History since 1934
After three centuries of partition, Mecklenburg was united on 1 January 1934 by the German government. During World War II the
After
In 1952, the
During German reunification in 1990, the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern was revived, and is now one of the 16 states of the Federal Republic of Germany.
Coat of arms of the duchies of Mecklenburg
The
The flag of both Mecklenburg duchies is traditionally made of the colours blue, yellow and red. The sequence however changed more than once in the past 300 years. In 1813 the duchies used yellow-red-blue. 23 December 1863 for Schwerin and 4 January 1864 for Strelitz blue-yellow-red was ordered.[1] Mecklenburg-Schwerin however used white instead of yellow for flags on sea by law of 24 March 1855.[2]
Siebmachers Wappenbuch gives therefore (?) blue-white-red for Schwerin and blue-yellow-red for Strelitz.[3] According to this source, the grand ducal house of Schwerin used a flag of 3.75 to 5.625 M with the middle arms on a white quadrant (1.75 M) in the middle.
The middle arms show the shield of Mecklenburg as arranged in the 17th century. The county of Schwerin in the middle and in the quartering Mecklenburg (bull's head with hide), Rostock (griffin), principality of Schwerin (griffin surmounting green rectangle), Ratzeburg (cross surmounted by crown), Stargard (arm with hand holding ring) and Wenden (bull's head). The shield is supported by a bull and a griffin and surmounted by a royal crown.
The dukes of Strelitz used according to Siebmachers the blue-yellow-red flag with just the (oval) shield of Mecklenburg in the yellow band.
Ströhl in 1897 and Bulgaria[4] show another arrangement: The grand-duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin flows a flag (4:5) with the arms of the figures from the shield of arms.
The former Schwerin standard with the white quadrant is now ascribed to the grand dukes of Strelitz. Ströhl mentions a flag for the grand ducal house by law of 23 December 1863 with the middle arms in the yellow band. And he mentions a special sea flag, the same but with a white middle band. 'Berühmte Fahnen' shows furthermore a standard for grand duchess Alexandra of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, princess of
Economy
Agriculture
A flat landscape, Mecklenburg is known for its farmlands—which produces quinoa, wheat, barley and maize—and its animal husbandry, notably its cattle and the Mecklenburger breed of horse. Recently, given the upheavals and environmental disruptions created by globalisation, German farmers have become concerned about potentially invasive species such as the Greater rhea and the Asian hornet.[5]
Tourism
Mecklenburg has seen a huge increase in tourism since
Notable Mecklenburgers
- Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher (1742–1819), Prussian army leader
- Queen Victoria.
- Fritz Reuter (1810–1874), poet and novelist
- clergyman
- archaeologist
- Siegfried Marcus (1831–1898), automobile pioneer
- Gottlob Frege (1848–1925) a German philosopher, logician, and mathematician.
- Johannes Gillhoff (1861–1930), teacher, author of book on Mecklenburg emigrants to the US
- Michael Buddrus (born 1957), historian
- Jan Ullrich (born 1973) a German former professional road bicycle racer.
See also
- Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
- Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
- Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
- List of Dukes and Grand Dukes of Mecklenburg
- Mecklenburg County, North Carolina
- Mecklenburg County, Virginia
References
- ^ (Ströhl, Deutsche Wappenrolle, Stuttgart, 1897, p. 89)
- ^ (Ströhl, 86)
- ^ Siebmachers Wappenbuch (Nuremberg, 1878)
- ^ Berühmte Fahnen Deutscher Geschichte (Dresden, 1922)
- ^ "Asian Hornet Invading Europe, German Specimen Shows Species is Spreading North". International Business Times. 6 February 2020. Archived from the original on 25 May 2020. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
Literature
- Grewolls, Grete (2011). Wer war wer in Mecklenburg und Vorpommern. Das Personenlexikon (in German). Rostock: Hinstorff Verlag. ISBN 978-3-356-01301-6.
External links
Media related to Mecklenburg at Wikimedia Commons
- Government portal of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania
- Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. .
- Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 17 (11th ed.). 1911. pp. 1018–1020. .
- Virtual State Museum of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania