Uckermark

The Uckermark (German pronunciation^ⓘ) is a historical region in northeastern Germany, which currently^[update] straddles the Uckermark District of Brandenburg and the Vorpommern-Greifswald District of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Its traditional capital is Prenzlau.

Geography

The region is named after the

March of the Uecker". The river's source is close to Angermünde, from where it runs northward to Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The Oder River, forming the German-Polish border, bounds the region in the east. The western parts of the Lower Oder Valley National Park

are located in the Uckermark.

History

Early history

In the

Germanic cultures

.

Ukrani, a Polabian tribe

From the 6th–12th centuries Polabian Slavs migrating from Eastern Europe moved westward into the later Uckermark. The Slavs settling the terra U(c)kera (Uckerland, later Uckermark) became known as Ukrani (Ukranen, Ukrer, Ukri, Vukraner).^[1] Their settlement area was centered around the lakes Oberuckersee and Unteruckersee at the spring of the Uecker River. In this region, burghs with a proto-town suburbium were set up at Drense and on an isle in Lake Oberuckersee (near modern Prenzlau).

In 954,

Poland and the Holy Roman Empire

.

Pomerania, Ostsiedlung

In 1172

Premonstratensian monastery and the city of Prenzlau, developed and granted German town law by Barnim I, Duke of Pomerania

, in 1234. Both the central city and the central monastery were set up beside the former Ukrani central burghs.

Pomerania and Brandenburg struggle for overlordship

The

Pomeranian-Brandenburg War from 1329–33, Pomerania was able to defeat Brandenburg at Kremmer Damm. In the following years, control of the Uckermark was disputed by Brandenburg, Mecklenburg

, and Pomerania.

Brandenburg

The first

renewed

on 26 June 1479.

Prussia, and Huguenot settlement

The Uckermark became part of Brandenburg-Prussia in 1618, but was ravaged during the Thirty Years' War. Frederick William, the Great Elector, invited large numbers of French Huguenots to resettle the Uckermark and his other territories by announcing the Edict of Potsdam. These Huguenots helped to develop the economy and culture of the Uckermark. In 1701 the territory became part of the Kingdom of Prussia.

In 1815 after the Napoleonic Wars, the Uckermark became part of the Prussian Province of Brandenburg. Previously divided into the administrative units Uckerkreis and Stolpirischer Kreis, in 1817 a third district was created in the area, the district of Angermünde, and the other two districts were renamed Prenzlau and Templin.

Post-World War II

The Uckermark was a battleground during

Bezirk Frankfurt (Oder). With German reunification in 1990, most of the Uckermark voted to become part of the restored state of Brandenburg, with the exception of the small Strasburg

region becoming part of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.

Notes

^ Materna, p. 29

References

Ingo Materna. Brandenburgische Geschichte. Akademie Verlag. Berlin. 1995.

External links

Hugenotten-Uckermark.de

[1] Materna, p. 29

[1]