Mecklenburg-West Pomerania

Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (Abbr: MV), anglicized as Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania or Mecklenburg-West Pomerania, is one of the 16 states of Germany. It is located in the north-east of Germany with Schwerin as the state capital and with Rostock as the largest city. Other major cities include Neubrandenburg, Stralsund, Greifswald, Wismar and Güstrow.

This project is aimed to cover individuals born, lived, influenced or died in Mecklenburg-West Pomerania as well as function as an umbrella project for specific projects regarding Mecklenburg-West Pomerania. History of the region is recognized, and fully acknowledged. However, for the sake of uniformity and simplicity, individuals, events, places are, unless otherwise specified, are considered from within the perspective of the borders of the state of Mecklenburg-West Pomerania as they are today.

The state was established in 1945 after World War II through the merger of the historic regions of Mecklenburg and the Prussian Western Pomerania by the Soviet military administration in Allied-occupied Germany. It became part of the East Germany in 1949, but was dissolved in 1952 during administrative reforms and its territory divided into the districts of Rostock, Schwerin, and Neubrandenburg. In the current form, the state was re-established in 1990 following German reunification, and it became one of the new states of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Due to its lengthy name, the state is often abbreviated as MV or colloquially shortened to MeckPomm. In English, it is usually named as "Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania". Inhabitants of the state are called either Mecklenburgers or Pomeranians, the combined form should not be used.

The location of the state by the coastline of the Baltic Sea makes it home for several holiday resorts and nature, including the islands of Rügen, Usedom, and others, as well as the Mecklenburg Lake District. Three of Germany's fourteen national parks, as well as several hundred nature conservation areas, are in the state. The University of Rostock, founded in 1419, and the University of Greifswald, established in 1456, are among the oldest universities in Europe.

Mecklenburg-West Pomerania

History

Human settlement in the area began after the Ice Age, about 10,000 BC. About two thousand years ago, Germanic peoples were recorded in the area. Most of them left during the Migration Period, heading towards Spain, Italy, and France, leaving the area relatively deserted. In the 6th century Polabian Slavs populated the area. While Mecklenburg was settled by the Obotrites, Pomerania was settled by the Veleti (later Liuticians) and the Rani. Along the coast, Vikings and Slavs established trade posts like Reric, Ralswiek and Menzlin.

In the 12th century, Mecklenburg and Vorpommern were conquered by Henry the Lion and incorporated into the Duchy of Saxony, joining the Holy Roman Empire in the 1180s. Parts of Mecklenburg and Pomerania were settled with Germans in the Ostsiedlung process, starting in the 12th century.

Mecklenburg

In the late 12th century, Henry the Lion, Duke of the Saxons, conquered the Obotrites, subjugated its Nikloting dynasty, and Christianized its people. In the course of time, German monks, nobility, peasants and traders arrived to settle here. After the 12th century, the territory remained stable and relatively independent of its neighbors. Mecklenburg first became a duchy of the Holy Roman Empire in 1348. Though later partitioned and re-partitioned within the same dynasty, Mecklenburg always shared a common history and identity.

The states of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Mecklenburg-Strelitz - history has already been acknowledged - became Grand Duchies in 1815, and in 1870 they voluntarily joined the new German Empire, while retaining their own internal autonomy. After the First World War and the abdication of the German Kaiser, the monarchies of the duchies were abolished and republican governments of both Mecklenburg states were established, until the Nazi government merged the two states into a unified state of Mecklenburg.

Western Pomerania

Vorpommern, literally Fore-Pomerania, is the smaller, western part of the former Prussian Province of Pomerania. In the Middle Ages, the area was ruled by the Pomeranian dukes as part of the Duchy of Pomerania. Pomerania was under Swedish rule after the Peace of Westphalia from 1648 until 1815 as Swedish Pomerania. Pomerania became a province of Prussia in 1815 and remained so until 1945. The eastern part of Western Pomerania became part of Poland after the end of World War II. Following that, the region was mostly part of the East Germany, until the German reunification in 1990.

The Present

Mecklenburg-Vorpommern is divided into six Kreise (districts): Landkreis Rostock, Ludwigslust-Parchim, Mecklenburgische Seenplatte, Nordwestmecklenburg, Vorpommern-Greifswald, Vorpommern-Rügen, also counting two independent urban districts Rostock (HRO) and Schwerin (SN).

See also

• History of Pomerania.
• Mecklenburg
• Pomerania
• Towns in Mecklenburg-West Pomerania.
• Places in Mecklenburg-West Pomerania.
  

Est'd 2021-02-07