Schwerin is the capital of the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and is located in the west of the state on Lake Schwerin. A quarter of the urban area is formed by lakes. The city was first mentioned in 1018 and received city rights in 1160. The city grew only slowly during the Middle Ages, the medieval building fabric was destroyed by several city fires. The image of the former royal seat of the dukes was essentially changed in the 18th and 19th centuries. Century. Only when the city became the capital of Mecklenburg-Schwerin after 1918 and the capital of Mecklenburg in 1934 did the city expand. The former royal seat developed into an important industrial city after 1960 and became a major city in 1972. After the reunification of the GDR in 1989, Schwerin was restored to its function as an administrative center in 1990,
Schwerin is the capital of the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and thus the seat of the state government. With just under 95,000 residents, it is the smallest state capital in Germany. The city’s coat of arms shows the golden equestrian portrait of Duke Henry the Lion in blue.
According to equzhou, Schwerin is located in the west of the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, directly on the south-western edge of Lake Schwerin. This has a length of 23 km and a width of 5.5 km. It covers an area of 62.1 km² and is the third largest lake in Germany after Lake Constance and Müritz. The Schweriner See reaches a depth of 51 m. Other smaller lakes lie around it, such as the Medeweger See, the Lankower See and the Ostorfer See, which belong to the urban area. The city of Schwerin covers an area of 130 km². A quarter of it is formed by lakes.
The Schweriner See is a former tongue basin filled with dead ice, which was filled with melt water when the inland ice thawed. It lies between the terminal moraine of the Pomeranian Stadium on the north bank and the terminal moraine of the Frankfurt Staffel in the south. It is located in the midst of a diverse young moraine landscape in the west of the Mecklenburg Lake District, the landscape of which was formed at the end of the last Ice Age (Vistula Cold Age). This lake-rich landscape is shaped by the contrast between the moraine heights surrounding the lakes, which are often forested, and the (glacial) valley of the Lewitz in the south.
The cityscape of Schwerin still bears witness to the city’s eventful history. Of the medieval structure, however, only the cathedral and some remains in the castle remain, as several city fires – the most severe took place in 1651 – destroyed the medieval city. In the city center, the image is shaped by the former royal seat of the dukes and their buildings, which were essentially built in the 18th and 19th centuries. Century. This applies to both the presentation buildings, in which the master builder GEORG ADOLF DEMMLER (1804–1886) played a key role, as well as the various parts of the city, such as the old town, Paulsstadt, Schelfstadt and Feldstadt, which together form the Graf-Schack-Allee and Ostorfer Ufer streets, Obotritenring, Spieltordamm, Knaudtstrasse, and Werderstraße are framed (picture 1) and which were hardly destroyed in the Second World War. The development towards a major city after 1960 is particularly evident in the new districts of Lankow to the northwest and Großer Dreesch in the southeast of the city center.
The origins of the city
The origins of the city were on today’s castle island with the castle. The island castle “Zuarin” (Slav. Zuerina = an area rich in animals and forests) originally stood on this island in Lake Schwerin – a name from which the name of the present-day city emerged. It was a border castle of the Obotrites to the south and was first mentioned in 1018 in the chronicle of THIETMARS VON MERSEBURG as the castle of the Obotriten prince MISTIZLAW. The Obotrite prince NIKLOT had this castle burned down in front of the approaching HEINRICH THE LION. The Obotrites (also Abodrites, Obodriten) were Slavic tribes in eastern Holstein and western Mecklenburg, which were finally subjugated in the 12th century by the Saxon Duke HEINRICH THE LÖWEN and finally absorbed into the German population.
The castle was important enough to be rebuilt immediately. In 1167 the castle becomes the seat of a count of the County of Schwerin. The city’s origins also lay on today’s castle island. The Slavic settlements lay on islands and flat moraine ridges that protruded into the great lake and had boggy beaches. After the overthrow of the Obotrites, a small German merchant settlement was built in front of the new castle. This settlement was granted city rights by HEINRICH DEN LÖWEN in 1160. This makes Schwerin the second oldest German city to be founded east of the Elbe. At the same time, the bishopric was moved from Mecklenburg Castle (near Wismar) to Schwerin. This made the city, which was the seat of a bishopric until 1648, the spiritual center of Mecklenburg.
The abundance of water in the immediate vicinity of the city – which was certainly decisive because of the favorable defensive possibilities for its foundation – had a negative effect on the further development of Schwerin. The city grew slowly during the Middle Ages. In the beginning it was surrounded by a fortification made of palisades for safety reasons, only around 1330/40 a massive city fortification with wall, rampart and moat followed. The further structural development – because of the marshy soil, the area around the old garden and around today’s market was chosen for the German settlements – has been adversely affected by the minor importance of the city. B. not touched by any of the great medieval trade routes. Soon more recent city foundations, such as the coastal cities of Wismar and Rostock,
Schwerin’s importance in the Middle Ages was based mainly on the fact that the counts and later the dukes of Mecklenburg built their residence here.
