Prenzlau (, formerly also Prenzlow) is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an o ...

Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an area of 29,480 squ ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

, the administrative seat of Uckermark District. It is also the centre of the historic Uckermark region.

Geography

The town is located on the Ucker river, about north of

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

. Prenzlau station—which opened in 1863—is a stop on the Angermünde–Stralsund railway line.

History

Settled since

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several pa ...

times, the Prenzlau area from the 7th century AD was the site of several gords erected by the

Polabian Slavs Polabian Slavs ( dsb, Połobske słowjany, pl, Słowianie połabscy, cz, Polabští slované) is a collective term applied to a number of Lechitic ( West Slavic) tribes who lived scattered along the Elbe river in what is today eastern Ger ...

. In the late 12th century, the Dukes of Pomerania had the region colonized by

Low German : : : : : (70,000) (30,000) (8,000) , familycolor = Indo-European , fam2 = Germanic , fam3 = West Germanic , fam4 = North Sea Germanic , ancestor = Old Saxon , ancestor2 = Middle ...

settlers. Prenzlau itself, named after Slavic ''Premyslaw'' was first mentioned in 1187. It received

town privileges Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the traditio ...

by Duke Barnim I of Pomerania in 1234. When Duke Barnim signed the Treaty of Landin with the

Ascanian The House of Ascania (german: Askanier) was a dynasty of German rulers. It is also known as the House of Anhalt, which refers to its longest-held possession, Anhalt. The Ascanians are named after Ascania (or Ascaria) Castle, known as ''Schlos ...

margraves of

in 1250, Prenzlau was already a fortified town with walls and moats, four parish churches and a monastery. Together with

Cölln Cölln () was the twin city of Old Berlin ( Altberlin) from the 13th century to the 18th century. Cölln was located on the Fisher Island section of Spree Island, opposite Altberlin on the western bank of the River Spree, until the cities ...

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...

and Stendal, it ranked among the largest towns in the margraviate. The Prenzlau and the Uckermark region were devastated during the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of batt ...

. From the late 17th century onwards French

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...

refugees settled here and an economic recovery started. Also a

garrison A garrison (from the French ''garnison'', itself from the verb ''garnir'', "to equip") is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a mili ...

town, Prenzlau was again ravaged by passing troops during the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (1754 ...

and the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fre ...

. In the mid 19th century, several citizens emigrated to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

, where they founded the town of

Prenzlau, Queensland Prenzlau is a rural locality in the Somerset Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , Prenzlau had a population of 427 people. Geography Prenzlau is situated in the Lockyer Valley at the southern end of the Somerset Region LGA in southeastern Q ...

west of

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

. In

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

the

Oflag II-A Oflag II-A was a German World War II prisoner-of-war camp located in the town of Prenzlau, Brandenburg, north of Berlin. The camp, located just south of Prenzlau on the main road to Berlin, and was originally built in 1936 as a barracks for Art ...

prisoner-of-war camp A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured by a belligerent power in time of war. There are significant differences among POW camps, internment camps, and military prisons. ...

was located just south of Prenzlau on the main road to Berlin. The town centre was largely destroyed. The

East German East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

authorities had it rebuilt with large panel Plattenbau buildings.

Demography

Bevölkerungsentwicklung Prenzlau.pdf, Development of population since 1875 within the current Boundaries (Blue Line: Population; Dotted Line: Comparison to Population development in Brandenburg state; Grey Background: Time of

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

; Red Background: Time of communist

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In t ...

) Bevölkerungsprognosen Prenzlau.pdf, Recent Population Development and Projections (Population Development before Census 2011 (blue line); Recent Population Development according to the

Census in Germany A national census in Germany (german: Volkszählung) was held every five years from 1875 to 1910. After the World Wars, only a few full population censuses have been held, the last in 1987. The most recent census, though not a national census, w ...

in 2011 (blue bordered line); Official projections for 2005–2030 (yellow line); for 2017–2030 (scarlet line); for 2020–2030 (green line)

Politics

Seats in the town's assembly (''Stadtverordnetenversammlung'') as of 2014 local elections: * Christian Democratic Union (CDU): 7 *

Social Democratic Party of Germany The Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, ; SPD, ) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been ...

(SPD): 7 * The Left: 6 *''Bürgerfraktion'' (

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independe ...

): 4 *''Wir Prenzlauer'' (Independent): 2 * Free Democratic Party (FDP): 1 * National Democratic Party of Germany (NPD): 1

Twin towns – sister cities

Prenzlau is twinned with: * Barlinek, Poland * Pokhvistnevo, Russia * Uster, Switzerland *

Varėna Varėna (; pl, Orany; yi, אוראַן ''Oran'') is a city in Dzūkija, Lithuania. History The town was founded in 1862 near the Warsaw – Saint Petersburg Railway, south of Sena Varėna (Old Varėna). At that time it was a small settlement ...

, Lithuania

Notable people

* René Bielke (born 1962), ice hockey player * Oscar Florianus Bluemner (1867–1938), American painter * Wilhelm Grabow (1802–1874), civil servant, judge, and politician *

Jacob Philipp Hackert Jacob Philipp Hackert (15 September 1737 – 28 April 1807) was a landscape painter from Brandenburg, who did most of his work in Italy. Biography Hackert was born in 1737 in Prenzlau in the Margraviate of Brandenburg (now in Germany). He t ...

(1737–1807), landscape painter * Frederika Louisa of Hesse-Darmstadt (1751–1805), queen consort of Prussia * Louis I, Grand Duke of Hesse (1753–1830) *

Princess Amalie of Hesse-Darmstadt Princess Amalie of Hesse-Darmstadt (20 June 1754 – 21 June 1832) was a Hereditary Princess of Baden by marriage to Charles Louis, Hereditary Prince of Baden. She was the daughter of Ludwig IX, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt and Henriette Karolin ...

(1754–1832) * Princess Wilhelmina Louisa of Hesse-Darmstadt (1755–1776) * Paul Hirsch (1868–1940), politician * Hans Felix Husadel (1897–1964), composer and conductor * Otto Kaiser (born 1924), scholar *

Brigitte Rohde Brigitte Köhn ( Rohde; born 8 October 1954 in Prenzlau, Bezirk Neubrandenburg) is a retired East German sprinter who specialised in the 400 metres and later 400 metres hurdles. She won a gold medal in 4 × 400 metres relay at the 1974 Eu ...

(born 1954), sprinter * Max von Schenckendorff (1875-1943), general in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany *

Ernst Christian Friedrich Schering Ernst Christian Friedrich Schering (31 May 1824 – 27 December 1889) was a German apothecary and industrialist who created the Schering Corporation. The company split into Schering AG and Schering-Plough after US assets were seized during ...

(1824–1889), apothecary and industrialist * Johannes Schmidt (1843–1901), linguist * Christian Friedrich Schwan (1733–1815), publisher and bookseller *

Adolf Wilhelm Theodor Stahr Adolf Wilhelm Theodor Stahr (; 22 October 18053 October 1876) was a German writer and literary historian. Life Stahr was the son of the preacher and pastor Johann Adam Stahr (1768–1839). He attended grammar school in Prenzlau. In 1825 at the ...

(1805–1876), writer and literary historian * Christiane Wartenberg (born 1956), athlete * Carola Zirzow (born 1954), sprint canoer

Gallery

Prenzlau_Mitteltorturm.jpg, Gate Tower of the

Brick Gothic Brick Gothic (german: Backsteingotik, pl, Gotyk ceglany, nl, Baksteengotiek) is a specific style of Gothic architecture common in Northeast and Central Europe especially in the regions in and around the Baltic Sea, which do not have resourc ...

'Mitteltor' Prenzlau_Heiliggeistkirche.jpg, War memorial ruin of the Holy Spirit Church Prenzlau St Marien.jpg, Marienkirche Altes Rathaus Prenzlau.jpeg, Old town hall Schloss Dedelow Sammlung Duncker.jpg, Historical painting of the Dedelow Castle Dominikanerkloster Prenzlau2.JPG, Dominican abbey Unteruckersee Prenzlau.JPG, Unterucker Lake River de Ucker Prenzlau Schleuse2.JPG, Ucker canal watergate Bahnhof Prenzlau Baustelle10.JPG, Platform of the train station Lutherdenkmal Prenzlau.JPG,

Martin Luther Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Protestant Reformation and the namesake of Lutherani ...

memorial Prenzlau 10-2016 photo02.jpg, Medieval town wall, gate tower

References

External links

Municipal website
{{Authority control Localities in Uckermark (district)