Boitzenburger Land is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

in the

Uckermark The Uckermark () is a historical region in northeastern Germany, which straddles the Uckermark (district), Uckermark District of Brandenburg and the Vorpommern-Greifswald District of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Its traditional capital is Prenzlau. ...

district, in

Brandenburg Brandenburg, officially the State of Brandenburg, is a States of Germany, state in northeastern Germany. Brandenburg borders Poland and the states of Berlin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony. It is the List of Ger ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Geography

The municipality, with an area of one of largest in Germany, is located in the northeastern part of Brandenburg, close to the border with the state of

Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (MV; ; ), also known by its Anglicisation, anglicized name Mecklenburg–Western Pomerania, is a Federated state, state in the north-east of Germany. Of the country's States of Germany, sixteen states, Mecklenburg-Vorpom ...

. The rural community is part of the

historic region, it is surrounded by extended forests and the

Uckermark Lakes Nature Park Uckermark Lakes Nature Park is a nature park and reserve in the state of Brandenburg, Germany. It covers an area of 895 km2 (346 sq mi). It was established on May 3, 1997, and is located on the northern edge of Brandenburg state. The nature ...

. In the south, it borders the towns of

Templin Templin () is a small town in the Uckermark district of Brandenburg, Germany. Though it has a population of only 17,127 (2006), in terms of area it is, with 377.01 km2 (145.56 sq mi), the second largest town in Brandenburg (after Wittstock) and ...

and

Lychen Lychen (), also known as ''Flößerstadt'' (raftsman city), is a town in the Uckermark district, in Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated southeast of Neustrelitz, and east of Fürstenberg/Havel. This is the town where the thumbtack was created. ...

History

A settlement named ''Bozineburc'' was first mentioned in a 1215 deed. After the whole Uckermark region had passed to the Margraves of Brandenburg according to the 1250

Treaty of Landin The Treaty of Landin was signed in Landin, Germany in 1250 between Barnim I of Pomerania-Stettin, the Ascanian margraves Johann I and Otto III of Brandenburg. Barnim I was accepted as co-ruler of Wartislaw III of Pomerania-Demmin by the Margra ...

, a

Cistercian The Cistercians (), officially the Order of Cistercians (, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint Benedict, as well as the contri ...

monastery at the site was founded; documented since 1271, about the time when nearby

Chorin Abbey Chorin Abbey (Kloster Chorin) is a former Cistercian abbey near the village of Chorin in Brandenburg, Germany. It was founded by the Ascanian margraves in 1258 and had far-reaching influence on the northern edge of the Ascanians' sphere of inf ...

was established. In 1536 the abbey was secularised during the

Protestant Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the papacy and ...

and devastated by Danish troops in the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...

one hundred years later. Boitzenburg Castle was first mentioned in 1276, it was occupied by Margrave

William I of Meissen William I, the One-Eyed (19 December 1343, Dresden – 9 February 1407, Schloss Grimma) was Margrave of Meissen. His nickname is related to the legend that Saint Benno appeared to him because of his disputes with the Church in a dream and he ...

in 1398 but returned to Brandenburg in 1415. From 1429 the estates were held by the Arnim noble family. Damaged in the Thirty Years' War, when it was a possession of Field Marshal

Hans Georg von Arnim-Boitzenburg Johann or Hans Georg von Arnim-Boitzenburg (1583 in Boitzenburger Land – 28 April 1641, in Dresden) was a German Field Marshal. At different times during the Thirty Years' War, he was a Field Marshal for the Holy Roman Empire and its opponen ...

, the fortress was rebuilt by his descendants in a

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

style from 1740 onwards. Refurbished according to plans designed by

Friedrich August Stüler Friedrich August Stüler (28 January 1800 – 18 March 1865) was an influential Prussian architect and builder. His masterpiece is the Neues Museum in Berlin, as well as the dome of the triumphal arch of the main portal of the Berliner Schloss. ...

between 1838 and 1842, it received its present

Neo-Renaissance Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th-century Revivalism (architecture), architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival architecture, Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival ar ...

appearance in 1881–1884. The adjacent

landscape garden The English landscape garden, also called English landscape park or simply the English garden (, , , , ), is a style of "Landscape architecture, landscape" garden which emerged in England in the early 18th century, and spread across Europe, r ...

was laid out by

Peter Joseph Lenné Peter Joseph Lenné (the Younger) (29 September 1789 – 23 January 1866) was a Prussian gardener and landscape architect. As director general of the Royal Prussian palaces and parks in Potsdam and Berlin, his work shaped the development of 1 ...

around 1840. Boitzenburg was then held by

Adolf Heinrich von Arnim-Boitzenburg Adolf Heinrich Graf von Arnim-Boitzenburg (10 April 1803 – 8 January 1868) was a German statesman. He served as the first Minister-President of Prussia for ten days during the Revolution of 1848. Early life Arnim was born in the Prussian ...

, who became the first

Minister President of Prussia The Minister-President (), or Prime Minister, of Prussia was the head of government of the Prussian state. The office existed from 1848, when it was formed by Frederick William IV of Prussia, King Frederick William IV during the German revolutio ...

in 1848. After World War II, the Arnim family was disseized and the castle was used as recreation home of the East German

National People's Army The National People's Army (, ; NVA ) were the armed forces of the East Germany, German Democratic Republic (DDR) from 1956 until 1990. The NVA was organized into four branches: the (Ground Forces), the (Navy), the (Air Force) and the (Bord ...

. Today it houses a hotel. The present-day municipality was established by the merger of ten villages in 1992. RK 0908 3817 Klosterruine Boitzenburg.jpg, Monastery ruins Kirche Boitzenburg (Uckermark) 2017 E.jpg, St. Marien church

Demography

File:Bevölkerungsentwicklung Boitzenburger Land.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, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

; Red Background: Time of communist

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

) File:Bevölkerungsprognosen Boitzenburger Land.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 (, ) 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, was the 2011 Europea ...

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

People from Boitzenburger Land

(1583-1641) German field marshal and landowner * Georg Abraham von Arnim (1651-1734), Prussian field marshal and landowner * Adolf von Arnim-Boitzenburg (1832-1887), Prussian politician and landowner * Joachim Dietlof von Arnim-Boitzenburg (1898–1972), landowner

References

External links

* {{Authority control Localities in Uckermark (district)