Ostprignitz-Ruppin is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the northwestern part of

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 ...

. Neighboring are (from north clockwise) the districts

Müritz The Müritz (; from Slavic languages, Slavic "little sea") is a lake in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, northern Germany. Its area is , which makes it the second largest lake in Germany (after Lake Constance) and the largest lake located entirely within ...

and

Mecklenburg-Strelitz The Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz was a duchy in Northern Germany consisting of the eastern fifth of the historic Mecklenburg region, roughly corresponding with the present-day Mecklenburg-Strelitz district (the former Lordship of Stargard) ...

Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (MV; ; ), also known by its anglicized name Mecklenburg–Western Pomerania, is a state in the north-east of Germany. Of the country's sixteen states, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern ranks 14th in population; it covers an are ...

, the districts

Oberhavel Oberhavel is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the northern part of Brandenburg, Germany. Its neighbouring districts are (clockwise from the north): Mecklenburgische Seenplatte (district) in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the districts of Uckermark and Ba ...

and

Havelland Geographically, the Havelland () is the region around which the River Havel flows in a U-shape between Oranienburg to the northeast and Rhinow to the northwest. The northern boundary of the Havelland is formed by the River Rhin and the Rhin Cana ...

, the district

Stendal The Hanseatic City of Stendal () is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is the capital of the Stendal District and the unofficial capital of the Altmark region. Geography Situated west of the Elbe valley, the Stendal town centre is located ...

Saxony-Anhalt Saxony-Anhalt ( ; ) is a States of Germany, state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of and has a population of 2.17 million inhabitants, making it the List of German states ...

, and the district

Prignitz Prignitz () is a ''Kreis'' (district) in northwestern Brandenburg, in northeastern Germany. Neighboring districts, clockwise from the north, are Ludwigslust-Parchim (in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania), Ostprignitz-Ruppin (Brandenburg), Stendal (dist ...

Geography

The district consists of plain countryside northwest of

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. It is densely forested. Many rivers and lakes can be found in its western, its central and its northeastern part. The main river in the district is the Dosse.

History

The district has always been distinguishable from the West Prignitz, having been settled originally by Slavs from a different part of Mecklenburg. It was officially created in 1993 by merging the districts Kyritz, Neuruppin and Wittstock. The district roughly covers the same territory as the two historic districts Ostprignitz and Ruppin. Osprignitz was created in 1815 as one of two districts covering the former county Prignitz, and was split into the districts Kyritz, Pritzwalk and Wittstock in 1952. Also in 1952 the district Ruppin was renamed to Neuruppin and had to give part of its territory to the districts Kyritz and Gransee.

Demography

File:Bevölkerungsentwicklung Landkreis Ostprignitz-Ruppin.pdf, Development of Population since 1875 within the Current Boundaries (Blue Line: Population; Dotted Line: Comparison to Population Development of Brandenburg state) File:Bevölkerungsprognosen Landkreis Ostprignitz-Ruppin.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 2014-2030 (red line); for 2017-2030 (scarlet line)

Coat of arms

The eagle in the top of the coat of arms derives from the Counts of Arnstein, who ruled Ruppin in the 13th century. To the left is a

fleur-de-lis The ''fleur-de-lis'', also spelled ''fleur-de-lys'' (plural ''fleurs-de-lis'' or ''fleurs-de-lys''), is a common heraldic charge in the (stylized) shape of a lily (in French, and mean and respectively). Most notably, the ''fleur-de-lis'' ...

representing the Counts

von Plotho The Plotho family or von Plotho () is an ancient German noble family traditionally believed to be of Wendish origin, particularly associated with the Prignitz region in Brandenburg. History The family is documented as early as 946 in a writ of ...

, a Wendish family who ruled Kyritz, where they had migrated from the Magdeburg area bringing German families such as the

von Blumenthal The Blumenthal family is a Lutheran and Roman Catholic German noble family, originally from Brandenburg-Prussia. Other (unrelated) families of this name exist in Switzerland and formerly in Russia, and many unrelated families (quite a few of them ...

s with them. The

mitre The mitre (Commonwealth English) or miter (American English; American and British English spelling differences#-re, -er, see spelling differences; both pronounced ; ) is a type of headgear now known as the traditional, ceremonial headdress of ...

to the right symbolizes Wittstock, as Bishop Heinrich I made Wittstock the capital of the Prince-Bishopric of Havelberg.

Towns and municipalities

References

External links

Official website
(German) {{Coord, 52, 58, N, 12, 40, E , region:DE-BB_scale:300000_type:adm2nd , display=title