Lychen (), also known as ''Flößerstadt'' (raftsman city), is a town 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 ...

. It is situated southeast of

Neustrelitz Neustrelitz (; ) is a town in the Mecklenburgische Seenplatte district in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is situated on the shore of the Zierker See in the Mecklenburg Lake District. From 1738 until 1918 it was the capital o ...

, and east of

Fürstenberg/Havel Fürstenberg () is a town in the Oberhavel district, Brandenburg, Germany. Geography Fürstenberg is situated on the Havel, River Havel, south of Neustrelitz, and north of Berlin. The town lies at the southern edge of the Mecklenburg Lake Di ...

. This is the town where the thumbtack was created.

History

Historically,

timber rafting Timber rafting is a method of transporting felled tree trunks by tying them together to make rafts, which are then drifted or pulled downriver, or across a lake or other body of water. It is arguably, after log driving, the second cheapest mea ...

was one of the most important sectors of the economy. The timber was built into rafts and used for building projects, and was also used to transport other goods. Lychen has a timber rafting museum, and tourists can travel by raft on the lake. Flat-headed thumbtacks were invented in Lychen in 1903 by Johann Kirsten. His invention is celebrated in a memorial. At the beginning of the 20th century there were a number of small factories here manufacturing thumbtacks. The Hohenlychen Sanatorium used by the

Schutzstaffel The ''Schutzstaffel'' (; ; SS; also stylised with SS runes as ''ᛋᛋ'') was a major paramilitary organisation under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany, and later throughout German-occupied Europe during World War II. It beg ...

during World War II, is located in the town.

Demography

File:Bevölkerungsentwicklung Lychen.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 Lychen.pdf, Recent Population Development and Projections (Population Development before Census 2011 (blue line); Recent Population Development according to the Census in Germany in 2011 (blue bordered line); Official projections for 2005-2030 (yellow line); for 2017-2030 (scarlet line); for 2020-2030 (green line)

Gallery

File:Lychen_Stadtmauer.jpg, City wall File:Lychen_Oberpfuhl.jpg, Lake Oberpfuhl File:Lychen_Wurlflut.jpg, Stream Wurlflut File:Timber Rafting Museum in Lychen.JPG, Timber Rafting Museum File:Raft carrying tourists Lychen.JPG, Raft carrying tourists to lake Oberpfuhl

References

Localities in Uckermark (district) {{Brandenburg-geo-stub

History

Demography

Gallery

See also

References