Löcknitz 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

Vorpommern-Greifswald Vorpommern-Greifswald is a district in the east of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is bounded by (from the west and clockwise) the districts of Mecklenburgische Seenplatte and Vorpommern-Rügen, the Baltic Sea, Poland (West Pomeranian Voiv ...

district, in

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 ...

, in north-eastern

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 ...

, located in the historic region of

Pomerania Pomerania ( ; ; ; ) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The central and eastern part belongs to the West Pomeranian Voivodeship, West Pomeranian, Pomeranian Voivod ...

, west of the German-Polish border and west of

Szczecin Szczecin ( , , ; ; ; or ) is the capital city, capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the Poland-Germany border, German border, it is a major port, seaport, the la ...

. It is the seat of the '' Amt'' Löcknitz-Penkun.

Geography

Löcknitz lies within the

Western Pomerania Historical Western Pomerania, also called Cispomerania, Fore Pomerania, Front Pomerania or Hither Pomerania (; ), is the western extremity of the historic region of Pomerania, located mostly in north-eastern Germany, with a small portion in no ...

(Vorpommern) part of

, and thus the historic region of

. The river Randow flows through the municipality, specifically along the south and east of the main town. The Löcknitzer See lies south east to the town. Löcknitz is located west of the German-Polish border, west of

, and east of

Pasewalk Pasewalk () is a town in the Vorpommern-Greifswald district, in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in north-eastern Germany. Located on the Uecker river, it is the capital of the former Uecker-Randow district, and the seat of the Uecker-Randow-T ...

, the closest German city. Administratively, the municipality is a part of the '' Amt'' Löcknitz-Penkun, of which it is the seat, within the

district.

History

Löcknitz is located in the area of the former

Urstromtal An ''urstromtal'' (plural: ''Urstromtäler'') is a type of broad glacial valley, for example, in northern Central Europe, that appeared during the ice ages, or individual glacial periods of an ice age, at the edge of the Scandinavian ice sheet and ...

which formed roughly 20,000 years BC, which formed as the glacial masses of the

Ice age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages, and g ...

retreated from the region. Ancient graves and artifacts found in the area date back to the Stone Ages. Around 600 years BC, the area of what is today Löcknitz was settled by the

Ukrani image:Lake de Oberuckersee Burgwallinsel.JPG, 250px, ''Burgwallinsel'', a former Ukrian burgh on an isle in Lake Oberuckersee The Ukrani or Ukrians

Slavs The Slavs or Slavic people are groups of people who speak Slavic languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout the northern parts of Eurasia; they predominantly inhabit Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Southeastern Europe, and ...

in the void left by the retreating

Germanic tribes The Germanic peoples were tribal groups who lived in Northern Europe in Classical antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. In modern scholarship, they typically include not only the Roman-era ''Germani'' who lived in both ''Germania'' and parts ...

. The name, which is of

Slavic Slavic, Slav or Slavonic may refer to: Peoples * Slavic peoples, an ethno-linguistic group living in Europe and Asia ** East Slavic peoples, eastern group of Slavic peoples ** South Slavic peoples, southern group of Slavic peoples ** West Slav ...

origin, likely evolved out of either the word "Locheniza" or "Lokenitz", roughly translating to "ditch depression" or "swamp hole". Löcknitz was first mentioned in 1212. Around that time, the Slavic gord ''Lokenitza'' was constructed of wood and posts. Said fort would be taken over by the Germans around the year 1400 and be converted into a castle of masonry named ''Castrum Locenize''. The castle governed not only the settlement it stood in, but also the fields, woods, and settlements ( Plöwen, Bismark, Bergholz) surrounding it.

Administrative timeline

Due to being located on the border between

and

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 ...

, Löcknitz was very contested and was frequently involved in battles as well as border changes. * until 1250,

Duchy of Pomerania The Duchy of Pomerania (; ; Latin: ''Ducatus Pomeraniae'') was a duchy in Pomerania on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, ruled by dukes of the House of Pomerania (''Griffins''). The country existed in the Middle Ages between years 1121–11 ...

* 1250–1390,

Margraviate of Brandenburg The Margraviate of Brandenburg () was a major principality of the Holy Roman Empire from 1157 to 1806 that, having electoral status although being quite poor, grew rapidly in importance after inheriting the Duchy of Prussia in 1618 and then came ...

* 1390–1468, Duchy of Pomerania-Stettin * 1468–1648,

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. ...

* 1648–1676,

Swedish Pomerania Swedish Pomerania (; ) was a dominions of Sweden, dominion under the Sweden, Swedish Crown from 1630 to 1815 on what is now the Baltic Sea, Baltic coast of Germany and Poland. Following the Polish-Swedish War, Polish War and the Thirty Years' War ...

* 1676–1700,

* 1700–1720,

* 1720–1815,

* 1815–1871, Province of Pomerania,

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (, ) was a German state that existed from 1701 to 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Rev. ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946. It played a signif ...

* 1871–1918, Province of Pomerania,

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

* 1918–1933, Province of Pomerania,

Free State of Prussia The Free State of Prussia (, ) was one of the States of the Weimar Republic, constituent states of Weimar Republic, Germany from 1918 to 1947. The successor to the Kingdom of Prussia after the defeat of the German Empire in World War I, it cont ...

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic, officially known as the German Reich, was the German Reich, German state from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional republic for the first time in history; hence it is also referred to, and unofficially proclai ...

* 1933–1945, Province of Pomerania,

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 ...

* 1945–1952, Land Mecklenburg,

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 ...

* 1952–1990,

Bezirk Neubrandenburg The Bezirk Neubrandenburg was a district (''Bezirk'') of East Germany. The administrative seat and the main town was Neubrandenburg. History The district was established, with the other 13, on 25 July 1952, substituting the old German states. A ...

* since 1990,

Cross-border contacts

Since 1992 the bilingual German-Polish Gymnasium is visited by pupils from Germany (526 in 2008) and Poland (161), leading to the German

Abitur ''Abitur'' (), often shortened colloquially to ''Abi'', is a qualification granted at the end of secondary education in Germany. It is conferred on students who pass their final exams at the end of ISCED 3, usually after twelve or thirteen year ...

as well as to the Polish

matura or its translated terms (''mature'', ''matur'', , , , , ', ) is a Latin name for the secondary school exit exam or "maturity diploma" in various European countries, including Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech ...

. In 2008 the certificates were handed over by the foreign ministers of both countries

Frank-Walter Steinmeier Frank-Walter Steinmeier (; born 5 January 1956) is a German politician who has served as President of Germany since 2017. He was previously Minister for Foreign Affairs (Germany), federal minister for foreign affairs from 2005 to 2009 and again f ...

and

Radosław Sikorski Radosław Tomasz Sikorski (; born 23 February 1963), also known as Radek Sikorski, is a Polish politician, journalist and statesman who has served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland since 2023, previously holding the office between 2007 and ...

.Auswärtiges Amt.de
/ref> Since Poland joined the

Schengen Agreement The Schengen Agreement ( , ) is a treaty which led to the creation of Europe's Schengen Area, in which internal border checks have largely been abolished. It was signed on 14 June 1985, near the town of Schengen, Luxembourg, by five of the t ...

, the population of Löcknitz has been growing, as rates and costs of land acquisition are lower than in Poland. Many commuters to Szczecin live in Löcknitz and the first economic investments were made in Löcknitz by Polish enterprises, supported by the Löcknitz administration. As of 2019, the town's population was 15%

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

Demographics

The population of Löcknitz is 3,253 as of 2019.As a result of the

, 15% (around 495 people) and 250 pupils (around half) in the town were

as of 2019. In 2012, Poles made up only 7% of the population.

Politics

The current mayor of Löcknitz is Detlef Ebert ( CDU). Ebert ran in the 2019 mayoral elections unopposed and received 1003 (78.6%) yes votes. The municipal council consists of 13 members (12 CDU, 1

AfD Alternative for Germany (, AfD, ) is a far-right,Far-right: * * * * * * * * * * * * * * right-wing populist and national-conservative political party in Germany. The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), ...

) elected on the same date.

Elections

The last municipal election took place on 26 May 2019. 13 members were elected to the council. ! colspan=2, Candidate ! Party ! Votes ! % ! +/- ! Seats ! +/- , - , style="background:", , style="text-align:left" , Detlef Ebert , style="text-align:left" ,

Christian Democratic Union of Germany The Christian Democratic Union of Germany ( , CDU ) is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Germany. It is the major party of the centre-right in German politics. Friedrich Merz has been federal chairman of the CDU since 31 ...

(CDU) , 3,081 , 81.6 , 41.7 , 12 , 4 , - , bgcolor=, , style="text-align:left" , Sören Schütz , style="text-align:left" ,

Alternative for Germany Alternative for Germany (, AfD, ) is a Far-right politics in Germany (1945–present), far-right,Far-right: * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Right-wing populism, right-wing populist and National conservatism, national-conservative p ...

(AfD) , 519 , 13.8 , New , 1 , 1 , - , bgcolor=#DCDCDC, , style="text-align:left" , ? , style="text-align:left" ,

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

, 174 , 4.6 , New , 0 , ±0 , - ! colspan=3, Valid votes ! 3,774 ! 98.6 ! 28.43 ! ! , - ! colspan=3, Invalid votes ! 53 ! 1.4% ! 56.91 ! ! , - ! colspan=3, Electorate/voter turnout ! 1359 ! 50.7 ! 1.1 ! ! , - , colspan=8, Source
Kommunalwahlen in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern am 26. Mai 2019
The following candidates were elected: * Detlef Ebert ( CDU), Mayor * Lutz-Michael Liskow (CDU), First deputy mayor * Bernd Dassow (CDU), Second deputy mayor * Sven Reinke (CDU) * Anja Holke (CDU) * Tina Peschke (CDU) * Janette Haase (CDU) * Anja Guderjan (CDU) * Katarzyna Werth (CDU) * Enrico Harms (CDU) * Thomas Kuckuck (CDU) * Matthias Mochow (CDU) * Jürgen Reichert (CDU) * Sören Schütz (

)

Historical seat distribution

Mayoral elections

The last mayoral election happened on 26 May 2019, the same day as the municipal council election. Only one candidate, Detlef Ebert ( CDU), was up for election and ran unopposed. The results are as follows:

Other elections

Löcknitz is part of the Mecklenburgische Seenplatte I – Vorpommern-Greifswald II federal electoral constituency and is represented by Erik von Malottki ( SPD), elected during the 2021 federal election.

Nationalism and Neo-Nazism in Löcknitz

The mass immigration of

Poles Pole or poles may refer to: People *Poles (people), another term for Polish people, from the country of Poland * Pole (surname), including a list of people with the name * Pole (musician) (Stefan Betke, born 1967), German electronic music artist ...

into Löcknitz has also caused some problems and gave rise to an

anti-Polish sentiment Polonophobia, also referred to as anti-Polonism () or anti-Polish sentiment are terms for negative attitudes, prejudices, and actions against Poles as an ethnic group, Poland as their country, and their culture. These include ethnic prejudic ...

as well as

German nationalism German nationalism () is an ideological notion that promotes the unity of Germans and of the Germanosphere into one unified nation-state. German nationalism also emphasizes and takes pride in the patriotism and national identity of Germans as ...

in the town. For instance, there have been incidents of Polish license plates being vandalized. The

far-right Far-right politics, often termed right-wing extremism, encompasses a range of ideologies that are marked by ultraconservatism, authoritarianism, ultranationalism, and nativism. This political spectrum situates itself on the far end of the ...

National Democratic Party of Germany National Democratic Party of Germany (, NPD), officially called The Homeland () since 2023, is a Far-right politics, far-right, Neo-Nazism, neo-Nazi and Ultranationalism, ultranationalist political party in Germany. It was founded in 1964 as ...

has enjoyed some popularity in the town, holding two seats in the municipal council between 2009 and 2019. The NPD played into anti-Polish sentiments by displaying the slogan "Stop the Polish invasion!" (

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

: "Poleninvasion stoppen!") on posters in the village during the 2009 election. In June 2011, a 20-meter long inscription, attributed to the NPD, appeared in the town with the text "Poles out. Germany for the Germans". In 2020, the police closed down a facility in Löcknitz where

neo-Nazis Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and racial supremacy (often white supremacy), to att ...

had combined several garages into a single large hall which was used as a meeting place as well as for the organisation of far-right concerts, which up to 200 people attended. The hall was closed due to building code/

zoning In urban planning, zoning is a method in which a municipality or other tier of government divides land into land-use "zones", each of which has a set of regulations for new development that differs from other zones. Zones may be defined for ...

violations and a large

bonfire A bonfire is a large and controlled outdoor fire, used for waste disposal or as part of a religious feast, such as Saint John's Eve. Etymology The earliest attestations date to the late 15th century, with the Catholicon Anglicum spelling i ...

that was spotted at the building. During the search, the owners resisted the police, which resulted in three officers being injured. Dirk Bahlmann ( NPD), who used to be a member of the municipal council, is recognized as the leader of neo-Nazi activities in the town. Allegedly there exists a group of 20 to 25 neo-Nazis around Bahlmann named "Nationales Bündnis Löcknitz" (National Association Löcknitz) which organizes far-right activities in the town. Several worn-out posters of the NPD's youth wing JN are glued to an advertising column in front of the

train station A train station, railroad station, or railway station is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight, or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track, and a station building providing suc ...

Notable residents

* Manfred Ewald (1926–2002), SED politician in the

GDR East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from its formation on 7 October 1949 until its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on 3 October 1990. Until 1989, it was generally vie ...

Viktor Bauer Viktor Bauer (15 September 1915 – 13 December 1969) was a former Luftwaffe fighter ace and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves during World War II. A flying ace or fighter ace is a military aviator credited with ...

(1915–1969),

Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...

officer during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Twin towns

Sassenberg Sassenberg() is a town in the district of Warendorf, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated approximately 6 km north-east of Warendorf and 30 km east of Münster Münster (; ) is an independent city#Germany, independent ...

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...

* Stare Czarnowo,

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

Notes

References

External links

*
German-Polish school Löcknitz (German/Polish)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Locknitz Vorpommern-Greifswald