Neubrandenburg (,

Low German Low German is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language variety, language spoken mainly in Northern Germany and the northeastern Netherlands. The dialect of Plautdietsch is also spoken in the Russian Mennonite diaspora worldwide. "Low" ...

''Niegenbramborg'', both lit. ''New

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 ...

'') is a city in the southeast 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 ...

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 located on the shore of a lake called

Tollensesee Tollensesee is a ''zungenbecken'' lake in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It belongs to the Mecklenburg Lake District. At an elevation of 14.8 m, its surface area is 17.4 km². Its maximum depth is about 46 m."Mehr als 45 Meter – Tollensese ...

and forms the urban centre of the Mecklenburg Lakeland. The city is famous for its rich medieval heritage of

Brick Gothic Brick Gothic (, , ) is a specific style of Gothic architecture common in Baltic region, Northeast and Central Europe especially in the regions in and around the Baltic Sea, which do not have resources of standing rock (though Glacial erratic, ...

architecture, including the world's best preserved defensive wall of this style as well as a Concert Church (Saint Mary), the home venue of the Neubrandenburg Philharmonic. It is part of the European Route of Brick Gothic, a route which leads through seven countries along the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

coast. Neubrandenburg is nicknamed for its four medieval city gates - ''Stadt der Vier Tore'' ("City of Four Gates"). Since 2011, Neubrandenburg has been the capital of the Mecklenburgische Seenplatte district. It is the third-largest city and one of the main urban centres of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The city is an economical node of northeastern Germany, featuring one of the highest national ranks in employment density and

GDP per capita This is a list of countries by nominal GDP per capita. GDP per capita is the total value of a country's finished goods and services (gross domestic product) divided by its total population (per capita). Gross domestic product (GDP) per capita is ...

. The closest greater urban areas are the

regiopolis In Germany, a regiopolis is a city outside the core of a metropolitan area, that serves as an independent driving force for development within a larger region. The concept is used to develop midsized urban regions within regional, national and g ...

Rostock Rostock (; Polabian language, Polabian: ''Roztoc''), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (), is the largest city in the German States of Germany, state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the sta ...

and the metropolises 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 ...

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 ...

and

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

. Since 1991, Neubrandenburg has hosted a

University of Applied Sciences A vocational university or university of applied sciences (UAS), less commonly called a polytechnic university is an institution of higher education and increasingly research that provides applied professional education and grants academic de ...

that offers international exchanges, guest programs and study programs.

History

NB-Stadtmauer-und-Wiekhaus-02-06-2008-041

The region had been left largely empty during the

Migration Period The Migration Period ( 300 to 600 AD), also known as the Barbarian Invasions, was a period in European history marked by large-scale migrations that saw the fall of the Western Roman Empire and subsequent settlement of its former territories ...

and was re-settled by

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 ...

who then formed the

Veleti The Veleti, also known as Veletians, Wilzi, Wielzians, and Wiltzes, were a group of medieval Lechitic tribes within the territory of Western Pomerania, related to Polabian Slavs. They had formed together the Confederation of the Veleti, also kn ...

, starting in the 7th century. Frankish and

Saxon The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...

influence increased since the late 8th century but suffered several setbacks. After final subjugation by the Saxons in the mid-12th century, German colonisation greatly intensified after 1200. The first Christian monks in the area were

Premonstratensians The Order of Canons Regular of Prémontré (), also known as the Premonstratensians, the Norbertines and, in United Kingdom, Britain and Ireland, as the White Canons (from the colour of their religious habit, habit), is a religious order of cano ...

at Broda Abbey, a monastery by the lakeshore (about 1240). The foundation of the city known as of Neubrandenburg took place in 1248, when the Margrave of

decided to build a settlement in the northern part of his fief, naming it after the older city of

further south. In 1292, the city and the surrounding area became part of

Mecklenburg Mecklenburg (; ) is a historical region in northern Germany comprising the western and larger part of the federal-state Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The largest cities of the region are Rostock, Schwerin, Neubrandenburg, Wismar and Güstrow. ...

. The city flourished as a trade centre until 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 ...

(1618–48), when this position was lost due to incessant warfare. During the dramatic advance of the Swedish army of

Gustavus Adolphus Gustavus Adolphus (9 December N.S 19 December">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Old Style and New Style dates">N.S 19 December15946 November Old Style and New Style dates">N.S 16 November] 1632), also known in English as ...

into Germany, the city was garrisoned by Swedes, but it was retaken by Imperial Catholic League (German), Catholic League forces in 1631. During this campaign, it was widely reported that the Catholic forces killed many of the Swedish and Scottish soldiers while they were surrendering. Later, according to the Scottish soldier of fortune Robert Munro, 18th Baron of Foulis, when the Swedes themselves adopted a "no prisoners" policy, they would cut short any pleas for mercy with the cry of "New Brandenburg!". The city, therefore, played an unconscious role in the escalation of brutality of one of history's most brutal wars. Neubrandenburg was one of two ''Vorderstädte'' (lit. primary cities) of the duchy of

, i.e. it represented the interests of the cities and towns at the regional assembly (the ''Landtag'' or diet). From 1701 to 1934, it formed a part of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, a small, primarily rural, and socio-economically backward state of northeastern Germany, being its largest or second-largest city (closely tied with

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 ...

, the capital). From 1856 to 1863, Fritz Reuter, the most successful author of

literature and one of the best-sold German authors of the 19th century, lived here. In 1864, Neubrandenburg was connected to

by railway, and developed some modest industry, mostly connected with the needs of the predominant agricultural sector of the region. Under Nazism, an airbase was built at nearby Trollenhagen and a facility for

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, such ...

trials was established in Lake Tollense. The city's rural situation far from any borders shielded it from air attacks for some time. During the

Second World War 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 ...

, two German prisoner-of-war camps for Allied POWs of various nationalities were located in Fünfeichen within the city limits: the large Stalag II-A and the adjacent Oflag II-E/67 for officers. The same site was operated from 1945 to 1948 as special

NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (, ), abbreviated as NKVD (; ), was the interior ministry and secret police of the Soviet Union from 1934 to 1946. The agency was formed to succeed the Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU) se ...

-camp Nr. 9. The town was also the location of a

forced labour Forced labour, or unfree labour, is any work relation, especially in modern or early modern history, in which people are employed against their will with the threat of destitution, detention, or violence, including death or other forms of ...

camp for

Sinti The Sinti (masc. sing. ''Sinto''; fem. sing. ''Sintetsa, Sinta'') are a subgroup of the Romani people. They are found mostly in Germany, France, Italy and Central Europe, numbering some 200,000 people. They were traditionally Itinerant groups i ...

and

Romani people {{Infobox ethnic group , group = Romani people , image = , image_caption = , flag = Roma flag.svg , flag_caption = Romani flag created in 1933 and accepted at the 1971 World Romani Congress , po ...

. In 1945, a few days before the end of the Second World War, 80% of the old town was burned down by the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

in a great fire that destroyed, inter alia, City Hall (incl. most of the Municipal Archives), the Grand Ducal Palace (incl. the Municipal Arts Collections) and St. Mary's Church. About 600 people committed suicide in fear of or as a result of the Soviet advance. After the war, within the newly-founded Socialist GDR (East Germany), the city centre was slowly rebuilt in the 1950s and 60s in a simplified neoclassicist and neo-Renaissance style. Large numbers of refugees from Germany's former eastern territories and from

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

were resettled in the city. Neubrandenburg was designated the centre of a ''

Bezirk The German language, German term (; Grammatical number#Overview, pl. ; derived from , "circle") translated as "district" can refer to the following types of administrative divisions: * , a subdivision of a city in the sense of a borough (e ...

'', the highest tier of administrative divisions in East Germany, in 1952. As such, the city was supposed to embody the vision of a "Socialist city" and was to be greatly expanded and industrialised. Population increased from about 20,000 at war's end to about 90,000 in the late 1980s. Large panel-type housing estates were built in several parts of the city. The demolished market square area was reshaped by the ''Haus der Kultur und Bildung'' (House of Culture and Education), a Socialist-style civic centre, complemented by a 56 m highrise. Brigitte Reimann, a prominent GDR writer whose works deal with the attempt at building a Socialist society, spent her last years (1968-1973) in the city. As in all of East Germany, the

reunification of Germany German reunification () was the process of re-establishing Germany as a single sovereign state, which began on 9 November 1989 and culminated on 3 October 1990 with the dissolution of the German Democratic Republic and the integration of i ...

in 1990 brought an improvement of political and social freedoms but also a deep socio-economic crisis with large-scale unemployment and emigration. The population sharply dropped, stabilising at about 65,000 people (2023), with some of those losses, however, just going to surrounding bedroom communities. The economic situation finally slowly improved, many historical buildings were renovated, e.g. St. Mary's Church that was refurbished as a concert hall. The University of Applied Sciences was founded in 1991, focusing on social work, health, agriculture and food industry. After 1990, Neubrandenburg lost its position as a ''Bezirk'' centre and remained an autonomous district-level city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') within the state of

. In 2011, it emerged as the capital of a huge new district Mecklenburgische Seenplatte, the largest in Germany, with an area slightly more than half that of its former ''Bezirk''.

Sights and monuments

Neubrandenburg has preserved its medieval

city wall A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or Earthworks (military), earthworks to extensive military fortifications such as ...

in its entirety. The wall, 7 m high with a perimeter of 2.3 km, has four

city gate A city gate is a gate which is, or was, set within a city wall. It is a type of fortified gateway. Uses City gates were traditionally built to provide a point of controlled access to and departure from a walled city for people, vehicles, goods ...

s, dating back to the 14th and 15th centuries. Of these, one of the most impressive is the ''Stargarder Tor'' (pictured), with its characteristic gable-like shape and the filigree

tracery Tracery is an architectural device by which windows (or screens, panels, and vaults) are divided into sections of various proportions by stone ''bars'' or ''ribs'' of moulding. Most commonly, it refers to the stonework elements that support th ...

and rosettes on the outer defence side. Another place of interest is the

Marienkirche (Church of the Virgin Mary or St. Mary's Church, ''Konzertkirche''), completed 1298. The church was nearly destroyed in 1945, but it was restored in 1975 and now houses a concert hall (opened 2001). The tallest highrise in the city is the 56 m tower of the Haus der Kultur und Bildung (HKB, House of Culture & Education), opened in 1965. Its slender appearance has earned it the nickname ''Kulturfinger'' ("culture finger"). Other attractions include Neubrandenburg Regional Museum. File:NB-St-Marien-Kirche-26-VIII-2007-57.jpg, St. Mary's Church (used for concerts) File:NB-Treptower-Tor-11-IV-2007-060.jpg, Treptow Gate with Neubrandenburg Regional Museum File:NB-Stargarder-Tor-11-IV-2007-109.jpg, Stargard Gate File:NB-Neues-Tor-26-VIII-2007-46.jpg, New Gate File:Friedländer Tor Neubrandenburg Haupttor Stadtseite-Carschten.jpg, Friedland Gate File:Tollensesee-02-06-2008-202.jpg,

File:Broda's Belvedere.jpg, Belvedere

Education

Hochschule Neubrandenburg
(''University of Applied Sciences'') * Three large secondary schools

Sports

Neubrandenburg is known as city of sports (''Sportstadt''). The city is famous for being home to various Olympic medal winners and talents in sports, especially in canoeing ( Andreas Dittmer, Martin Hollstein), discus throwing and shotputting ( Astrid Kumbernuss, Ralf Bartels, Franka Dietzsch) and running ( Katrin Krabbe). Neubrandenburg was the location of both of the world record throws in Discus, by Jürgen Schult in 1986 and by Gabriele Reinsch in 1988. The ''Jahnstadion'', the ''Jahnsportforum'' stadium, the ''Stadthalle'' and adjacent sport parks offer vast options for large sport and culture events. The city is also home to a dedicated sports elite school, the ''Sportgymnasium Neubrandenburg''. The Günter Harder Stadion was a multi purpose stadium that existed from 1949 to circa 1996. It hosted football and

motorcycle speedway Motorcycle speedway, usually referred to simply as speedway, is a motorcycle sport involving four and sometimes up to six riders competing over four clockwise, anti-clockwise laps of an oval circuit. The motorcycles are specialist machines that ...

and held qualifying rounds of the Speedway World Championship in 1964 and 1965.

Notable people

* Wenceslaus Johann Gustav Karsten (1732–1787), German mathematician; did complex logarithms. * Fritz Reuter (1810-1874), most successful writer in the Low German language, spent important parts of his middle age here. * Luise Mühlbach (1814-1873), German writer of historical fiction. * Theodor Leipart (1867–1947), German trades unionist. * Theodor Estermann (1902–1991), American mathematician, worked on

analytic number theory In mathematics, analytic number theory is a branch of number theory that uses methods from mathematical analysis to solve problems about the integers. It is often said to have begun with Peter Gustav Lejeune Dirichlet's 1837 introduction of Dir ...

. * Otto Remer (1912-1997), Nazi German military officer who helped put down the 20th July plot, post-war far-right activist. * Brigitte Reimann (1933-1973), East German writer closely tied to Socialist ''Ankunftsliteratur'', spent her last years here. * Jürnjakob Timm (born 1949), German cellist; played for over 40 years in the

Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra The Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra (Gewandhausorchester; also previously known in German as the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig) is a German symphony orchestra based in Leipzig, Germany. The orchestra is named after the concert hall in which it is bas ...

* Annegret Rosenmüller (born 1967), German musicologist.

Sport

* Hans-Jürgen Wallbrecht (1943–1970), German rower; team silver medallist at the

1964 Summer Olympics The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 October 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this honor was subseq ...

* Rüdiger Helm (born 1956), East German sprint canoeist; multiple team gold and bronze Olympic medallist * Ulf Hielscher (born 1967), German bobsledder; team bronze medallist at the

1994 Winter Olympics The 1994 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVII Olympic Winter Games (; ) and commonly known as Lillehammer '94, were an international winter multi-sport event held from 12 to 27 February 1994 in and around Lillehammer, Norway. Hav ...

* Jana Sorgers (born 1967), German rower, team gold medallist at the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and officially branded as Seoul 1988 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. 159 nations were represe ...

* Tim Borowski (born 1980), football manager and former player; played 294 games and 33 for

* Sebastian Zbik (born 1982), German boxer; former WBC middleweight World Champion * Viola Odebrecht (born 1983), former footballer, played over 120 games and 49 for Germany women * Martin Hollstein (born 1987), German sprint canoer; gold and bronze Olympic medallist

Governance

The current mayor of Neubrandenburg is

independent politician An independent politician or non-affiliated politician is a politician not affiliated with any political party or Bureaucracy, bureaucratic association. There are numerous reasons why someone may stand for office as an independent. Some politicia ...

Silvio Witt since 2015. The most recent mayoral election was held on 16 January 2022, and the results were as follows: ! colspan=2, Candidate ! Party ! Votes ! % , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Silvio Witt , 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 ...

( CDU/ SPD/ FDP) , 16,325 , 87.5 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Gunar Mühle , align=left, The Left , 2,327 , 12.5 , - ! colspan=3, Valid votes ! 18,652 ! 99.5 , - ! colspan=3, Invalid votes ! 93 ! 0.5 , - ! colspan=3, Total ! 38,745 ! 100.0 , - ! colspan=3, Electorate/voter turnout ! 52,941 ! 35.4 , - , colspan=5, Source
City of Neubrandenburg
The most recent city council election was held on 9 June 2024, and the results were as follows: ! colspan=2, Party ! Votes ! % ! +/- ! Seats ! +/- , - , bgcolor=, , 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) , 17,473 , 21.5 , 5.4 , 9 , 2 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Christian Democratic Union (CDU) , 14,597 , 17.9 , 7.4 , 8 , 3 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) , 13,037 , 16.0 , New , 7 , New , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

(SPD) , 9,238 , 11.4 , 5.1 , 5 , 2 , - , , align=left, Project Neubrandenburg (Projekt-NB) , 7,218 , 8.9 , New , 4 , New , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, The Left (Die Linke) , 6,411 , 7.9 , 15.9 , 3 , 7 , - , , align=left, Citizens for Neubrandenburg (BfN) , 5,195 , 6.4 , New , 3 , New , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

Alliance 90/The Greens Alliance 90/The Greens (, ), often simply referred to as Greens (, ), is a Green (politics), green political party in Germany. It was formed in 1993 by the merger of the Greens (formed in West Germany in 1980) and Alliance 90 (formed in East Ger ...

(Grüne) , 4,131 , 5.1 , 6.2 , 2 , 3 , - , , align=left, Strong Citizens Neubrandenburg (SBNB) , 1,866 , 2.3 , New , 1 , New , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Free Democratic Party (FDP) , 827 , 1.0 , 2.4 , 0 , 2 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

Sandmann , 695 , 0.9 , New , 0 , New , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, dieBasis , 485 , 0.6 , New , 0 , New , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, The Homeland (HEIMAT) , 245 , 0.3 , New , 0 , New , - ! colspan=2, Valid votes ! 81,408 ! 100.0 ! ! ! , - ! colspan=2, Invalid ballots ! 1,001 ! 1.2 ! ! ! , - ! colspan=2, Total ballots ! 28,124 ! 100.0 ! ! 43 ! ±0 , - ! colspan=2, Electorate/voter turnout ! 51,927 ! 54.2 ! 2.2 ! ! , - , colspan=7, Source
City of Neubrandenburg
In October 2024 Mr. Witt announced on Facebook that he would step down as Lord Mayor effective May 2025.

Twin towns – sister cities

Neubrandenburg is twinned with: * Collegno, Italy (1965) *

Flensburg Flensburg (; Danish language, Danish and ; ; ) is an independent city, independent town in the far north of the Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein. After Kiel and Lübeck, it is the third-largest city in Schleswig-Holstein. Flensburg's ...

, Germany (1987) * Gladsaxe, Denmark (1990) *

Koszalin Koszalin (; ; , ) is a city in northwestern Poland, in Western Pomerania. It is located south of the Baltic Sea coast, and intersected by the river Dzierżęcinka. Koszalin is also a county-status city and capital of Koszalin County of West Pomera ...

, Poland (1974) *

Nazareth Nazareth is the largest Cities in Israel, city in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. In its population was . Known as "the Arab capital of Israel", Nazareth serves as a cultural, political, religious, economic and ...

, Israel (1998) *

Nevers Nevers ( , ; , later ''Nevirnum'' and ''Nebirnum'') is a city and the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Nièvre Departments of France, department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Regions of France, region in central France. It was the pr ...

, France (1973) *

Petrozavodsk Petrozavodsk (, ; Karelian language, Karelian, Veps language, Vepsian and ) is the capital city of the Republic of Karelia, Russia, which stretches along the western shore of Lake Onega for some . The population of the city is 280,890 as of 2022. ...

, Russia (1983) * Villejuif, France (1966) *

Yangzhou Yangzhou is a prefecture-level city in central Jiangsu Province, East China. Sitting on the north bank of the Yangtze, it borders the provincial capital Nanjing to the southwest, Huai'an to the north, Yancheng to the northeast, Taizhou, Jiangsu, ...

, China (1999)

References

External links

* * * * https://www.britannica.com/place/Brandenburg-Germany {{Authority control Populated places established in the 1240s 1240s establishments in the Holy Roman Empire 1248 establishments in Europe