Neustrelitz (;

East Low German East Low German (german: ostniederdeutsche Dialekte, ostniederdeutsche Mundarten, Ostniederdeutsch; nds, Oostplattdütsch) is a group of Low German dialects spoken in north-eastern Germany as well as by minorities in northern Poland. Together ...

: ''Niegenstrelitz'') is a town in the Mecklenburgische Seenplatte district in the state of

Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (MV; ; nds, Mäkelborg-Vörpommern), 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 pop ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

. It is situated on the shore of the Zierker See in the

Mecklenburg Lake District The Mecklenburg Lake Plateau or Mecklenburg Lakeland
- Federal Ministry of Economics ...

. From 1738 until 1918 it was the capital of the

Duchy of 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 ...

. From 1994 until 2011 it was the capital of the district of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. The name ''Strelitz'' is derived from the Polabian word ''Strelci'', meaning "archers" or "shooters".The related Polish form '' Strzelce'' is still a common toponym in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 mill ...

History

The village of Strelitz was first mentioned in 1278. It grew to a small town in the following centuries. In the 17th century Strelitz was a part of the duchy of Mecklenburg-Güstrow, which ceased to exist after the death of the last duke in 1695. Afterwards the new

was established (1701). This small duchy contained the present-day district and an exclave around

Ratzeburg Ratzeburg (; Low German: ''Ratzborg'') is a town in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is surrounded by four lakes—the resulting isthmuses between the lakes form the access lanes to the town. Ratzeburg is the capital of the district Herzogtum Lau ...

, which is today situated in

Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; da, Slesvig-Holsten; nds, Sleswig-Holsteen; frr, Slaswik-Holstiinj) is the northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Sc ...

. In 1712 the castle and the town of Strelitz burnt down. After this disaster the duke and his family lived on their hunting lodge at the lake called ''Zierker See'' (Lake Zierke) to the northwest of Strelitz. Around this place the new town of ''Neustrelitz'' (New Strelitz) was constructed. It became the official capital of Mecklenburg-Strelitz in 1736. Neustrelitz remained the ducal seat until 1918 and was the capital of the Free State of Mecklenburg-Strelitz from 1918 to 1933. In 1934 it was merged with Mecklenburg-Schwerin to the ''Gau'' of

Mecklenburg Mecklenburg (; nds, label=Low German, Mękel(n)borg ) 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, Schwer ...

. The ancient town of Strelitz continued to exist after the fire of 1712; it was a small village, which was suburbanised by Neustrelitz in 1931. When the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian language, Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist R ...

troops of the 2nd Belorussian Front entered the town on 30 April 1945, 681 people committed suicide.

Sights and monuments

The city centre is characterised by Baroque architecture. Its heart is the ''Marktplatz'' (Market Square), with the ''Stadtkirche'' (city church), built in 1768–1778 and the opposite ''Rathaus'' (Town Hall), built in 1841 by Friedrich W. Buttel, a disciple of

Karl Friedrich Schinkel Karl Friedrich Schinkel (13 March 1781 – 9 October 1841) was a Prussian architect, city planner An urban planner (also known as town planner) is a professional who practices in the field of town planning, urban planning or city planning. ...

. The Baroque

Neustrelitz Palace The Neustrelitz Palace (german: Schloss Neustrelitz) in Neustrelitz in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany was a princely palace, which mostly served as the main residence of the Grand Dukes of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. The palace was des ...

was destroyed in 1945, but the palace gardens (''Schloßgarten'') still exist. Worth seeing are the 18th-century ''Orangerie'' (from orange), initially used as a summerhouse, the ''Schloßkirche'' (Palace Church) built in 1855–1859 in English

Neo-Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

style, the Neoclassic Hebe temple (with a replica of a statue of the goddess Hebe), and the Louise Temple, built in 1891 in the shape of a Greek temple to house the tomb of Queen Louise of Prussia, born Princess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. There is a small lake, Glambeck See, where one can swim in summer in a protected area and have lunch at a restaurant overlooking the lake.

Transport

The town has a station on the Berlin Northern railway and provides direct connections to

Berlin Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...

and

Rostock Rostock (), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (german: link=no, Hanse- und Universitätsstadt Rostock), is the largest city in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the state, ...

. File:Fürstensee Großer Fürstenseer See 2010-04-07 207.jpg, Lake ''Großer Fürstenseer'' File:Neustrelitz Glambecker See 2011.jpg, Lake ''Glambecker See'' File:Gymnasium Carolinum.jpg, Gymnasium Carolinum File:Rathaus Neustrelitz.jpg , Neustrelitz Town Hall File:Stadthafen Neustrelitz (4).jpg, City harbour File:Stadtkirche Neustrelitz-IMG 2248.jpg, City church File:Schlosskirche (Neustrelitz) Front.jpg, Castle church File:Friedrich-Wolf-Plastik.jpg, Friedrich Wolf File:Altstrelitz Kriegerdenkmal 1870-71.jpg, Franco-Prussian War memorial in

Strelitz-Alt Neustrelitz (; East Low German: ''Niegenstrelitz'') 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 ...

Entertainment

The city has hosted the popular Immergut Festival since the year 2000, attended by almost 5000 visitors each year. Neustrelitz boasts its own theatre with a permanent resident cast. Drama, operas, operettas and musicals are regularly performed there. The theatre seats 400 persons. A review (in German) of a 2017 opera performance of Offenbach´s The Tales of Hoffmann is to be found here. www.myway.de/hoffmann/1617-neustrelitz.html

Notable people

* Thomas Böttger (born 1957), composer and pianist * Andreas Dittmer (born 1972), Olympian winner in canoeing *

Carl Eggers Carl Johann Adolf Eggers (1 October 1787, Neustrelitz – 24 July 1863, Neustrelitz) was a German history painter. Life and work From 1809 to 1812, he studied at the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts, with the history painter, Friedrich Matthäi. ...

(1787–1863), artist painter * Rainer Ernst (born 1961), footballer *

Mark Frank (athlete) Mark Fränk (born 21 June 1977 in Neustrelitz) is a retired German track and field athlete who competed in the javelin throw The javelin throw is a track and field event where the javelin, a spear about in length, is thrown. The javelin thro ...

(born 1977), javelin thrower * Ulf Hoffmann (born 1961), gymnast * Bernhard Horwitz (1807–1885), chess master *

Charly Hübner Carsten Johannes Marcus Hübner (born 4 December 1972 in Neustrelitz) is a German actor. He appeared in more than eighty films since 2003, including ''Magical Mystery or: The Return of Karl Schmidt'' (in 2017) and The Good Neighbour (''Unter Nac ...

(born 1972), actor *

Karl Kraepelin Karl Matthias Friedrich Magnus Kraepelin (; ; 14 December 1848 – 28 June 1915) was a German naturalist who specialised in the study of scorpions, centipedes, spiders and solfugids, and was noted for his monograph ''Scorpiones und Pedipalpi'' (Be ...

(1848–1915), biologist, founder of the Natural History Museum in Hamburg *

Emil Kraepelin Emil Wilhelm Georg Magnus Kraepelin (; ; 15 February 1856 – 7 October 1926) was a German psychiatrist. H. J. Eysenck's ''Encyclopedia of Psychology'' identifies him as the founder of modern scientific psychiatry, psychopharmacology and psyc ...

(1856–1926), psychiatrist, considered as father of modern psychiatry *

Hans Kundt Hans Kundt (28 February 1869, Neustrelitz, Mecklenburg-Strelitz – 30 August 1939, Lugano, Switzerland) was a German military officer from a family of military officers. He was the primary military figure of Bolivia during the two decades p ...

(1869–1939), German-Bolivian general in the First World War and the Chacokrieg *

Marie Kundt Marie Julia Berta Emma Kundt (4 February 1870 – 2 April 1932) was a German photographer and educator. From 1913 to 1932, she was the director of the photography department of Lette-Verein, an educational establishment for young women, where she b ...

(1870–1932), photographer, teacher and director of the Photographische Lehranstalt der Lette-Verein Berlin * Otto Piper (1882–1946), jurist and politician (DVP) * Jesco von Puttkamer (1919–1987), publicist *

Franz Rademacher Franz Rademacher (20 February 1906 – 17 March 1973) was a German lawyer and diplomat. As an official in the Nazi government of the Third Reich during World War II, he was known for initiating action on the Madagascar Plan. Nazi beginnings Rad ...

(1906–1973), jurist *

Carl Friedrich Roewer Carl Friedrich Roewer (12 October 1881, in Neustrelitz – 17 June 1963) was a German arachnologist. He concentrated on harvestmen, where he described almost a third (2,260) of today's known species, but also almost 700 taxa of spiders and numer ...

(1881–1963), pedagogue, arachnologist and museum director * Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels (1812–1875), German prince and military officer in both the Austrian army and in the cavalry of the Grand Duchy of Hesse, and also founder of the settlement New Braunfels, Comal County, Texas (USA) * Herbert Wagner (born 1948), politician (CDU), Lord Mayor of Dresden 1990–2001 * Olaf Winter (born 1973), Olympian winner in canoeing * Albert Wolff (sculptor) (1814–1892), sculptor

International relations

Twin towns – Sister cities

Neustrelitz is

twinned Twinning (making a twin of) may refer to: * In biology and agriculture, producing two offspring (i.e., twins) at a time, or having a tendency to do so; * Twin towns and sister cities, towns and cities involved in town twinning * Twinning inst ...

with: * Chaykovsky,

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

* Szczecinek,

Rovaniemi Rovaniemi ( , ; sme, Roavvenjárga ; smn, Ruávinjargâ; sms, Ruäʹvnjargg) is a city and municipality of Finland. It is the administrative capital and commercial centre of Finland's northernmost province, Lapland, and its southern part Per� ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bo ...

Schwäbisch Hall Schwäbisch Hall (; "Swabian Hall"; from 1802 until 1934 and colloquially: ''Hall'' ) is a city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg located in the valley of the Kocher river, the longest tributary (together with its headwater Lein) of th ...

, Germany

References

External links

* {{Authority control Cities and towns in Mecklenburg Populated places established in 1733 Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz