Schwedt (or Schwedt/Oder; ) is a town 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 ...

, in northeastern

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 ...

. With the official status of a '' Große kreisangehörige Stadt'' (major district town), it is the largest town of the Uckermark district, located near the river

Oder The Oder ( ; Czech and ) is a river in Central Europe. It is Poland's second-longest river and third-longest within its borders after the Vistula and its largest tributary the Warta. The Oder rises in the Czech Republic and flows through wes ...

, which forms the border with

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 ...

Overview

The formerly agrarian town today has one of the largest

oil refineries An oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial process plant where petroleum (crude oil) is transformed and refined into products such as gasoline (petrol), diesel fuel, asphalt base, fuel oils, heating oil, kerosene, liquefied pet ...

(''PCK Raffinerie GmbH'') in Germany, established in 1958 and connected to the Russian

Druzhba pipeline The Druzhba pipeline (, ), also referred to as the Friendship Pipeline and the Comecon Pipeline, is one of the world's longest oil pipelines and one of the largest oil pipeline networks in the world. It began operation in 1964 and remains in oper ...

network. The refinery uses 20 million cubic meters of water per year for the process. A large paper factory ('' UPM'') is located near Schwedt. Most industries were located in the remote area during communist rule in the 1960s and 1970s. Large residential areas were built for the workers moving to Schwedt. About 9% of the town's flats are in prefab concrete buildings (''

Plattenbau A large-panel-system building is a building constructed of large, prefabricated concrete slabs. Such buildings are often found in housing developments. Although large-panel-system buildings are often considered to be typical of Eastern Bloc c ...

'') dating from the era. As many jobs were lost after

German reunification 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 East Germany, German Democratic Republic and the int ...

and the return to market economy, Schwedt has lost a quarter of its population since 1990. In recent decades, Schwedt became a model town for the demolition of ''Plattenbau'' housing to combat

urban decay Urban decay (also known as urban rot, urban death or urban blight) is the sociological process by which a previously functioning city, or part of a city, falls into disrepair and decrepitude. There is no single process that leads to urban decay. ...

Geography

Schwedt is situated in the east of the historic

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. ...

region stretching from the Oder to the

Havel The Havel () is a river in northeastern Germany, flowing through the States of Germany, states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Brandenburg, Berlin and Saxony-Anhalt. The long Havel is a right tributary of the Elbe. However, the direct distance from ...

River. It is situated on a sandur at the western edge of the Oder

floodplain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river. Floodplains stretch from the banks of a river channel to the base of the enclosing valley, and experience flooding during periods of high Discharge (hydrolog ...

running along the

German-Polish border German Polish or Polish German may refer to: * German–Polish relations *German minority in Poland The registered German minority in Poland (; ) is a group of German people that inhabit Poland, being the largest minority of the country. As of ...

, which in 1995 was declared as the

Lower Oder Valley National Park The Lower Oder Valley International Park is a shared German- Polish nature reserve. It comprises the western banks of the Oder () river within the Uckermark district in the German state of Brandenburg as well as the steep eastern banks in the ...

nature reserve. Across the river and the border, about to the southeast, is the Polish town of

Chojna Chojna (; "King's Mountain in the Neumark, New March") is a small town in northwestern Poland in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship. It lies approximately south of Szczecin. As of December 2021, the town has a population of 7,330. Chojna is loca ...

. The nearest German towns are

Angermünde Angermünde () is a town in the district of Uckermark in the state of Brandenburg, in north-eastern Germany. It is about northeast of Berlin, the capital of Germany. The population is about 14,000, but has been declining since its traditional i ...

(about to the west) and

Gartz Gartz is a border town in the Uckermark district in Brandenburg, in north-eastern Germany. It is located on the West bank of the Oder River, on the border with Poland, about south of Szczecin, Poland. It is located within the historic region of W ...

( down the Oder).

Local districts

In a 1974 municipal reform, the neighbouring village of Heinersdorf was incorporated into Schwedt, followed by Blumenhagen, Gatow and Kunow in 1993, by Kummerow in 1998, by Criewen and Zützen in 2001, Stendell in 2002, the former town

Vierraden Vierraden was the name of a small town in the northeast of the German state of Brandenburg. On October 26, 2003, it was incorporated into the city of Schwedt, Schwedt (Oder), which is about 3 kilometers to the south. Until the incorporation, Vierr ...

in 2003,

Schöneberg Schöneberg () is a locality of Berlin, Germany. Until Berlin's 2001 administrative reform it was a separate borough including the locality of Friedenau. Together with the former borough of Tempelhof it is now part of the new borough of Te ...

in January 2021 and

Berkholz-Meyenburg Berkholz-Meyenburg is a former municipality in the Uckermark district, in Brandenburg, Germany. Since 19 April 2022, it is an ''Ortsteil'' of the town Schwedt Schwedt (or Schwedt/Oder; ) is a town in Brandenburg, in northeastern Germany. With th ...

Mark Landin Mark Landin is a former Municipalities of Germany, municipality in the Uckermark district, in Brandenburg, Germany. It was merged into the town Schwedt on 19 April 2022.Passow in April 2022. With Schwedt is among the 10 largest German municipalities by area (9th as of Nov. 2023).

Nearest cities and towns

(Germany),

Penkun Penkun () is a town in the Vorpommern-Greifswald district, and one of the smallest in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, in north-eastern Germany. It is situated east of Prenzlau, and southwest of Szczecin. Penkun is known for its Renaissance cast ...

(Germany),

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 ...

(Poland),

Gryfino Gryfino () is a town in Pomerania, northwestern Poland, with 21,393 inhabitants (2017). It is the capital of Gryfino County in West Pomeranian Voivodeship. The town is located on the Odra Wschodnia, the eastern branch of the Oder river, about ...

(Poland),

Cedynia Cedynia (; , ) is a small historic town in Poland, and the administrative seat of Gmina Cedynia in Gryfino County, West Pomeranian Voivodeship. It is situated close to the Oder river and the border with Germany. The town is known for the 972 B ...

(Poland),

(Poland), Mieszkowice (Poland),

Moryń Moryń () is a List of cities and towns in Poland, town in Gryfino County, West Pomeranian Voivodeship, in northwestern Poland. Situated near the Germany, German border, it possesses an old town with a Middle Ages, medieval street layout surround ...

(Poland),

Trzcińsko-Zdrój Trzcińsko-Zdrój (; ) is a town in Gryfino County, West Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland, with 2,591 inhabitants (2005). It is also the centre of an urban-rural municipality with the same name, an area of about 170 km2, and about 5700 inhabi ...

(Poland),

Myślibórz Myślibórz (; ) is a town in northwestern Poland, in West Pomeranian Voivodeship. It is the capital of the Myślibórz County, with a population of 11,867. It is home to the first monastery of the Congregation of Sisters of Merciful Jesus and a ...

(Poland),

Pyrzyce Pyrzyce (; ) is a town in Pomerania, north-western Poland. As of 2007, it had 13,331 inhabitants. It is the capital of the Pyrzyce County in West Pomeranian Voivodeship. The town emerged from an early medieval tribal stronghold, which eventually ...

(Poland).

History

After 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 ...

, the area had been settled by

Polabian Slavs Polabian Slavs, also known as Elbe Slavs and more broadly as Wends, is a collective term applied to a number of Lechites, Lechitic (West Slavs, West Slavic) tribes who lived scattered along the Elbe river in what is today eastern Germany. The ...

. From 937 onwards the lands of the Slavic

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

tribes in the west were subdued by the

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 ...

forces of Margrave

Gero Gero I ( 900 – 20 May 965), sometimes called the Great (),Thompson, 486. Also se was a nobleman from East Francia who ruled an initially modest march centred on Merseburg in the south of the present German state of Saxony-Anhalt, which he ...

and incorporated into his vast ''

Marca Geronis The ''Marca Geronis'' or March of Gero was a vast marches, super-march in the middle of the tenth century. It was probably created for Thietmar, Margrave of Merseburg, Thietmar in the 920s and passed consecutively to his two sons, Siegfried, Margra ...

'', while the lands east of the Oder were held by Pomeranian tribes under sovereignty of the newly formed

Duchy of Poland Civitas Schinesghe (; ), also known as the Duchy of Poland or the Principality of Poland, is the historiographical name given to a polity in Central Europe, which existed during the medieval period and was the predecessor state of the Kingdom of ...

ruled by Duke

Mieszko I Mieszko I (; – 25 May 992) was Duchy of Poland (966–1025), Duke of Poland from 960 until his death in 992 and the founder of the first unified History of Poland, Polish state, the Civitas Schinesghe. A member of the Piast dynasty, he was t ...

. The Saxon

Northern March The Northern March or North March (, ) was created out of the division of the vast ''Marca Geronis'' in 965. It initially comprised the northern third of the ''Marca'' (roughly corresponding to the modern state of Brandenburg) and was part of the ...

was lost in the

Great Slav Rising In the Slavic revolt of 983, Polabian Slavs, Wends, Lutici and Obotrite tribes, that lived east of the Elbe River in modern north-east Germany overthrew an assumed Ottonian rule over the Slavic lands and rejected Christianization under Empero ...

of 983, and not before 1147 the Saxon count

Albert the Bear Albert the Bear (; 1100 – 18 November 1170) was the first margrave of Brandenburg from 1157 to his death and was briefly duke of Saxony between 1138 and 1142. Life Albert was the only son of Otto, Count of Ballenstedt, and Eilika of Sa ...

again invaded the lands on the Oder river, which remained disputed between the newly established

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 ...

and the

Pomeranian dukes This is a list of the duchies and dukes of Pomerania. Dukes of the Slavic Pomeranian tribes (All Pomerania) The lands of Pomerania were firstly ruled by local tribes, who settled in Pomerania around the 10th and 11th centuries. Non-dynastic ...

. The settlement of Schwedt was first mentioned in a 1265 deed. In the course of the

Brandenburg–Pomeranian conflict Starting in the 12th century, the Margraviate of Brandenburg, Margraviate, later Electorate of Brandenburg, Electorate, of Brandenburg was in conflict with the neighboring Duchy of Pomerania over frontier territories claimed by them both, and over ...

, the Brandenburg margrave Louis II the Roman ceded it to Duke Barnim III of Pomerania in 1354. It was again besieged by the first

Hohenzollern The House of Hohenzollern (, ; , ; ) is a formerly royal (and from 1871 to 1918, imperial) German dynasty whose members were variously princes, electors, kings and emperors of Hohenzollern, Brandenburg, Prussia, the German Empire, and Romania. ...

margrave

Frederick I Frederick I or Friedrich I may refer to: * Frederick of Utrecht or Frederick I (815/16–834/38), Bishop of Utrecht. * Frederick I, Duke of Upper Lorraine (942–978) * Frederick I, Duke of Swabia (1050–1105) * Frederick I ...

in 1434, but to no avail. In 1481 the

Thuringia Thuringia (; officially the Free State of Thuringia, ) is one of Germany, Germany's 16 States of Germany, states. With 2.1 million people, it is 12th-largest by population, and with 16,171 square kilometers, it is 11th-largest in area. Er ...

n counts of

Hohnstein Hohnstein () is a town located in the Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge district of Saxony, in eastern Germany. As of 2020, its population numbered a total of 3,262. Geography It is situated in Saxon Switzerland, 12 km east of Pirna, and 28 ...

acquired the estates; they granted town privileges to Schwedt as well as to neighbouring Vierraden and introduced the

Protestant Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the papacy and ...

20040703080DR Schwedt Oder Berlischky Pavillon

The rise of Schwedt came to an end with the extinction of the Hohnstein counts in 1609 and the disastrous

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 ...

, when the town on the road from

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

(Szczecin) to

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 ...

was plundered several times. In 1631 King

Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden Gustavus Adolphus (9 December ld Style and New Style dates, N.S 19 December15946 November ld Style and New Style dates, N.S 16 November1632), also known in English as Gustav II Adolf or Gustav II Adolph, was King of Sweden from 1611 t ...

, after landing in Pomerania, camped here on his way to the Battle of Breitenfeld. Six years later the Swedish field marshal

Johan Banér Johan Banér (23 June 1596 – 10 May 1641) was a Swedish field marshal in the Thirty Years' War. Early life Johan Banér was born at Djursholm Castle in Uppland. As a four-year-old he was forced to witness the execution of his father, the ...

set the town on fire, after its citizens refused to capitulate. In the 1680s, a commune of French

Huguenots The Huguenots ( , ; ) are a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, ...

was established in the town. During the

Great Northern War In the Great Northern War (1700–1721) a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in Northern Europe, Northern, Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the ant ...

, the

Treaty of Schwedt The Treaty of Schwedt was concluded on 6 October 1713, during the Great Northern War, between the Tsardom of Russia and Brandenburg-Prussia in Schwedt. Brandenburg-Prussia was promised southern Swedish Pomerania up to the Peene river, which had ju ...

was signed in the town. From 1815 to 1945, Schwedt was part of the

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

Province of Brandenburg The Province of Brandenburg () was a province of Prussia from 1815 to 1947. Brandenburg was established in 1815 from the Kingdom of Prussia's core territory, comprised the bulk of the historic Margraviate of Brandenburg (excluding Altmark) and ...

. Near the end of

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 ...

, over two months of heavy fighting destroyed an estimated 85 percent of the town, including the Schwedt Castle. The

Soviet Army The Soviet Ground Forces () was the land warfare service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces from 1946 to 1992. It was preceded by the Red Army. After the Soviet Union ceased to exist in December 1991, the Ground Forces remained under th ...

occupied Schwedt on April 26, 1945, two weeks before the final defeat of Nazi Germany. From 1945 to 1952, Schwedt was part of the state of

and from 1952 to 1990 of the

Bezirk Frankfurt The Bezirk Frankfurt, also Bezirk Frankfurt (Oder), was a district (''Bezirk'') of East Germany. The administrative seat and the main town was Frankfurt (Oder). History The district was established, with the other 13, on 25 July 1952, substitut ...

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 ...

. During the 1960s, the government of the DDR expanded housing and encouraged people to move to Schwedt, a trend that ended with

. Since 1990, Schwedt is again part of the State of Brandenburg.

Demography

Bevölkerungsentwicklung Schwedt.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

) Bevölkerungsprognosen Schwedt.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 2017–2030 (scarlet line); for 2020–2030 (green line)

Twin towns – sister cities

Schwedt is twinned with: *

, Poland *

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 *

Leverkusen Leverkusen () is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, on the eastern bank of the Rhine. To the south, Leverkusen borders the city of Cologne, and to the north the state capital, Düsseldorf. The city is part of the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan ...

, Germany *

, Poland *

Tuapse Tuapse (; , Ṫuapsă ) is a town in Krasnodar Krai, Russia, situated on the northeast shore of the Black Sea, south of Gelendzhik and north of Sochi. Population: Tuapse is a sea port and the northern center of a resort zone which extends sou ...

, Russia

Notable people

* Heinrich Schmelka (1777–1837), stage actor * Leonhardt von Blumenthal (1810–1900), Prussian Field Marshal * Karl von Schmidt (1817–1875), Prussian cavalry commander *

Paul von Hintze Paul von Hintze (13 February 1864 – 19 August 1941) was a German naval officer, diplomat, and politician who served as Foreign Minister of Germany in the last stages of World War I, from July to October 1918. Upbringing Paul Hintze was born ...

(1864–1941), naval officer, diplomat and politician *

Max Lemke __NOTOC__ Max Lemke (7 April 1895 – 29 May 1985) was a German Generalmajor in the Wehrmacht during World War II, the last commander of the Fallschirm-Panzer-Division 1 „Hermann Göring“ and a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cros ...

(1895–1985), officer, Major-General last in World War II *

Heinz von Cleve Heinz von Cleve (27 June 1897 – 9 October 1984) was a German stage and film actor.Goble p.293 Life Cleve was the son of Gottlieb von Cleve, a young officer in the 2nd Dragoon Regiment, by his marriage to Elisabeth zu Dobeneck. He attended school ...

(1897–1984), actor *

Horst Wendlandt Horst Otto Gregor Wendlandt (15 March 1922 – 30 August 2002) was a German film producer. He produced more than 100 films between 1956 and 2002. In the 1960s Horst Wendlandt's production company Rialto Film produced films based on Edgar W ...

(1922–2002), film producer * Jörg Hoffmann (born 1970), freestyle swimmer *

Britta Steffen Britta Steffen (; born 16 November 1983) is a German former competitive swimming (sport), swimmer who specialized in freestyle swimming, freestyle sprint events, winning 2 gold medals at the 2008 Summer Olympics, 2008 Beijing Olympics. Biograp ...

(born 1983), freestyle swimmer

References

External links

* * *
official website of National Park "Unteres Odertal"

official website of PCK Raffinerie GmbH
{{Authority control Localities in Uckermark (district) Germany–Poland border crossings Socialist planned cities