Prenzlau

Prenzlau
Medieval town gate Mitteltor and St Mary Church
Coat of arms
Prenzlau
Location of Prenzlau within Uckermark district
Coordinates: 53°19′N 13°52′E / 53.317°N 13.867°ECoordinates: 53°19′N 13°52′E / 53.317°N 13.867°E
Country	Germany
State	Brandenburg
District	Uckermark
Government
• Mayor	Hendrik Sommer
Area
• Total	142.18 km^2 (54.90 sq mi)
Population (2015-12-31)[1]
• Total	19,275
• Density	140/km^2 (350/sq mi)
Time zone	CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes	17291
Dialling codes	03984
Vehicle registration	UM
Website	www.prenzlau.info

Prenzlau (formerly also Prenzlow) is a town in Brandenburg, Germany, the administrative seat of Uckermark District. It is also the centre of the historic Uckermark region.

Geography

The town is located on the Ucker river, about 100 km (62 mi) north of Berlin. Prenzlau station, opened in 1863, is a stop on the Angermünde–Stralsund railway line.

History

Settled since Neolithic times, the Prenzlau area from the 7th century AD was the site of several gords erected by the Polabian Slavs. In the late 12th century, the Dukes of Pomerania had the region colonized by Low German settlers.

Prenzlau itself, named after Slavic Premyslaw was first mentioned in 1187. It received town privileges by Duke Barnim I of Pomerania in 1234. When Duke Barnim signed the Treaty of Landin with the Ascanian margraves of Brandenburg in 1250, Prenzlau was already a fortified town with walls and moats, four parish churches and a monastery. Together with Berlin-Cölln, Frankfurt and Stendal, it ranked among the largest towns in the margraviate.

Prenzlau and the Uckermark region were devastated during the Thirty Years' War. From the late 17th century onwards French Huguenot refugees settled here and an economic recovery started. Also a garrison town, Prenzlau was again ravaged by passing troops during the Seven Years' War and the Napoleonic Wars. In the mid 19th century, several citizens emigrated to Australia, where they founded the town of Prenzlau, Queensland west of Brisbane.

In World War II the town centre was largely destroyed. The East German authorities had it rebuilt with large panel Plattenbau buildings.

Demography

• 
  Development of Population since 1875 within the Current Boundaries (Blue Line: Population; Dotted Line: Comparison to Population Development of Brandenburg state; Grey Background: Time of Nazi rule; Red Background: Time of Communist rule)
• 
  Recent Population Development (Blue Line) and Forecasts

Prenzlau:
Population development within the current boundaries (2013)^[2]

Year Population 1875 18 512 1890 20 823 1910 24 327 1925 24 572 1933 25 118 1939 27 697 1946 21 532 1950 22 960 1964 23 267 1971 24 890

Year Population 1981 26 020 1985 26 326 1989 26 211 1990 25 900 1991 25 167 1992 24 743 1993 24 451 1994 24 120 1995 23 847 1996 23 630

Year Population 1997 23 501 1998 23 133 1999 22 946 2000 22 737 2001 22 225 2002 21 785 2003 21 341 2004 21 039 2005 20 904 2006 20 735

Year Population 2007 20 461 2008 20 285 2009 20 173 2010 20 078 2011 19 139 2012 19 045 2013 19 023

Politics

Seats in the town's assembly (Stadtverordnetenversammlung) as of 2104 local elections:

• Christian Democratic Union (CDU): 7
• Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD): 7
• The Left: 6
• Bürgerfraktion (Independent): 4
• Wir Prenzlauer (Independent): 2
• Free Democratic Party (FDP): 1
• National Democratic Party of Germany (NPD): 1

International relations

Prenzlau has twinning relationships with:^[3]

• Barlinek, Poland
• Pokhvistnevo, Russia
• Uster, Switzerland
• Varėna, Lithuania

Notable people

• Christian Friedrich Schwan (1733–1815), publisher and bookseller
• Jacob Philipp Hackert (1737–1807), landscape painter
• Frederika Louisa of Hesse-Darmstadt (1751–1805), queen consort of Prussia
• Louis I, Grand Duke of Hesse (1753–1830)
• Princess Amalie of Hesse-Darmstadt (1754–1832)
• Princess Wilhelmina Louisa of Hesse-Darmstadt (1755–1776)
• Wilhelm Grabow (1802–1874), civil servant, judge, and politician
• Adolf Wilhelm Theodor Stahr (1805–1876), writer and literary historian
• Ernst Christian Friedrich Schering (1824–1889), apothecary and industrialist
• Johannes Schmidt (1843–1901), linguist
• Paul Hirsch (1868–1940), politician
• Hans Felix Husadel (1897–1964), composer and conductor
• Otto Kaiser (born 1924), scholar
• Brigitte Rohde (born 1954), sprinter
• Carola Zirzow (born 1954), sprint canoer
• Christiane Wartenberg (born 1956), athlete
• René Bielke (born 1962), ice hockey player

Photo gallery

• 
  Gate Tower of the Brick Gothic 'Mitteltor'
• 
  War memorial ruin of the Holy Spirit Church
• 
  St. Mary's Church
• 
  Old townhall of Prenzlau
• 
  Historical painting of Dedelow castle, a part of Prenzlau
• 
  Dominican abbey of Prenzlau
• 
  'Unteruckersee' (Lower Ucker Lake) in Prenzlau
• 
  Ucker canal watergate
• 
  Platform of the train station
• 
  Martin Luther memorial in Prenzlau
• 
  Medieval city wall of Prenzlau, gate tower

References

1. "Bevölkerung im Land Brandenburg nach amtsfreien Gemeinden, Ämtern und Gemeinden 31. Dezember 2015 (Fortgeschriebene amtliche Einwohnerzahlen auf Grundlage des Zensus 2011)". Amt für Statistik Berlin-Brandenburg (in German). 2016.
2. Detailed data sources are to be found in the Wikimedia Commons.Population Projection Brandenburg at Wikimedia Commons
3. A. Hilpert. "Partnerstädte der Stadt Prenzlau". www.prenzlau.eu (in German). Büroleiterin des Bürgermeisters, Geschäftsbereich Bürgermeister. Retrieved 2014-04-06.

External links

Media related to Prenzlau at Wikimedia Commons

• Municipal website (German)