Wittenburg

The title of this article is ambiguous. Further meanings are listed under Wittenburg (disambiguation) .

coat of arms	Germany map
	Coordinates: 53 ° 31 '  N , 11 ° 5'  E
Basic data
State :	Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania
County :	Ludwigslust-Parchim
Office :	Wittenburg
Height :	40 m above sea level NHN
Area :	80 km 2
Residents:	6265 (Dec. 31, 2019)
Population density :	78 inhabitants per km 2
Postal code :	19243
Primaries :	038848, 038852
License plate :	LUP, HGN, LBZ, LWL, PCH, STB
Community key :	13 0 76 152
City structure:	8 districts
City administration address :	Molkereistraße 4 19243 Wittenburg
Website :	www.amt-wittenburg.de
Mayoress :	Margret Seemann ( SPD )
Location of the city of Wittenburg in the Ludwigslust-Parchim district

Wittenburg is a town in the Ludwigslust-Parchim district in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania ( Germany ). It has been the seat of the Wittenburg Office since January 1, 2004 . The place is a basic center .

geography

Geographical location

Bridge over the motel with the Wittenburg coat of arms

The small town in the west of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania is located on the small river Motel immediately north of the A24 Berlin - Hamburg motorway . It is located about 40 kilometers southwest of the state capital Schwerin and is part of the Hamburg metropolitan region . The Schaalsee biosphere reserve is located in the north-west of the city .

City structure

The following districts belong to the city of Wittenburg:

helmet Little Wolde Koechow Lehsen	Perdöhl Wölzow Ziggelmark Zühr

history

Amtsbergturm

Prehistoric time

Traces of human settlement activity can be traced back to prehistoric times in and around Wittenburg. With the onset of the migration of peoples , Wendish settlers advanced from the eastern areas . In the area around the present Wittenburg is a strain of the left polabians down. At this time, the origin of the castle complex with the later name "Amtsberg" is assumed in the swampy area of ​​the motel lowlands.

middle Ages

At the beginning of the 12th century, Wittenburg belonged to the area of ​​the Abodritic sub-tribe of the Polabians . In 1142 Heinrich the Lion enfeoffed the Saxon Count Heinrich von Badewide with the land of the Polabians, which soon became known as the County of Ratzeburg after its main town . Initially, this did not change the cultural, economic and religious traditions of the Wends. Only in the course of the Slavic Crusade is the Slavic castle complex in Wittenburg likely to have been destroyed and then a small German settlement emerged as a border station to the neighboring area of ​​the Abodrites. This was cremated in autumn 1158 by an Abodritic contingent under Pribislaw and Wertislaw , who with the successful attack released their father Niklot , who had been imprisoned by Heinrich the Lion in Lüneburg . After Niklot's death in 1160, the castle was rebuilt under the leadership of the old Saxon noble free family of the Witten , which was supposed to give military backing to the German exclave in Schwerin and the diocese that had just been established there under Berno . Another settlement was built at the foot of the castle, where craftsmen and traders settled. The first tentative German colonists were likely to have settled there, even if the vast majority of the population were Polabians. The new castle formed the starting point for the later founding of the city of Wittenburg.

City foundation

The founding of the city of Wittenburg is not clearly documented. In 1194 Wittenburg was mentioned as a "provincie" of the County of Ratzeburg in the Isfried partition contract . On May 25, 1201 there was a battle between the Ratzeburgers and the Schwerin counts near Waschow , in the course of which the castle surrendered without a fight. The country and the city of Wittenburg fell to the victorious Schwerin County three years later by order of the Danish King Waldemar II . Only under the new counts, the brothers Gunzelin II and Heinrich I , did a significant settlement begin. 1226 gave Emperor Frederick II. The city of Luebeck the realm of freedom and ensured their unhindered trade in Hamburg to, Schwerin, Ratzeburg and Wittenburg. This date also stands for the founding of the city of Wittenburg, but it may also have happened earlier. In 1230 Wittenburg was finally listed as " civitas " in the Ratzeburg tithe register , which lists the localities that were then part of the Ratzeburg diocese, sorted by parishes . In Old Wittenburg the 1,319 confirmed prevailed Lubeck city rights .

Capital of the county

St. Bartholomew Church

In 1282 Wittenburg was the capital of an independent county that stretched from the Elbe near Boizenburg to beyond Crivitz . The Wittenburg count period lasted about seventy years, the city's heyday thanks to lively trade relations with Lübeck. Only remnants of the former fortifications are still there; the mill gate was demolished in 1850 and the stone gate in 1869. The construction of the early Gothic St. Bartholomew's town church began around 1240 and was consecrated between 1257 and 1284.

Wittenburg near Mecklenburg

The city of Wittenburg fell to the Mecklenburg dukes by purchase in 1358 . For many years the castle complex served them as an emergency camp and secondary residence, later as the residence of princely widows. In 1496 the city had 500 to 600 inhabitants. Wittenburg became a state town in Mecklenburg and, as such, part of the towns in the Mecklenburg district that were represented on the Mecklenburg state parliaments of the estates united in 1523 until 1918 . Towards the end of the 16th century, Duchess Sophia stayed several times in Wittenburg Castle. The energetic duchess campaigned for the introduction and promotion of the iron industry. By exploiting the lawn iron stone found in the area , they settled iron smelting and hammer mills and tried to increase the prosperity of the city. These works disappeared again after the Thirty Years War.

Thirty Years War and after

Starvation tower

Even during the Thirty Years' War , Wittenburg was under the protection of Duchess Sophie by obtaining letters of protection. Wittenburg was not involved in fighting in the first years of the war, but constant efforts to defend the city and the associated taxes and duties wore down the residents. The plague raged badly in the city in 1629/1630 . In the following years acts of war also spread to Mecklenburg . The citizens of Wittenburg had to suffer billeting and looting several times. The worst day, however, was February 1, 1642, when Croatians took the city by storm and lived terribly. In 1644 there were still around 100 citizens living in the city.

In 1657 almost the entire city burned down, including the town hall, church roof and belfry except for three houses. Further city fires raged in 1679 and 1726.

In 1735, the city and the Wittenburg office, along with seven other offices, were pledged to the Electorate of Braunschweig-Lüneburg by Duke Christian Ludwig II . This was the result of the execution of the Reich caused by Christian Ludwig's brother Karl Leopold . A Lüneburg occupation lay in the city for 33 years. It was not until 1768 that these parts of the country were redeemed for one million thalers . A motif on the Wittenburg emergency money shows the entourage with the transfer fee.

French period

The Wittenburgers suffered particularly under the occupation by Napoléon Bonaparte , the "French Era", which began in November 1806 . The city was on the major military road between Boizenburg and Schwerin and was therefore a particularly cheap station for incessant troop movements and billeting.

The technical boom

With its advances in technology and the upheavals it caused in the areas of transport and economic life as well as in the political situation, the 19th century brought a new era for Wittenburg as well. New streets were built and the first companies were founded, such as the gas plant and dairy. Modern buildings, such as the Amtsberg building in 1848, the town hall in 1852, the city school on Lindenwall in 1874, the imperial post office in 1889, the tower building on the church in 1908/1909, the gas works in 1909 and the station building were built. The development was driven forward in 1894 with the connection to the Hagenow - Neumünster railway line . Its own power supply was built by 1923.

War and reconstruction

In the Second World War , Wittenburg was little affected: several fatalities and buildings destroyed by bombs. After Germany's surrender, first US and then British troops occupied the city. Shortly afterwards, the Soviet occupying forces took control. With it came thefts, rape and the evacuation of academics, entrepreneurs and large farmers to the Soviet special camp No. 9 Fünfeichen . Numerous refugee camps have been set up in the city. The city school served as a hospital. Due to the influx of resettlers, refugees and displaced persons from the German eastern areas , the population increased from 4,300 to 8,000 shortly after the war. Many of them found a new home in Wittenburg.

In the GDR , Wittenburg gradually developed into a lively small town with numerous retail shops, craft businesses, several schools, crèches and nurseries, restaurants, doctors, pharmacies, maternity homes, bathing establishments, cinemas and other facilities in the city center. On the Amtsberg, the school and after-school care center moved into the historic buildings next to the Amtsberg tower. Two larger farms dominated the city, the milk canning factory and the consumer confectionery factory. Wittenburg was mainly shaped by fruit growing and agriculture. From the end of the 1970s to the beginning of the 1980s, the Wittenburg train station was an important transport destination for the building materials required for the construction of the A24 motorway between Berlin and Hamburg.

From 1952 to 1990 Wittenburg belonged to the Hagenow district in the Schwerin district .

After the political change

In the fall of 1989, rallies and prayers for peace, demonstrations and citizen forums initiated the change in Wittenburg. Shortly after the opening of the border, the city of Wittenburg understood how to use its favorable local location and, above all, the direct connection to the federal motorway 24 Hamburg-Berlin. Through the provision of an attractive commercial area on both sides of Hagenower Chaussee, various local and foreign investors settled down in a very short time. The industry mix of the companies is still large and ranges from the food and electrical industry, mechanical engineering and printing to service facilities and a wide variety of specialist markets. New construction projects by well-known companies testify to the constant efforts of the city to improve the infrastructure with further business settlements and, above all, to create jobs.

"The lucky catcher in Wittenburg" on the market

From 1991 the historic city center was completely renovated as part of urban development funding. The former dairy site was removed for urban planning reasons; A supermarket, smaller specialist shops and apartments were built here. In addition to the residential area at Schäferbruch, three larger residential complexes were built. In autumn 1998 a sports and multi-purpose hall was inaugurated.

From 1990 to 1994 Wittenburg was still part of the Hagenow district, now in the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania . In 1994 the city was incorporated into the Ludwigslust district. Since the district reform in 2011 , it has been in the Ludwigslust-Parchim district .

History of the districts

Körchow, Perdöhl and Zühr

Körchow ( Kurchowe ), Perdöhl and Zühr were first mentioned in 1194. The Romanesque stone church was built around 1230 . Körchow was a manor village with frequent changes of ownership; Gut Körchow was relocated around 1935 and the manor house was demolished in the 1950s and 1976.

From the 14th century onwards, Gut Zühr was owned by the Züle family , who built the two-storey, 13-axis manor house as a half-timbered building around 1740. After 1930 the estate was moved to

See also : Section “History” in Köchow

Lehsen

The place was first mentioned in 1233 as belonging to the parish of Wittenburg. In the Middle Ages until 1690 it was a fief of the von Blücher family , after which the estate was owned by the von Laffert family until 1899 . The Lehsen mansion was built in 1822 and the Laffert mausoleum in 1868.

See also : Section “History” in Lehsen

Incorporations

On July 1, 1950, the previously independent municipality of Ziggelmark was incorporated. Helm was added on January 1, 1951. On May 25, 2014, the communities of Körchow and Lehsen were incorporated into Wittenburg, increasing the area of ​​the community from 46.25 km² to 80 km².

Population development

 

Population development in Wittenburg according to the table below. Above from 1496 to 2017. Below an excerpt from 1871

year Residents 1496 500-600 1644 100 1857 3100 1920 3359

year Residents 1990 5605 1995 5370 2000 5161 2005 4904 2010 4834

year Residents 2015 6385 2016 6355 2017 6306 2018 6313 2019 6265

from 1990: as of December 31 of the respective year

The sharp increase in the number of inhabitants between 2010 and 2015 is due to the incorporation of Körchow and Lehsen in 2014.

politics

City council

The city council of Wittenburg consists of 19 members and the mayor. Since the local elections on May 26, 2019, it has been composed as follows:

Party / group of voters	be right	Seats
SPD	33.6%	6th
CDU	33.1%	6th
Körchower Voting Association (KWG)	14.3%	3
The left	09.0%	2
AfD	07.9%	2

mayor

• 1991-2013: Norbert Hebinck
• since 2013: Margret Seemann (SPD)

Seemann was elected in the mayoral election on September 22, 2013 with 56.5% of the valid votes for a term of seven years.

coat of arms

Blazon : “In silver a tinned red city gate with an open gate, a tall, slender central tower with two day-lit arched windows one above the other, a pointed roof and golden knob as well as two five-way tinned side towers with three day-lit round windows each one above the other; on the side towers two sitting, facing, red-tongued, gold-reinforced, black lindworms. " The coat of arms was established on April 10, 1858 by Grand Duke Friedrich Franz II of Mecklenburg-Schwerin , redrawn in 1997 by Hans-Frieder Kühne (Barsbüttel) and registered under the number 127 of the coat of arms of the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.

Reasons for the coat of arms: The coat of arms is based on the seal image of the S (IGILLVM) BVRGENSIV (M) DE WITTENBORCH - first handed down as an imprint in 1296 - and established in April 1858. The coat of arms, revised in the tinging of the previously brown lindworms, combines an urban symbol, a city gate, with figures from a seal of power, two lindworms, borrowed from the seals of the Counts of Schwerin. The city gate symbolizes a fortified city, the Lindworms refer to the Count of Schwerin as the city's founder and lord.

Historical coat of arms

	Blazon : "In blue a tinned silver city gate with an open gate, a high tinned central tower with a pointed roof and triple-tinned side towers on which two facing, red-tongued golden lindworms sit." The coat of arms was designed by Hans Herbert Schweitzer and awarded on September 14, 1940 by the Reichsstatthalter in Mecklenburg.
	Justification of the coat of arms: The coat of arms lost its validity soon after the end of World War II.

flag

The city does not have an officially approved flag .

Official seal

The official seal shows the city arms with the inscription "STADT WITTENBURG".

Town twinning

Wittenburg has been twinned with Löningen in Lower Saxony since June 17, 1990 .

Sights and culture

St. Bartholomew Church

town hall

Dutch windmill

→ See also the list of architectural monuments in Wittenburg

Buildings

• Old town, enclosed by a well-preserved wall. Tower and wall remains of the city ​​fortifications and those from the 13th / 14th centuries The historic gate tower ruins on the Amtsberg, dating back to the 19th century, were renovated in 1998.
• St. Bartholomew's Church from 1240. The early Gothic three-aisled hall church is made of bricks . The choir has a single nave. The tower was placed in front of the west facade in 1909. Inside there is a carved altar from the 15th century, a bronze fifth from 1342, the wooden pulpit from 1666, two pastor portraits and an epitaph from the 17th and 18th centuries.
• Historic town hall from 1852 based on plans by Georg Adolf Demmler , inaugurated on January 8, 1853, renovated and rebuilt from 1996 onwards
• Amtsberg:
  • Burgtorturm, also called Amtsbergturm
  • District court building from 1848
  • Amtsbergpark with remains of the former fortifications (bastion, wall)
• Wallstrasse
  • Remains of the city wall
  • Starvation tower
  • Stork tower
• House Markt 9 is one of the few remaining half-timbered houses from the 17th century
• Rectory on Kirchplatz, two-storey brick building in the forms of " Ludwigslust architecture" in the 19th century
• Half-timbered house Toitenwinkel 4 with carvings from 1732, was renovated in 1995
• House in Grosse Strasse 15 from the Wilhelminian era
• House in Grosse Strasse 13, brick building from the Wilhelminian style
• Low German hall house (built in Haar in 1847 , moved to Wittenburg in 1984)
• Erddolländer windmill , built in 1890 on the foundation of a burnt down mill
• Heinrichstein in front of the St. Bartholomew Church, one of the oldest cultural monuments in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania from the 2nd half of the 12th century; was created after the battle of Waschow .
• Lehsen manor house with cold water spring, lodging houses, four hectare park with foreign tree and shrub species
• Herrenhaus Zühr , two-storey half-timbered building
• Great stone graves near Wittenburg
• Great stone graves near Perdöhl

museum

The MehlWelten Museum is located in the former Wittenburg district court. The building was extensively renovated by a private investor with more than half a million euros. The importance of the flour sacks and flour for human culture is shown on an area of ​​450 square meters. The center point is the so-called "Sackothek". Here the Museum 3100 shows partially artfully designed flour sacks from 130 countries. The museum was opened on June 10, 2008 by Prime Minister Harald Ringstorff (SPD).

Culture

• Wittenburg has been a member of the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania saga and fairy tale route association since 2008
• 2012–2013: Great Potemkin Street , temporary city revitalization project

Economy and Infrastructure

Companies

• Dr. August Oetker Nahrungsmittel (production company for frozen products)
• SternMaid, company of the Stern-Wywiol Gruppe (mixed plant for food additives )
• Riha WeserGold drinks
• Jeans Fritz (trading company for fashion)

traffic

Wittenburg is located on the state roads L 04 between Zarrentin and Hagenow and L 05 between Lützow and Vellahn . The nearest motorway junction is Wittenburg on the A 24 Hamburg - Berlin .

The city has no rail connection. Until 2000 there was a rail connection via the Kaiserbahn to Hagenow or Zarrentin. Until the end of the Second World War , the route was operated in long-distance traffic from Berlin to Kiel .

education

• Elementary school on the Friedensring
• Regional school "Hans Franck"
• High school school center Wittenburg

Sports

• Gymnastics and sports community Wittenburg with the divisions handball, running, volleyball, gymnastics
• Wittenburg sports club
• Judo Club Wittenburg in Körchow
• Martial arts club Wittenburg
• Lehsener SV in Lehsen
• Riding and driving club Perdöh in Perdöhl
• Sport fishing club "Gut Fang" Wittenburg
• Alpincenter Hamburg-Wittenburg : In December 2006 the indoor snow park was opened as a snow fun park . The winter sports hall located on the 33.8 hectare site has a slope area of ​​30,000 m², the main slope is 330 meters long and 80 meters wide. The ski hall has been operated by the Van der Valk Group since October 16, 2008 .
• The Wittenburg Mill Run takes place annually in spring. Around 500 runners complete distances of two, five and ten kilometers.

• 

  Alpine Center

• 

  inside view

Personalities

sons and daughters of the town

Franck memorial plaque

• Johannes von Preen († 1461), Bishop of Ratzeburg
• Johann Christoph Heintze (1696–1747), medic
• Christian Ludwig Liscow (1701–1760), writer
• Adolf von Bülow (1787–1816), administrative lawyer in the Danish service and bailiff
• Johann Adolph Heinlein (1798–1829), Mayor of Wittenburg
• Karl Kraepelin (1817–1882), reciter of texts by Fritz Reuter
• Otto Metterhausen (1861–1943), politician ( DNVP ), writer
• Hans Franck (1879–1964), writer
• Curt Schlettwein (1879–1965), colonial clerk in Togo and Mecklenburg ministerial clerk
• Otto Vitense (1880–1948), educator and regional historian
• Gustav Melkert (1890–1943), secretary of the agricultural workers' union, victim of National Socialism
• Robert Schlueter (1892–1980), Lieutenant General in the Wehrmacht
• Friedrich Wetzel (1909– after 1951), SS-Hauptsturmführer and administrative leader of various concentration camps
• Fritz Meyer-Scharffenberg (1912–1975), writer
• Kurt Lemcke (1914-2003), geologist
• Ursula Kurz (1923–2018), poet
• Martin Eckermann (1930–2005), director and actor
• Harald Ringstorff (* 1939), politician (SPD), Prime Minister of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania 1998–2008
• Wolfgang Ehlers (* 1953), politician (CDU)
• Margret Seemann (* 1961), politician (SPD)
• Kai Pohl (* 1964), writer

Personalities associated with Wittenburg

• Adrian von Mynsicht (~ 1588–1638), ducal personal physician and pharmacist, lived in Wittenburg
• Carl Krüger (1815–1883), lawyer, member of parliament and district judge in Wittenburg
• Robert Hesse (1816–1885), doctor, 1848/49 member of the Mecklenburg Assembly of Representatives , practiced in Wittenburg from 1849–1885
• Johannes Prassek (1911–1943), Catholic priest, one of the Lübeck martyrs , chaplain in Wittenburg

Web links

Commons : Wittenburg  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Statistisches Amt MV - population status of the districts, offices and municipalities 2019 (XLS file) (official population figures in the update of the 2011 census) ( help ).
2. ^ Regional Spatial Development Program West Mecklenburg (2011) , Regional Planning Association, accessed on July 12, 2015
3. ^ Main statute of the city of Wittenburg. § 12. Accessed on August 18, 2020 . 
4. ↑ Stefanie Leibetseder: Wittenburg . Ed .: Gerhard Fouquet, Olaf Mörke, Matthias Müller and Werner Paravicini. Department I: Analytical directory of the residential cities and manorial central locations. Part 1: Lower Saxony and Upper Saxony Imperial Circle, Schleswig, Prussia, Livonia, ed. by Harm von Seggern. Ostfildern 2018, p. 636-638 .
5. ^ Carl Tabel: Report from Wittenburg and Fünfeichen. In: Joachim Schultz-Naumann: Mecklenburg 1945. 2nd edition. Universitas, Munich 1990, ISBN 3-8004-1215-2 , p. 276.
6. ↑ Statistical Office Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania: Area changes ( Memento from January 15, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
7. ↑ Population development of the districts and municipalities in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (Statistical Report AI of the Statistical Office Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania)
8. ^ Result of the local election on May 26, 2019
9. ↑ Hebinck is the only candidate. on archiv.german-circle.de
10. ↑ Main statute of the city of Wittenburg, § 7
11. ↑ Margret Seemann is the new mayor. In: Schweriner Volkszeitung , September 22, 2013.
12. ↑ ^{a b} Hans-Heinz Schütt: On shield and flag - the coats of arms and flags of the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and its municipalities . Ed .: production office TINUS; Schwerin. 2011, ISBN 978-3-9814380-0-0 , pp. 150/151 .
13. ↑ ^{a b} Main Statute of the City of Wittenburg, § 1 (PDF).
14. ↑ Page no longer available , search in web archives: Office Wittenburg website
15. ^ Members of the legendary and fairy tale route of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Retrieved February 1, 2017 . 
16. ^ Website of the project Grosse Potemkinsche Strasse