Mecklenburg-West Pomerania is a state in north-eastern Germany in the
center of the southern Baltic Sea region. It borders on the Baltic Sea
to the north, Schleswig-Holstein and Lower Saxony to the west,
Brandenburg to the south and the West Pomeranian Voivodeship of the
Republic of Poland to the east. Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania is the
most sparsely populated German federal state.
The history of
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania as a political entity begins in 1945 with
the unification of the state of Mecklenburg (the historical parts of the
state of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Mecklenburg-Strelitz) with the part of
Western Pomerania that remained with Germany (without Stettin). Each of
the two regions of the country had previously experienced a largely
independent history over centuries. In the course of an administrative
reform in the GDR, the state was dissolved in 1952 and divided into
three districts (Rostock, Schwerin, Neubrandenburg). The state of
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania was founded in 1990 with a new area and
with the reunification it became a state of the Federal Republic of
Germany.
The country with 1.6 million inhabitants (2020) is
divided into six districts and two urban districts. Its state capital is
Schwerin. The largest of the 84 cities in the state is the Rostock
region with over 200,000 inhabitants. Other centers are Schwerin,
Neubrandenburg, Greifswald, Stralsund, Wismar, Güstrow, Waren (Müritz),
Pasewalk and Neustrelitz. The metropolitan regions of Hamburg and Berlin
have an impact on the state, as does Stettin with its cross-border
conurbation. Away from the larger cities, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania
has a rural character, primarily through historically grown country
towns and manor villages and their surrounding cultural landscapes.
The economy of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania was able to restructure
itself after the upheaval in the 1990s, the number of jobs has
approached the national average and economic power is growing. The
structure is characterized by many small and medium-sized companies and
some large companies. The main processing industries are the maritime
economy, mechanical engineering, automotive suppliers, energy technology
and the consumer and food industry. Growth sectors are above all areas
of cutting-edge technology, in particular biotechnology, medical
technology, aerospace and information technology. Tourism in
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, services, agriculture and healthcare also
make a significant contribution to economic performance.
The two
universities in the state, Greifswald and Rostock, were founded in the
Middle Ages and are among the oldest universities in the world. These
and the other science and university locations such as Neubrandenburg,
Wismar and Stralsund are attractions for founders and start-up companies
as well as established technology companies. The technical and
vocational schools are also important as training locations. In terms of
infrastructure, the Rostock-Laage and Heringsdorf airports (Usedom
Island), the A 19, A 20 and A 24 motorways, the federal roads, railways
including train stations, waterways and the seaports of Rostock, Wismar
and Sassnitz are of supra-regional importance.
Three of Germany's
16 national parks belong to Mecklenburg-West Pomerania, more than any
other federal state; there are also eight nature parks and hundreds of
landscape and nature reserves. A large number of architectural monuments
have been preserved in the cultural landscape, including old towns,
castles and farmhouses. Large parts of the landscape are increasingly
being used to generate energy from wind turbines. The two largest German
islands, Rügen and Usedom, are located on the Pomeranian Baltic Sea
coast. As part of the north German lowlands, Mecklenburg-West Pomerania
is mostly flat; due to the last ice age, there are hill chains in many
parts of the country, such as Mecklenburg Switzerland, steep coasts, and
lake landscapes such as the Mecklenburg Lake District. The water-rich
country has around 2000 km of coastline, including the outer coast and
various bays and lagoons, as well as a country-wide network of rivers
and canals. There are also over 2000 lakes, the largest of which is the
Müritz, which is also the largest inland German lake. The climate is
moderately cool and characterized by the maritime influence of the
Baltic Sea in the coastal area.
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania can be roughly divided into the
following regions or landscapes based on the historical parts of the
state, natural areas and possible travel activities:
Mecklenburg
Baltic Sea coast - region by the sea from the Traveförde to Ribnitz;
These include the Wismar Bay with the Hanseatic city of Wismar and the
island of Poel, the Salzhaff, the cooling and the overseas port city and
largest city in the state of Rostock
Fischland-Darss-Zingst -
elongated peninsula between the Bodden and the open sea with beautiful
sandy beaches, nature reserves, fishing and artist towns
Rügen - the
largest island in Germany with a heavily indented coast that forms
various bays and lagoons, varied landscape; the small neighboring island
of Hiddensee is car-free.
Usedom - the second largest German island,
in the far east on the border with Poland, the sunniest area on the
Baltic Sea, traditional bathing resorts with spa architecture worth
seeing
Western Pomerania - the mainland areas of the eastern, smaller
of the two historical parts of the country with the Hanseatic cities of
Greifswald and Stralsund and the rural hinterland
Mecklenburg-Schwerin – the southwest of the state with the capital
Schwerin, the “Mecklenburg Versailles” Ludwigslust and heathland
criss-crossed by forest areas
Mecklenburg Lake District – area with
lots of lakes between Neubrandenburg, Waren and Neustrelitz. This also
includes the Feldberg Lake District to the east.
Mecklenburg
Switzerland - slightly hilly landscape with intact nature, numerous
castles and manor houses; connects to the north of the Mecklenburg Lake
District.
The big cities and touristically important places at a glance:
Rostock - the largest city in the
state, with a
seaside resort and international port of Warnemünde.
Schwerin – state capital with a magnificent
residential palace.
Neubrandenburg - third
largest city in MV, capital of Mecklenburg Lake District.
Stralsund - World Heritage Hanseatic City, the
gateway to Rügen.
Greifswald - University and
Hanseatic town on the Bodden.
Wismar - Hanseatic
city north of Schwerin.
Kühlungsborn – seaside
resort on the Mecklenburg Baltic Sea coast.
Binz
– seaside resort on Rügen.
Güstrow - Residence
town south of Rostock.
Neustrelitz – Residence town south of
Neubrandenburg.
Ribnitz-Damgarten - located before
Fischland-Darß-Zingst.
Boizenburg/Elbe – the westernmost town in the
federal state.
National parks
Three of the 16 German national parks
are located in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania – more than in any other
federal state. There are also eight nature parks and hundreds of nature
reserves.
Jasmund National Park
Western Pomerania Lagoon Park
Müritz National Park
Peenetal River Landscape
Nature Park
Vantage points
The
platform of the observation tower "Ruhner Berge" is about 200 m high,
the highest publicly accessible point in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.
The lesser-known Ruhner mountains, up to 176.8 m high, can be found in
the area of the A 24 motorway (Hamburg – Berlin). Since the A 24 crosses
the northern foothills of the chain of hills, the viewing tower is
easily accessible by road. From the 32 m high stone tower you have a
wide panoramic view of the green surroundings.
Incidentally, the
highest elevation in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania can be found on the
“Helpter Mountains”, which are up to 179 m high. This chain of hills is
about 23 km southeast of Neubrandenburg at 53° 29' 21" N 13° 36' 53" E.
Apart from a transmission tower, which is not open to the public, there
is no building on the wooded chain of hills. The Helpter mountains are
therefore rather uninteresting for those looking for a view.
Location of the tower: 53° 17′ 50″ N 11° 54′ 17″ E (in the area of the
road from Marnitz to Muggerkuhl on the chain of hills).
Coming from
Hamburg / Schwerin: Leave the A 24 at the Parchim junction (No. 15).
Drive via Karrenzin and Polnitz to the B 321 in the direction of
Marnitz. From Marnitz you can reach the car park in the area of the
tower after 3 km via the road in the direction of Muggerkuhl (about 15
km from the A 24).
Coming from Berlin: Leave the A 24 at the Parchim
junction (No. 16). Then take the B 321 via Suckow to Marnitz. From here
drive 3 km on the road in the direction of Muggerkuhl to the car park
near the tower (about 8 km from the A 24).
Sassnitz
Peenemünde
Heringsdorf
Hiddensee
Bad Doberan
By plane
The only airport in the country is Rostock Airport (IATA:
RLG), about 20 km south-east of Rostock. Rostock Laage Airport is a
regional airport with only a few charter flight connections. Hamburg
Airport (IATA: HAM) and Berlin Brandenburg Airport (IATA: BER) are
located outside Germany's borders. In individual cases, the airports in
Szczecin-Goleniów (IATA: SZZ) and Hanover-Langenhagen (IATA: HAJ) can
also be considered.
By train
Trains from Hamburg and Berlin to
the country's most important cities (Rostock, Schwerin, Stralsund) run
every 1 to 2 hours.
During the summer holiday period, additional
long-distance trains from more distant parts of Germany (Cologne,
Karlsruhe, Munich) to Rügen or Usedom are used.
The
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern-Ticket for €23 (2nd class) or €33 (1st class) for
one person plus €4 (2nd class) for the 2nd to 5th . It is valid from 9
a.m. and all day on weekends for 1 − 5 people. It applies to all trains
of the local transport network in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (within
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania also InterCity trains), also for the
Bäderbahn to Szczecin and Świnoujście, in Hamburg (here even including
the network) and in parts of Schleswig Holstein. If you want to travel
further to Schleswig-Holstein, take the slightly more expensive
Schleswig-Holstein ticket.
If you are traveling by train from the
Berlin-Brandenburg region, there is also a cheap offer with the
Ostsee-Ticket.
By bus
The development of the long-distance bus
market is currently subject to rapid change, both in terms of providers
and routes.
In the street
In the southwest, the A 24 from
Berlin to Hamburg crosses the state. At Wittstock, the A 19 branches off
to Rostock and at Neustadt-Glewe, the A 14 branches off to Schwerin.
Both autobahns, but especially the A 14, have very little traffic. The
last section of the A 19 to Warnemünde runs under the Warnow in Rostock
and is subject to a toll.
Since the completion of the A 20, you
can also travel from Berlin to Western Pomerania on the Autobahn.
By boat
With the port of Rostock, the state has one of the most
important ferry ports in Germany. There are regular ferry connections to
Gedser (Denmark), Trelleborg (Sweden), Hanko (Finland), Saint Petersburg
(Russia) via Tallinn (Estonia), as well as to Liepaja and Ventspils in
Latvia. The Skandinavienkai in Travemünde in the neighboring state of
Schleswig-Holstein also offers ferry connections to Scandinavia and the
Baltic States.
For inland traffic, the Elbe and the Oder come into
question.
By bicycle
The Berlin-Copenhagen long-distance cycle
route (EuroVelo 7), the international Baltic Sea Coast Cycle Route
(EuroVelo 10) and the Iron Curtain European Cycle Route (EuroVelo 13)
lead through Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.
On foot
The
European long-distance hiking trails E9, which runs from Lübeck to
Usedom along the Baltic Sea coast, and E10 from Potsdam to Rügen lead
through this country.
bus and train
The railway network is well developed and
smaller towns also have regular connections. However, you should
plan a little more time: For a 50 km long route you sometimes need
an hour or more, which is quite slow by German standards. Bus
connections are only available if there is no parallel train
connection, with many lines running buses at irregular intervals. In
West Mecklenburg there is a tariff union.
Many of the small
railway lines lead through scenic areas, so that the journey, even
if it takes a little longer, already offers a first glimpse of the
vastness of the landscape.
In the street
In rural areas,
traveling by car is the best option. The quality of the roads is
generally good. Locals often drive aggressively, breaking speed
limits and overtaking recklessly.
If you drive your car to
the Baltic Sea to go swimming, you should have enough change for
parking machines on hand. There are very few parking spaces near the
beach that are free of charge. Parking fees vary greatly from place
to place.
By bicycle
A very interesting option is to
travel by bike. There are various tourist cycle routes along the
Baltic Sea coast, but also a route from Berlin to Rostock.
Regardless of the existing cycle paths, most roads are also
attractive cycle routes. The main roads are often provided with
separate cycle paths at the edge. If this is not the case, you
should not put yourself in danger and choose less traveled routes.
World Heritage in Mecklenburg-West Pomerania
Old towns of
Stralsund and Wismar: Outstanding examples of the cultural heritage of
the Hanseatic League with medieval and Renaissance ensembles of churches
and town houses around the respective market square
Old beech forests
in the Jasmund National Park on the island of Rügen and near Serrahn
(Mecklenburg Lake District)
More top sights
Güstrow:
Renaissance castle, market with colorful gabled houses and cathedral
Ludwigslust: baroque residential palace ("Mecklenburgian Versailles")
and late baroque-classical planned city
Neubrandenburg:
well-preserved brick Gothic city fortifications with four historic city
gates
Rostock: old town with numerous well-preserved and
reconstructed historical buildings
Residence ensemble Schwerin,
traditional princely seat, consisting of the Schwerin Castle in the
style of romantic historicism, theatre, museum, castle church, royal
stables, laundry and gardens
Stubbenkammer with the chalk cliffs
Königsstuhl on the coast of the Jasmund peninsula on Rügen
A large
number of impressive town and village churches (a list of the most
important buildings here) of brick or fieldstone masonry, which have
survived largely unchanged since 18th or 19th century restorations.
Fishing
In order to be allowed to fish in
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, you must have a fishing license. Fishing
with a hand rod requires a fishing license and an angler's permit for
the waters, including coastal waters such as the Peenestrom,
Achterwasser and Haff.
There are fishing licenses for vacationers
or locals who do not have a regular fishing license for 28 consecutive
days. They cost 20 euros and are available from the local offices.
The use of two hand fishing rods is permitted, which must be
supervised at all times. Fishing without meaningful use of the fish
caught, the use of live bait fish, keeping the caught fish alive in keep
nets is prohibited. When fishing in and on the coastal waters, a
distance of at least 100 m to the nearest angler must be maintained. It
is forbidden to dock a boat in or on the reed belt.
Hike
European long-distance hiking trail E9
In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, dialect-free High German is spoken and understood to a large extent. In large parts of the country, Low German and East Low German are also spoken. Since Low German is hardly ever used, especially among the younger generation, efforts are being made to culturally preserve the language with a variety of school and club projects. Examples of this are the Low German theaters in Rostock, Stralsund, Schwerin and Wismar.
Due to the relatively low
population density, Mecklenburg-West Pomerania has only a few larger
cities. However, since these usually have a large catchment area, you
can also go shopping in relatively small towns.
In Rostock, for
example, there is not only an extensive and very diverse pedestrian zone
with shops in a wide variety of price categories, but also different
special shops for necessary purchases. The inner cities of smaller towns
such as Stralsund, Greifswald, Wismar and even tourist resorts such as
Zingst are often worth a look or two. Here you can find art and kitsch,
unusual culinary specialties (often regional) or just the beach
accessories you've always wanted.
However, it should be noted
that the range of offers is significantly limited in winter, especially
in the regions that are very touristy (Darß, Rügen, etc.). Some shops
are purely seasonal, others limit opening hours or only work to order.
The cuisine in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania is
down-to-earth and hearty. It reflects the abundance of fish in the
Baltic Sea and inland waters, as well as an abundance of game dishes.
Potatoes (also called tufts) play an important role in a wide variety of
preparation methods, kale and generally the sweet and sour flavor are
very popular. All these points show that the cuisine in
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania is typically north-east German.
Solten Hiring (salted herring)
Hiring in Sahnstipp (herring in cream
sauce)
Heaven and Earth (potatoes with baked fruit)
Tuften un Plum
(potato soup with plums and bacon)
Pomeranian Tollatschen (a kind of
dumpling, it consists largely of flour, sugar, gingerbread spice,
breadcrumbs, almonds and raisins)
Pomeranian dumplings
Pears,
beans and bacon
Honey cake on the sheet
Small Pomeranian cakes
Pomeranian honey butter cakes
Pomeranian Quarkbollerchen
White
Peppernuts
Pomeranian yeast pancakes
Bars, dance clubs and other nightlife facilities are mainly
concentrated in big cities and tourist centers.
Since 2012 there
has been an annual beach festival for young people on Usedom called
Baltic Spring Break. It takes place in August on the border beach of
Ahlbeck just before Świnoujście with around 50 DJs on three stages. It
is considered the largest beach party in Germany. There are also
numerous other music festivals, such as the Fusion Festival, Pangea
Festival, Airbeat One and the Immergut Festival. The
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival and the Zappanale, among others, are
aimed at an older audience or those who are primarily interested in
culture.
There are mainly owner-managed hotels
in most (small) towns in the country. Many holiday apartments are also
offered privately, especially along the Baltic Sea coast. There are a
number of high standard hotels. Youth hostels are spread all over the
country.
Non-motorized hikers are allowed to camp overnight in
open countryside, away from tent sites and campgrounds, except in
National Parks, National Natural Monuments and Conservation Areas.
Geographically, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania belongs to Northern Germany. The state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania includes the area of Mecklenburg, which accounts for about two thirds of the state area, as well as the parts of the former Prussian province of Pomerania that remained with Germany after 1945 (Western Pomerania, except Gartz (Oder)), small parts of the Prignitz and the northernmost tip the Uckermark (formerly in Brandenburg). Until 1950, the Fürstenberger Werder was still part of the state.
coast and water areas
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania has a total
coastline of around 2000 km, making it the longest coastline of all
German federal states. Bays and the Western Pomeranian Bodden and Haff
coast take up most of it, because the coast in the eastern part of the
country is particularly strongly divided by lagoons and straits. The
outer coast is about 350 km long.
The two largest islands in
Mecklenburg-West Pomerania, Rügen and Usedom, are also Germany's largest
islands. Other larger islands are Poel (third largest in the country and
seventh largest in Germany), Ummanz and Hiddensee.[7] The most important
peninsula is Fischland-Darss-Zingst. The country's well-known inland
islands include the old town island of Malchow in Lake Malchow, the
castle island of Mirow and the Neubrandenburg torpedo rubble island in
Lake Tollense.
The country of MV is criss-crossed by rivers and
canals totaling more than 26,000 km. With more than 2028 lakes with a
total area of 738 km², Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania has a unique lake
and water landscape. The Müritz is the largest lake in Germany lying
entirely within German territory and is part of the extensive
Mecklenburg Lake District (also known as the Lake District). Other large
lakes are the Plauer See, the Schweriner See and the Schaalsee in West
Mecklenburg, as well as the Malchiner See, Kummerower See and
Tollensesee in the eastern part of the country. Other areas rich in
lakes are the Feldberger and Sternberger Seenlandschaft. In the course
of the flood crises of 2011 and 2013, a new civil protection early
warning system was set up in order to be able to react better in crisis
situations. Coastal protection plays an important role in the Baltic Sea
region.
The landscape of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania in the north German
lowlands was shaped by the Weichselian Ice Age (Pleistocene). The
landforms south of the coastline are divided roughly from north-east to
south-west:
The north-eastern lowlands include the Western Pomeranian
mainland. It has predominantly loamy soils and is less than 50 m above
sea level. The levels of most bodies of water are even less than 10 m
above sea level.
The Baltic ridge with the Mecklenburg Lake District
stretches as a young moraine landscape from north-west Mecklenburg to
the south-east of Mecklenburg. Large parts are significantly more than
50 m, numerous hilltops more than 100 m above sea level. NHN. The level
of the Müritz is 62.1 m, that of the Carwitzer See near Feldberg near
the border to Brandenburg even 83.8 m above sea level.
The
southwestern foothills of the lake district, i.e. the area southwest of
the state capital Schwerin, is drained towards the Elbe valley, of which
Mecklenburg has only held a small share since the Neuhaus office was
ceded.
The country is flat to hilly. Some of the highest
elevations belong to the Baltic ridge, such as the Helpter Mountains
(179 m), the Ruhner Mountains (176.6 m) and the Brohm Mountains (153.1
m). Others are close to the coast such as the Piekberg on Rügen (161 m),
the Kühlung (129.7 m) northwest of Rostock and the Golm (69.1 m) on
Usedom. The Warnow, Recknitz and Tollense rivers have distinctive valley
landscapes, as well as shorter stretches of the Peene, Trebel and Großer
Landgraben.
With the Jasmund National Park, the Western Pomerania
Lagoon Area National Park and the Müritz National Park, three of the 16
German national parks are in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, which
therefore has more of these special protected areas than any other
German federal state.
The climate in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania is characterized by the transition from maritime influence in the coastal area of the Baltic Sea to a moderate continental climate inland. The tendency towards precipitation decreases inland. The Baltic Sea region, especially around the islands of Usedom, Rügen and Hiddensee, has the highest number of sunny days in Germany.
Pronunciation and use
The word
Mecklenburg is commonly pronounced [meːklənbʊɐç] or Meeklenburch in the
state. The "e" is pronounced long (this is to be understood as the
Germany-wide correct pronunciation of the "E"; see: CK in the north) and
the "g" like a palatal "ch". The change of the "G" in the final sound is
a remnant of Low German phonology.
In the Mecklenburg-Western
Pomeranian varieties of Low German, the form of the name Mękelborg is
used.
MV is commonly used as an abbreviation for the name of the
country.
Depending on the part of the country, the inhabitants of
the state are referred to as Mecklenburgers or Pomeranians or Western
Pomeranians; the designation as Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania is
unusual, since the two parts of the country each have their own history
and identity.
Origin story
The name
Mecklenburg ("Mikelenburg") appears for the first time in a document
issued by Emperor Otto III. drew on the "Mikelburg". The document dates
from the year 995. In Old Low German, mikil meant "big" and in the
10th/11th The name Mikilinborg ("big castle"), which originated in the
19th century, refers to the Mecklenburg Castle near Wismar. In the
Middle Ages it became Mekelenborch in Middle Low German, and later
Meklenburg and Mecklenburg in German.
The name Pommern is of
Slavic origin. The name Western Pomerania came about relatively late
(16th/17th century) as a designation for the areas of the Duchy of
Pomerania lying west of the Oder. The name Pomerania, in turn, derives
from a Slavic word combination meaning "by the sea" (see Pomerania).
This political-geographical term is about as old as that of Mecklenburg.
The first Pomeranian prince Zemuzil is mentioned as early as 1046. In
the further course of the Middle Ages, the term Pomerania became the
main designation for the dominion of the dynasty of the Griffins.
The name "Mecklenburg-West Pomerania" came about for the first time
through the unification of the former state of Mecklenburg with the
areas west of the Oder-Neisse line (with the splitting off of Stettin
and Swinemünde) of the former Prussian province of Pomerania on the
basis of an order from the Soviet military administration at the
beginning of July 1945. Initially, various names circulated for the new
administrative structure, e.g. "Mecklenburg-Pomerania" and early on,
ignoring the Pomeranian parts of the country, just "Mecklenburg". The
latter designation became binding on February 25, 1947 on the
instructions of the Soviet occupying power.
It was only with the
reconstitution as a state in a changed area – based on the three GDR
northern districts of Rostock, Schwerin and Neubrandenburg – in autumn
1990 that the state was once again called “Mecklenburg-Western
Pomerania”.
For the history of the historical territories up to 1945, see:
History of Mecklenburg and History of Pomerania.
After the end of
the Second World War, the state of Mecklenburg-West Pomerania was formed
on July 9, 1945 by the Soviet military administration from the former
state of Mecklenburg, the majority of western Pomerania that remained
with Germany, and the former Hanoverian Amt of Neuhaus. As early as
1947, the state of Western Pomerania was removed from the state name and
the territory continued to exist as the state of Mecklenburg until 1952.
As early as 1952, as part of the administrative reform in the GDR,
the state was dissolved and essentially divided into the three districts
of Neubrandenburg (the south-east), Rostock (the coast) and Schwerin
(the south-west).
With German reunification in 1990, the state of
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania was re-established from the districts of
Neubrandenburg, Rostock and Schwerin without the districts of Perleberg,
Prenzlau and Templin and thus roughly corresponded to the territorial
extent that Mecklenburg had had when it was dissolved in 1952.
Schleswig-Holstein and the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg were
partner states of Mecklenburg-West Pomerania during the establishment of
the new administrative structures.
Since the political change,
large parts of numerous cities throughout the country have been
renovated as part of urban development funding. The historic old towns
of Stralsund and Wismar were included in the UNESCO World Heritage List
in 2002. Since the reunification, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania has not
only been confronted with a far-reaching structural change, but also
with a significant demographic change. The state government therefore
reacted as early as 1994 with a comprehensive district reform, which was
followed by a second one in 2011.
In 2007, Mecklenburg-Western
Pomerania hosted the globally significant G8 summit of industrialized
countries, which took place in Heiligendamm near Rostock. From 1990, the
constituency of Chancellor Angela Merkel, who reigned from 2005 to 2021,
was in north-eastern Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, her constituency
office is in Stralsund. Former Rostock pastor Joachim Gauck was German
President from 2012 to 2017 and, like the Chancellor, regularly held
events in the country.
Since the district reform in 2011, the state has been divided into
six districts and two urban districts. Since then, five of the districts
have been the largest in Germany.
Cities, offices and
municipalities
The state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania consists of
a total of 726 politically independent cities and municipalities. These
are distributed as follows: two independent towns and 724 towns and
municipalities belonging to a district. Of the towns and municipalities
belonging to the district, 38 are not in office. The 686 affiliated
towns and communities are combined into 76 offices to carry out their
administrative business (as of June 30, 2016). In addition to the four
regional centers of Rostock, Schwerin, Stralsund-Greifswald and
Neubrandenburg, 18 cities in the state serve as central centers for
their region, see list. Furthermore, basic centers are defined in rural
areas and in the suburbs.
The basis of Mecklenburg-West Pomeranian politics is the constitution
of the state of Mecklenburg-West Pomerania of May 23, 1993, which came
into force on November 15, 1994.
Prime
ministers
In the post-war and East German era
The prime ministers
of the state of Mecklenburg-West Pomerania (1945–1947) and of the state
of Mecklenburg (1947–1952) were Wilhelm Höcker (1945–1951, SPD/SED),
Kurt Bürger (July 19 to 28, 1951, SED) and Bernhard Quandt (1951-1952,
SED).
Mecklenburg-West Pomerania did not exist from 1952 until
German reunification in 1990. The territory formed the main part of the
three GDR districts of Rostock, Schwerin and Neubrandenburg.
Since the restoration of the country in the Federal Republic in 1990
From 1990 to 1992 Alfred Gomolka (CDU) was the first Prime Minister of
the restored country after German reunification. He was replaced by CDU
politician Berndt Seite (1992-1998), who ruled from 1992 to 1994 in a
coalition between the CDU and the FDP and from 1994 in a grand coalition
of the CDU and SPD. Harald Ringstorff (SPD) had the longest term of
office to date, from 1998 to 2008, under a coalition of the SPD together
with the PDS. From October 2008 to July 2017, Erwin Sellering (SPD) was
prime minister in a red-black coalition. After the 2011 state election,
Sellering began his second term on October 25, 2011, and finally his
third term after the 2016 state election on November 1, 2016. On May 30,
2017, he announced his resignation from all offices due to cancer.
State government
Government business in
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania is divided between the prime minister and
eight ministers. Since November 15, 2021, the following have belonged to
the cabinet of the state government (Schwesig II):
The state parliament of Mecklenburg-West Pomerania is the state
parliament of Mecklenburg-West Pomerania. It was constituted on October
26, 1990, twelve days after the first state election and 23 days after
the reunification of Germany. It is based in Schwerin Castle. As the
central organ of the state legislature, the state parliament is
responsible for electing the prime minister, passing or amending state
laws, and for monitoring the state government and state administration.
The election period has been five years since 2006.
The last
state election in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania took place on September
26, 2021. Since then, the state parliament has been made up of the
parliamentary groups (sorted by size) of the following parties: SPD,
AfD, CDU, Die Linke, Bündnis 90/Die Grünen and FDP. Since 1990, the NPD
had been represented in the state parliament for two electoral periods.
International Relations and European Politics
Mecklenburg-West
Pomerania maintains its own close relationships with several countries,
there are bilateral partner regions in Poland (Euroregion Pomerania –
West Pomeranian Voivodeship/Stettin since 2000 and Pomerania/Danzig
since 2001), the USA (Mecklenburg County in North Carolina since 1994),
Finland (Turku -Region since 2000), Russia (Leningrad Region (Leningrad
Oblast) since 2002), and France (Poitou-Charentes since 2003). Since
2013, a partnership has been established with the three northern
provinces of the Netherlands, Groningen, Friesland and Drente. Intensive
relationships are also established with Austria and Switzerland in the
2010s. Numerous conferences and trade fairs with participation from all
over the world are also held in the country, especially in maritime,
tourist, cultural, agricultural, medical and other technological fields,
which is supported by the state government. Several cities in the state
are involved in the transnational association of cities Neue Hanse.
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania will be represented in the 2014-2019
election period by five MEPs in the European Parliament: Werner Kuhn
(CDU), Iris Hoffmann (SPD), Reinhard Bütikofer (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen),
Helmut Scholz (Die Linke) and Arne Gericke (Family Party of Germany).
The country maintains an information office in Brussels and an online
Europe portal.
In the industrial sector, the maritime industry, mechanical
engineering, the energy industry and the food industry have a large
share. Agriculture is very present in the area. In addition, tourism,
the health sector, the real estate industry, service companies and high
technology are playing an increasingly important role for the economy in
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.
future industries
Knowledge-based fields of cutting-edge technology, above all
biotechnology, life sciences and medical technology, energy and
environmental technology, aerospace technology and information
technology (IT for short), are regarded as future-oriented industries in
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Companies from these areas are
increasingly settling around the cities of Rostock and Greifswald with
their powerful universities, as well as around the university locations
of Stralsund, Wismar, Schwerin and Neubrandenburg and their technology
centers. The centers and several initiatives primarily promote
innovative business start-ups (start-ups), e.g. B. the Entrepreneurs
Club Rostock, Gründerwerft Greifswald, Wismars Entrepreneurs, Gründer
MV, IT-Lagune Vorpommern, IT-Initiative MV, Kreative MV and BioCon
Valley.
Numerous research institutes have also settled around the
two traditional universities in the state, the University of Rostock
(founded 1419) and the University of Greifswald (founded 1456) (see
Education and Research). The state's science locations make a
significant contribution to cultural and economic development and to
global profile strengthening.
maritime economy
The maritime industry in MV with the areas of
ship and boat building as well as maritime suppliers and service
providers including marine and offshore technology is an essential
industrial core and therefore of extraordinary economic and employment
policy importance for the state. Around 11,500 employees in almost 300
companies generate sales of around 1.5 billion euros.
Larger
companies in the maritime sector are, for example, the globally active
Deutsche Seereederei, Scandlines, Mecklenburger Metallguss (MMG), Weiße
Flotte and Liebherr (maritime cranes and systems). The cruise company
AIDA Cruises has its German headquarters in the city port of Rostock and
employs over 8,000 people, making it the largest company in
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.
There are several shipyards along
the Baltic Sea coast, the largest are in Rostock-Warnemünde, Wismar,
Stralsund (MV Werften/Genting) and in Wolgast (Peene-Werft/Lürssen).
There are also medium-sized shipbuilders such as HanseYachts AG in
Greifswald (one of the three largest yacht builders in the world), Vilm
Yachts in Lauterbach, Yachtbau Oelke in Marlow, the Rammin shipyard and
Schiffswerft Barth GmbH in Barth, Schubert boat building in Plate, MoLe
boat building in Plau, Wieker Boote GmbH in Wiek and REAN GmbH in
Sassnitz.
The “Conference on the Future of the Maritime Industry”
takes place in Rostock every two years.
Mecklenburg and Western Pomerania have a significant history in the
aerospace industry. Since German reunification in 1990, the industry has
been able to develop again in the country. Since then, aerospace
companies have settled in the greater Rostock area and at Rostock-Laage
Airport, including e.g. several Airbus suppliers with a total of around
a thousand employees, such as RST Rostock-System-Technik GmbH. Edag,
luratec AG, Assystem, Ferchau Engineering and Diehl Aerospace are also
at the Rostock site. In November 2007, the Warnemünde Aerospace Center
was opened. Furthermore, there is the competence center for aircraft
development and aircraft construction in Pasewalk in the Stettin area,
in the vicinity of which the light aircraft designer REMOS AG has
settled. The German Aerospace Center (DLR) maintains facilities for the
German Remote Sensing Data Center and the Institute for Communication
and Navigation in Neustrelitz. The Neustrelitz researchers are
significantly involved in the development of the European satellite
navigation system Galileo. The magazine Space Concret, which is
distributed in German-speaking countries, is published from
Neubrandenburg and, together with several partners, organizes the "Days
of Space Travel" there and elsewhere in the state every year, to which
scientists and astronauts also come to Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.
In GDR times, from 1961 at the latest, practically all companies in
the industry were expropriated and e.g. B. converted to agricultural
production or completely liquidated. However, numerous inventions and
companies were born in the region in the pre-war period. The important
astronomer Tycho Brahe studied at the University of Rostock in the 16th
century. The Anklamer Otto Lilienthal was the most important German
aviation pioneer and brought the world's first series aircraft onto the
market in 1894 with the normal glider. Fokker Aeroplanbau GmbH, which
moved from Berlin to Schwerin in 1913, had its headquarters directly on
Lake Schwerin in Bornhövedstrasse. World famous for its triplane with
the "Red Baron".
In Rostock-Warnemünde, Ernst Heinkel
Flugzeugwerke was established in 1922, one of the largest aircraft
manufacturers of the first half of the 20th century. The Heinkel He 178
was the world's first jet aircraft and had its maiden flight on August
27, 1939 in Rostock-Marienehe. From 1921 there was also the Arado
aircraft factory in Warnemünde. Walther-Bachmann-Flugzeugbau was also
initially located in Warnemünde and from 1934 in Ribnitz. For the
rearmament policy from 1933, most companies were expropriated or had to
switch to military production. From 1933 to 1945, the North German
Dornier works in Wismar with a later branch in Neustadt-Glewe were set
to war production.
Also committed to military rearmament, the
Peenemünde Army Research Institute was set up in 1936 in the west of the
island of Usedom, and in 1938 the Luftwaffe West Plant was added. The
first functioning large rocket Aggregat 4 (A4, propaganda name "V2") was
developed and tested in the facilities under the direction of Wernher
von Braun and Walter Dornberger. With its first successful flight on
October 3, 1942, the rocket was the first man-made object to penetrate
the frontier of space. This makes Peenemünde the cradle of space travel,
despite the inhuman circumstances of rocket production with thousands of
deaths in Mittelbau-Dora. The world's first industrial television system
was also set up there to broadcast the rocket launches. At the same
time, large rockets were being tested on the Zingst peninsula. Many of
the V2 engineers from Peenemünde became high-ranking developers at the
US space agency NASA after the Second World War. Arthur Rudolph on the
Apollo program for the first moon landings. Other participants, such as
Helmut Göttrup, switched to the Soviet space program during the space
race.
Mecklenburg-West Pomerania is one of the frontrunners in Germany in
the field of renewable energies, both in terms of electricity production
and the manufacture of wind turbines and photovoltaic systems. In an
average wind year, around 46% of the state's electricity requirements
can be covered by wind energy. In mid-2016, there were 1,819 wind
turbines in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania with an installed capacity of
3,008 megawatts. There are a few offshore wind farms (EnBW Baltic 1 and
Baltic 2) off the coast of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, and others are
under construction or in planning. Nordex SE, a manufacturer of wind
turbines, is located in Rostock. Decentralized biogas systems and
photovoltaic systems also play a major role in environmentally friendly
energy production. There are solar module factories in Greifswald and
Wismar. The first pilot project for a geothermal power plant in what was
then the GDR is the Neubrandenburg geothermal heating plant, which has
been in use since the late 1980s and was expanded in 2004 to become a
long-term underground storage facility.
The Nord Stream pipeline
from Vyborg, Russia, built by a Russian-German-Dutch consortium and
supplying Germany and Western Europe with Russian natural gas, lands
near Greifswald. Larger power plants in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania
are the Rostock and Schwerin-Süd power plants. The former largest power
producer in the state was the Lubmin nuclear power plant, which is now
closed. Two projects for power plants that were also planned in Lubmin,
a coal-fired power plant and a gas and steam combined cycle power plant,
were discontinued.
Mecklenburg-West Pomerania is the most popular travel destination
within Germany. Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania has had the largest growth
in international overnight guests in Germany since 2012.
The
islands of Usedom, Rügen and Hiddensee in Western Pomerania are focal
points of tourism in Germany, as is the Fischland-Darß-Zingst peninsula
and the Mecklenburg seaside resorts such as B. Heiligendamm,
Graal-Müritz or Kuehlungsborn with their resort architecture. In
addition, the historic Hanseatic cities of Stralsund, Greifswald,
Rostock (with Warnemünde) and Wismar with their important old towns as
well as the Mecklenburg residence cities of Güstrow, Ludwigslust and
Schwerin with their castles, and main towns in the lake district such as
Neustrelitz, Neubrandenburg, Malchow, Mirow, Röbel and Waren ( Müritz)
important attractions. The historic old towns of Stralsund and Wismar
have been UNESCO World Heritage sites since 2002. There are also
numerous other historic town centers worth seeing with brick Gothic
churches, town houses, fortifications and town gates as well as other
monuments. Several holiday routes lead through the country.
For
nature lovers, anglers and water sports enthusiasts, the Mecklenburg
Lake District and the Müritz National Park are important inland. Along
the coast, the Jasmund National Park with the famous chalk coast off
Rügen and the Western Pomeranian Lagoon Area National Park with its
lagoons attract visitors. There are also countless different landscape
and nature reserves.
In Mecklenburg and Western Pomerania there
are more than two thousand manor houses, palaces and castles (e.g.
Kalkhorst Castle, Granitz Hunting Lodge, Basedow Castle, Bothmer Castle,
Stargard Castle). for cultural events or as a hotel. In addition, there
are many other sights in rural areas, such as historic village centers,
churches, monasteries, windmills, lighthouses, evidence of Slavic
settlement, monuments and vantage points.
Rostock's Warnemünde
district is the busiest cruise port in Germany. The Warnemünde Week,
which takes place in Warnemünde every summer, and the Hanse Sail attract
over a million tourists to Rostock every year. In addition, the Müritz
Sail in Waren (Müritz) has established itself as an event on inland
waterways.
Tourism in MV is also of great importance outside of
the summer season, business in the off-season and in winter is
constantly growing. On cool days, indoor facilities such as the numerous
museums, theaters, shopping facilities and leisure pools are often used.
In the winter months, visits to the traditional Christmas markets
(especially in Rostock, Schwerin, Stralsund, Neubrandenburg and in the
seaside resorts) as well as New Year's Eve and wellness packages are
popular.
The gross domestic product (GDP) was 42.8 billion euros in 2017.
Overall, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania generated 1.3 percent of
Germany's total economic output. The service industry accounted for 76.2
percent of the gross value added in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, while
the manufacturing sector generated 21.6 percent. The gross domestic
product (GDP) per inhabitant in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania was 28,940
euros in 2019, almost 83% of the average value within the EU member
states. Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania is also in last place in Germany
in terms of the purchasing power index with 83.1 (2019). In 2019,
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania ranked second to last in a comparison of
the federal states in terms of the wealth rate, ahead of Saxony-Anhalt
with 3.6% (national average: 7.9%).
The state budget has been
balanced or positive since 2006, i. i.e. no new debt was taken on for
ten years in a row. The country is planning a balanced budget by 2020
and from 2006 to 2015 a total of 900 million euros in debt could be
repaid.
The unemployment rate in the state of Mecklenburg-Western
Pomerania rose from 1990 to up to 20 percent (September 2004) and then
fell continuously to 7.6 percent in December 2018, the lowest level
since 1990. Regional differences are particularly evident between the
western districts of Ludwigslust-Parchim (5.5%), Rostock (5.6%) and
Northwest Mecklenburg (6.1%) on the one hand and the south-eastern
districts of Vorpommern-Greifswald (9.2%) and Mecklenburgische Lake
District (9.1%) and Western Pomerania-Rügen (9.5%) on the other hand (as
of December 2018). Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania still has the lowest
wages in Germany. Despite having a full-time job, one in three earns no
more than 2,000 euros gross.[63] In 2017, the median gross monthly wages
for employees subject to social security contributions was EUR 2,391
compared to the West German average of EUR 3,339.
Historically, the parent companies of the first large German
department store chains such as Karstadt (founded in Wismar in 1881),
Kaufhof (founded in Stralsund in 1879) and Wertheim (founded in
Stralsund in 1875) emerged in Mecklenburg and Western Pomerania.
creative industries
The cultural and creative industries are becoming
increasingly important in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, i.e.
entrepreneurial cultural creation, e.g. B. by filmmakers and other
artists (e.g. to be seen at the Filmkunstfest), festivals and concerts
and other events, theater (e.g. Störtebeker Festival), fashion and
design (e.g. Fashion Week Warnemünde[69] and LOOK Schwerin).
real
estate industry
The real estate market and the construction industry
are of great local importance in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. There is
high demand in scenic locations such as coastal and lake areas, as well
as in historic towns and villages. According to the state development
program, development should be concentrated on the inner areas of the
communities in order to use the existing infrastructure and avoid urban
sprawl. Overall, in 2013, for the first time since 1990, there were more
people moving in than out. Places with good infrastructure record more
immigration, especially in the outskirts of the metropolitan regions of
Hamburg, Berlin and Szczecin as well as in the regiopolitan region
around Rostock. The numerous castles and mansions in the state have also
been the focus of regional and real estate development for several
years.
Food industry
Food processing
is an important economic factor in the country. Examples from the food
industry are potato processing by Pfanni in Stavenhagen, the Nestlé
factory in Schwerin and the frozen food production of the Oetker Group
in Wittenburg. The Trolli confectionery from Hagenow and the Grabower
confectionery are also known beyond the state borders.
There are
over 20 breweries in the country. The largest and best-known are the
Mecklenburgische Brauerei Lübz, the Störtebeker Braumanufaktur in
Stralsund, the Hanseatische Brauerei Rostock and the Darguner Brauerei.
There are also smaller specialty and craft breweries, for example in
Vielank, in Barth, on Usedom and on Rügen.
Country Marketing
Since 2004, the state government has been promoting Mecklenburg-West
Pomerania as a business location and living environment with the motto
"MV is good for you". When crossing state borders on trunk roads,
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania is advertised as a "country to live in".
The aim of the state marketing campaign is to make the strengths and
potential of Mecklenburg-West Pomerania better known and to link them to
the core areas of health, nutrition, tourism, culture, science,
technology and education that are important for the state.
Railroad
The Berlin-Hamburg railway runs
through the southwestern landscape of Mecklenburg-West Pomerania.
Branching off from this route, there are connections via Schwerin and
Bad Kleinen to Wismar and again from Bad Kleinen to Rostock
(continuation in the direction of Stralsund-Rügen). Other main routes
run north-south from Berlin via Neustrelitz to
Rostock/Neubrandenburg-Stralsund and from Berlin via
Pasewalk-Anklam-Greifswald to Stralsund. The Bützow–Stettin railway line
is almost 200 km long inland from west to east. There are also various
branch lines branching off from the main lines and an S-Bahn network in
Rostock.
In recent years, a significant number of rail routes and
rail infrastructure (especially many branch lines and smaller stations
and sidings) have been shut down and mostly dismantled. The country
experienced extensive cuts in local rail passenger transport (SPNV) in
December 2012, for example, when a large number of lines were canceled
or thinned out. Tracks have also been and are being dismantled as part
of modernization measures at larger stations and operations have been
greatly simplified. Significant staff savings were made through
automation (e.g. of level crossings). There are now stretches of more
than 20 km in length without intermediate stops (e.g. on the RE 5),
since only long-distance Regional Express lines (RE) operate there.
The largest and most efficient rail transport company in
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania is DB Regio AG, which provides a large
part of the local rail passenger transport (SPNV). SPNV is successfully
operated by the Deutsche Bahn subsidiary UBB on some branch lines in
Western Pomerania. The ODEG, which operates three SPNV lines in the West
Mecklenburg area, should be mentioned as a non-federal railway company.
Well-known historic narrow-gauge railways in the state are the
Rasender Roland on Rügen and the Molli baths railway in the Rostock
district. Other tourist narrow-gauge railways are the
Mecklenburg-Pomeranian narrow-gauge railway in Galenbeck-Schwichtenberg
and the Klützer Kaffeebrenner near Boltenhagen.
See also: List of
passenger stations in Mecklenburg-West Pomerania and Category:Railway in
Mecklenburg-West Pomerania
Transportation
The Hanseatic city
of Rostock has the most developed local public transport in the country.
This is coordinated by the Verkehrsverbund Warnow (VVW).
In the
state there are both municipal transport companies with their own buses
- such as the MVVG - and private operators. The route network is usually
well developed in the upper and middle centers, in smaller towns the
buses run less frequently. In addition to the local transport companies,
there are also coach providers, and since the opening of the market in
2013 there have also been several long-distance bus lines. This includes
the VVG “straightforward” connection between Greifswald and
Neubrandenburg as well as several lines between Berlin, Hamburg,
Neubrandenburg, Rostock, Schwerin and the holiday resorts of providers
such as UBB and Flixbus, which lead to many large cities in Germany. The
southeast of the country is connected to Szczecin by VVG bus lines.
There are standard-gauge trams in the Hanseatic city of Rostock and
in the state capital of Schwerin. The Stralsund tram was operated from
1900 to 1966.
Street
Mecklenburg-West Pomerania is formed by
the A 20 motorway from Lübeck via Wismar, Rostock and Neubrandenburg to
the Uckermark triangle, the A 24 from Hamburg to Berlin with a
connection via the A 14 to Schwerin and Wismar and the A 19 from Berlin
to Rostock and in the extreme south-east accessible from the A 11
(Berlin-Stettin).
Various federal roads run through the country,
with the most important north-south connection being the B 96, in the
east-west direction there are the B 104, B 105 (following the former
Hansische Ostseestraße), the B 110 and the B 192.
Several holiday
routes in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania are designated for tourist use.
Important seaports are in Rostock, Wismar and Sassnitz (Port Mukran)
on Rügen, others are in Stralsund, Greifswald, Wolgast, Lubmin,
Ueckermünde and Vierow. Ferry lines run from Rostock overseas port and
Sassnitz ferry port to Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Poland and the Baltic
States. In 2017, around 3.6 million passengers boarded and disembarked
on ferries and cruise ships in the ports of MV, almost 3.2 million of
them in Rostock alone. In 2013, a good 1.9 million ferry passengers
passed through the Rostock ports promoted. In 2017, around 27 million
tons of goods were handled in the ports of Mecklenburg-Western
Pomerania, of which 20.4 million tons in Rostock, 3.2 million tons in
Wismar, 1.5 million tons in Sassnitz and 0.97 million tons in Stralsund.
t. In 2015 it was a total of 39.52 million t, of which 15.3 million t
were in RoRo traffic and 4.1 million t were general cargo.
Rostock's Warnemünde district was the largest cruise port in Germany
with 181 cruise ship calls and over 766,000 passengers handled in 2016.
There are sailing and pleasure boat marinas in many coastal towns.
In addition to the larger towns on the water, the largest marinas are in
Lubmin, Niendorf, Darß, Prerow, Born, Glowe, Neuhof, Lauterbach/Putbus,
Kröslin, Karlshagen, Mönkebude and Ueckermünde. The many lakes in the
hinterland are connected to each other and to the Baltic Sea via the
Warnow, the Recknitz, the Peene and various shipping canals. Especially
in the Mecklenburg Lake District there is a large number of pleasure
craft harbours. In Greifswald there is a museum harbor with historical
ships.
Mecklenburg-West Pomerania has one major airport, four medium-sized
regional airports (where aircraft up to the size of the Airbus A320 can
land), and numerous smaller airfields and runways. By far the largest
and busiest airport is Rostock-Laage Airport. In recent years he has won
a.o. important as a feeder for cruise tourism, for holiday flights and
for business flights in German-speaking countries.
Regional
airports are Heringsdorf Airport on Usedom, Neubrandenburg Airport,
Barth Airport and Schwerin-Parchim Airport. They emerged from former air
bases of the NVA and the Air Force of the Soviet Union.
Schwerin-Parchimer Airport was to be expanded into a logistics hub from
2014, but the airport actually had to file for bankruptcy in 2019. Today
the airport serves as a parking lot.
There are also numerous
smaller airfields, for example Rügen airfield near Bergen, Anklam
airfield, Müritz Airpark near Röbel, Wismar airfield, Peenemünde
airfield on Usedom, Rerik airfield, Pasewalk airfield, Tutow airfield,
Waren/Vielist airfield, Purkshof airfield near Rostock, Schmoldow
airfield near Greifswald, Pinnow airfield near Schwerin, Güstrow
airfield or Neustadt-Glewe airfield, which are primarily used for sport
flying. This is coordinated by the air sports association MV.
The
international airports in Szczecin-Goleniów, Hamburg and Berlin airports
close to the border also play a role in the country.
Bicycle
The cycling infrastructure in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania was greatly
expanded after 1990, but is still very incomplete. Often only the major
holiday routes are well developed, including the Berlin-Copenhagen cycle
path, the Berlin-Usedom long-distance cycle path, the Mecklenburg Lake
District ice age route, the Hamburg-Rügen long-distance cycle path, the
Mecklenburg Lakes cycle path, the Oder-Neisse cycle path, and the Baltic
Sea to Upper Bavaria -Route (D11) and the Baltic Coastal Route (D2).
According to data from the Mecklenburg-Western Pomeranian Statistical
Office, in 2015 there were a total of 143,146 students at general
schools, 32,545 students at vocational schools and 12,429 full-time
teachers.
Mecklenburg and Western Pomerania have some of the
oldest schools in the German-speaking area in their area. The oldest
among them is the Güstrow Cathedral School, which was founded in 1236 as
a monastery school for the training of young clergy, and was
re-established in 1552 as a Latin school and later as a grammar school.
The Lilienthal High School in Anklam (1535), the Great City School in
Wismar (1541), the Albert Einstein High School in Neubrandenburg (1553),
the Fridericianum in Schwerin (1553), the Jahn High School in Greifswald
(1561), the Parchimer Friedrich-Franz -Gymnasium (1564), the Rostock
City School (1580), the Niels-Stensen-School in Schwerin (1735), the
Carolinum Neustrelitz Gymnasium (1795) and the Putbus Pedagogium (1836)
can look back on an extraordinarily long history. The humanistic grammar
school in Stralsund, founded in 1560, was not reopened after the Red
Army took Stralsund on May 1, 1945.
In the secondary sector,
there is a regional school (formerly Hauptschule or Realschule) in
addition to the classic Gymnasium. There are also a few comprehensive
schools, especially in the larger cities. In order to enable a later
school career decision and a longer period of learning together, pupils
transfer to a regional school together after primary school (first to
fourth grade). After the sixth grade, you can then switch to a grammar
school and earn your Abitur, or you can get your professional
qualifications or the middle school certificate at the regional school.
Since 2008, the Abitur after the twelfth grade, which was the norm
before 2001, has been reintroduced at all grammar schools. In addition,
increasing the decision-making autonomy of the individual schools was
continuously tested with pilot projects (e.g. independent schools) and
increased with legal reforms. The model of the European school promotes
intercultural cooperation, an example of this is the German-Polish high
school in Löcknitz.
In addition to the state schools, there are
also several private schools run by private non-profit organizations,
some of which are denominationally linked, such as the Catholic Berno
Foundation, or other private schools such as the boarding school Schloss
Torgelow near Waren.
The number of students has declined overall
since 2000. In 2009, there were about eight schoolchildren for every 100
inhabitants in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. In urban centers such as
Rostock, Schwerin, Greifswald, Stralsund, Wismar, Neubrandenburg and
other places that are attractive for families, the number of
schoolchildren has increased steadily in recent years, which is a result
of rising birth rates and immigration.
According to data from the Mecklenburg-Western Pomeranian Statistical
Office, there were a total of 38,541 students at universities in the
state in 2015, including 24,625 at universities, and a total of 15,576
university employees.
State colleges in addition to the
universities are the University of Music and Theater Rostock, the
University of Neubrandenburg, the University of Stralsund and the
University of Wismar, the University of Applied Sciences for Public
Administration, Police and Justice in Güstrow and a campus of the
University of the Federal Employment Agency in Schwerin. The private
technical college for medium-sized companies (formerly the Baltic
College) has locations in Schwerin and Rostock. There are also courses
at the private design school in Schwerin.
There are two universities in Mecklenburg-West Pomerania. The University of Greifswald (founded in 1456) and the University of Rostock (founded in 1419) are the two oldest universities in Northern Europe and are among the oldest universities in the world.
There are numerous non-university research institutions in the state,
which are mainly concentrated in and around the universities in
Greifswald and Rostock and deal primarily with medicine, biology,
physics, space travel, animal health, agricultural sciences and
demography. The important institutes include the Max Planck Institute
for Demographic Research, Fraunhofer IGD, the Research Institute for
Farm Animal Biology, the Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research, the
Leibniz Institute for Atmospheric Physics and the Leibniz Institute for
Catalysis in Rostock, the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics in
Greifswald and the German Aerospace Center with branches in Neustrelitz.
There are several important medical research institutes in the
state, such as the DZNE for nervous diseases, the Fraunhofer Institute
for Cell Therapy and Immunology and the Heart and Diabetes Center MV at
the Karlsburg Clinic. The Friedrich Loeffler Institute is a national
research institute on the island of Riems, which belongs to Greifswald.
The well-known research results from MV include, for example, the
invention of the water scalpel, also known as the helix hydro jet, or
the first artificial liver for children.
Around 1.6 million people live in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (as
of December 31, 2019). The population consists of people from
Mecklenburg and Pomerania and a small part from Brandenburg. In
addition, after the Second World War, there were many refugees and
expellees, mainly from eastern Pomerania and East Prussia, as well as
immigrants from other regions of Germany and their descendants, for
political reasons mainly from the area of the former GDR, who found work
in the industrial centers of Rostock and Stralsund in particular , as
well as after the reunification Russian-German resettlers and late
resettlers. The largest group of citizens of foreign origin in 2014 came
from Poland (16 percent), followed by Russia (9 percent), Ukraine (7
percent) and Vietnam (as of November 2013). Since 2015, the largest
group has been from Syria (by 20 percent) due to the waves of refugees
caused by the Syrian civil war. The share of the total foreign
population in the national population is 4 percent (as of September
2016).
The influx of almost one million displaced persons, who
had to be called “resettlers” in the SBZ/GDR, led to a sudden increase
in the population to 2.1 million in 1945/1946. Since reaching this peak,
the population has fallen continuously. About eight percent of the
expellees who reached the four occupation zones by 1950 settled in
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and accounted for up to 45 percent of the
total population there.
The significant population loss after
1989 (between 1990 and 2013: −17%) is a result of westward migration and
a slump in birth rates. These trends slowed or stopped in the 2010s;
more people are migrating again and more children are being born. In
2008, for example, the state had the highest increase in births in
Germany, with the birth rate rising from 1.36 to 1.41. In addition, in
2015 a development towards families with several children is
foreseeable, the probability of birth is higher in families that already
have a child. The increases are explained by politicians, e.g.
attributed to the good day-care facilities, increased efforts in early
childhood education, the better situation on the labor market and the
generally improved quality of life in the country. Overall, it is
becoming apparent that the peripheral rural areas with poor
infrastructure will remain sparsely populated, while the urban centers
and places with attractive landscapes and infrastructure are gaining
residents again. In 2013, for the first time since 1990, there were more
people moving into Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania than people moving out.
Until 2016, the country recorded a positive net migration, which was
reduced by a constant excess of the number of deaths over the number of
live births, i.e. a negative natural population balance, so that the
country experienced a population decline again in 2016. A study by the
Berlin Institute from 2019 sees Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania in a
"demographic intermediate high" and expects a further sharp decline of
11.1% to 1.43 million inhabitants by 2035 due to the high rate of aging
and the small number of potential parents.
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
is the most sparsely populated and most rural German federal state. The
majority of the population lives along the Baltic Sea coast, while the
south and inland east of the country are particularly sparsely
populated. With around 209,000 inhabitants, the Hanseatic city of
Rostock is the only large city in the state and is considered a
regiopolis. Rostock is also the largest of the four regional centers in
the state, followed by Greifswald and Stralsund (around 118,000
inhabitants combined, as of December 31, 2020), the state capital
Schwerin (around 95,000 inhabitants) and the city of Neubrandenburg
(around 64,000 inhabitants). All other cities have fewer than 50,000
inhabitants, the most important cities in this group are the Hanseatic
city of Wismar and Güstrow as well as Waren (Müritz), Neustrelitz and
Parchim. The Polish port city of Szczecin, with a population of over
400,000, is today a growth engine for eastern Mecklenburg-Western
Pomerania, especially in the area of its metropolitan region. The
proximity to Berlin is advantageous for the southern parts of the state.
West Mecklenburg is integrated into the metropolitan region of Hamburg
and the area connected with Rostock and Lübeck and is also showing
growth.
The average life expectancy in the period 2015/17 was
78.6 years for men and 83.0 years for women. Men thus rank 15th among
the German federal states, while women rank 8th. Regionally, the city of
Rostock (expectation of the total population: 80.84 years), the district
of Rostock (80.23) and the Mecklenburg Lake District (80.04) had the
highest regionally in 2013/15, as well as Ludwigslust-Parchim (79.78),
Schwerin (79.76) and Western Pomerania-Greifswald (79.23) had the lowest
life expectancy.
In 2020, the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania was one of nine
German federal states in which the two large churches accounted for less
than 50 percent of the population. These were the six eastern states and
three northern states (Hamburg since 1995, Bremen since 2014 and
Schleswig-Holstein since 2019).
Christianity
The Protestant
parishes in the North Church are divided into the "Mecklenburg Church
District" and the "Pomeranian Church District". Mecklenburg's Catholics
belong to the Archdiocese of Hamburg, while Catholics in Western
Pomerania belong to the Archdiocese of Berlin.
In addition, there
are congregations of the Evangelical Reformed Church in the EKD, the
Independent Evangelical Lutheran Church and the Evangelical Free
Churches such as the Baptists, Free Evangelical Congregations,
Methodists, Mennonites or the Seventh-day Adventists. There are also
several smaller Christian churches such as the New Apostolic Church or
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons).
Other
In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania there is a Jewish community in the
state capital of Schwerin (including Wismar) and in Rostock. Both
communities are organized in the State Association of Jewish Communities
in Mecklenburg-West Pomerania, which is a member of the Central Council
of Jews in Germany. The list of synagogues in Mecklenburg-Western
Pomerania provides information on historical synagogues.
There
are Islamic mosques in Schwerin and Rostock, for example.
Denomination statistics
The majority of the
inhabitants of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania are non-denominational.
According to the 2011 census, 17.2% of the residents were Protestant,
3.3% Roman Catholic and 79.5% were non-denominational, belonged to
another religious community or made no statement. A decrease in the
number of Protestants is offset by a slight increase in the number of
Catholics. At the end of 2021, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania had
1,611,160 inhabitants, 13.7% were Protestant, 3.4% Catholic and 82.9%
had either another religion or no religion at all. Three years earlier,
14.8% (as of December 2018) were members of the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in Northern Germany (“Nordkirche” for short).
In large parts of the country, the older generation still at least
understands and sometimes speaks Low German (“Plattdütsch”) in addition
to Standard German. The younger ones do it less often. Today there are
various initiatives that bring the regionally colored language of their
homeland closer to the next generation with a variety of school
projects, club work, competitions and festivals.
The so-called
Mecklenburg-Western Pomeranian language area belongs to East Low German
and roughly corresponds to the current borders of the state of
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. There are no clearly definable borders
between Mecklenburg and West Pomeranian Low German, but the dialectal
differences are expressed geographically in a West-East continuum. So
there are no isogloss bundles.
The Pomeranian dictionary and the
Mecklenburg dictionary were established for the documentation of both
language areas. Important Low German writers from the region include
Fritz Reuter, John Brinckman and Rudolf Tarnow. One of the most
important historical documents of the region is the Middle Low German
Barther Bible.
In addition to Low German, there are also
Mark-Brandenburg dialects, which are close to the Berlin dialect,
especially in the eastern part of Western Pomerania due to the long
affiliation with Prussia and the "uckermark tip" around Strasburg.
Among others, the language companies of the Fritz Reuter Society
based in Neubrandenburg, the Johannes Gillhoff Society based in
Ludwigslust-Glaisin and the John Brinckman Society based in Jürgenstorf.
In addition, in many places there are local associations and Low German
cultural groups that take care of the preservation of Low German.
Notable museums include the Schwerin State Museum, the Pomeranian
State Museum in Greifswald and the Phantechnikum in Wismar. The
Darwineum in Rostock Zoo combines a museum experience exhibition with a
zoological collection. The German Maritime Museum with the Ozeaneum and
the Nautineum in Stralsund is the most visited museum in northern
Germany. The Müritzeum in Waren (Müritz) has Europe's largest freshwater
aquarium for native fish species.
Important art exhibitions in
addition to the Schwerin gallery Old & New Masters are u. a. the
Kunsthalle Rostock and the Kunstmuseum Ahrenshoop, and there are also
valuable exhibits at different locations, for example in the
Kunstsammlung Neubrandenburg.
The oldest museum in
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania is the Stralsund Museum of Cultural
History. The Rostock counterpart is in the monastery of the Holy Cross.
The Neubrandenburg Regional Museum and the Mecklenburg-Strelitz Cultural
Quarter in Neustrelitz are important cultural museums in the south-east
of the state. There are also smaller culture and regional or local
history museums in many other places, such as the local history museum
in Warnemünde, the folklore museum in Schönberg, the Grimmener Mühlentor
and the Heringsdorfer Villa Irmgard. There are also larger special
exhibitions such as in the German Amber Museum in Ribnitz-Damgarten or
in the Low German Bible Center in Barth.
The open-air museums in
the country are also popular destinations, e.g. B. in Groß Raden,
Klockenhagen and Schwerin-Mueß, the Slavic villages of Passentin and
Neustrelitz, the Stone Age village of Kussow, the Hanseatic Quarter in
Demmin and the Torgelower Ukranenland. There are also several miniature
parks outdoors.
Many of the more than 2000 palaces, castles and
manor houses in the state can also be visited - some of them are run as
museums, in addition to the ducal residences e.g. B. the castles in Burg
Stargard, Penzlin, Plau, Dömitz and Neustadt-Glewe, or the castle island
of Mirow, Hohenzieritz Castle, Ueckermünde Castle, the Granitz hunting
lodge on Rügen and the baroque Bothmer Castle between Wismar and Lübeck.
The largest public theaters in the state are the Mecklenburgisches
Staatstheater Schwerin, the Volkstheater Rostock, the Theater Vorpommern
with venues in Greifswald, Stralsund and Putbus and the Theater und
Orchester GmbH Neubrandenburg/Neustrelitz with venues in Neubrandenburg
and Neustrelitz. All four theaters offer drama as well as musical
theater and orchestral music.
Other important theaters are the
Ernst Barlach Theater in Güstrow, the Mecklenburg State Theater in
Parchim, the Vorpommersche State Theater and the Theater in Wismar.
There are also many mostly privately run seasonal theaters and open-air
theaters in larger cities, on the Baltic Sea coast and in artists'
villages and health resorts. The Störtebeker Festival has been taking
place in Ralswiek on the island of Rügen since 1993. They are Germany's
most successful open-air theatre. The Vineta Festival on Usedom, the
Piraten-Open-Air in Grevesmühlen and the Müritz-Saga in Waren are
well-known beyond the country's borders.
The MV Day takes place every two years as an official state festival,
in 2018 in Rostock, for the 800th anniversary of the Hanseatic city.
Events of national importance in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania
include:
The annual "Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern" in summer are a
festival for classical music. The festival venues are spread across the
entire federal state, often in manor houses, castles, churches, barns,
industrial buildings and also in parks. On the Baltic Sea coast and on
the lakes there are smaller series of festivals that supplement the
cultural offerings in the holiday resorts with music and theatre, e.g.
B. the Schönberg Music Summer and the Usedom Music Festival in autumn.
Like the festival, they are part of the "Musikland MV" series of events.
Other renowned music events include:
Airbeat One: Festival for
electronic dance music in Neustadt-Glewe, which has been held annually
since 2002.
Eldenaer Jazz Evenings: Open-air jazz festival in
Greifswald-Eldena, which was first held in 1981. Since then, jazz
musicians from all over the world have been guests in Eldena every July.
Fusion Festival: A festival for young art at the Lärz airfield south of
the Müritz. It has been held annually since 1997 and is a showcase for
alternative music, art and theater with global appeal. There are also
Artists of the avant-garde Burning Man Festival in the Mecklenburg Lake
District.
Greifswald Bach Week: Music series for classical music in
Greifswald since 1946.
Honky Tonk: Annual pub music festival in the
city centers of Rostock, Schwerin, Stralsund and Wismar.
Immergut
Festival: Indie rock music festival in Neustrelitz, held annually at the
end of May since 2000.
Student Festivals: The country hosts several
major music events run by student organizations. These include the
university day in Neubrandenburg, the campus spectacle in Stralsund and
the campus open air in Wismar. In Rostock there are u. a. the Campus
Awakening, the Campus Explosion and the Campus Summer Festival. In
addition to the events mentioned, there is also the International
Students Festival (Gristuf) with the Fête de la Musique in Greifswald in
summer.
Zappanale: Music festival in Bad Doberan, which has been
taking place since 1990. With a wide variety of artists and
interpretations, it is dedicated to the legacy of the composer and
musician Frank Zappa.
Darsser Naturfilmfestival: Film festival for nature and environmental
films on the Darß peninsula, which has been held annually in autumn
since 2005. The German Nature Film Prize will be awarded during the
event.
dokumentART: Film festival for documentaries in
Neubrandenburg, which has been held annually in autumn since 1992. At
the same time, the festival will be held in Szczecin, Poland.
Festival im Stadthafen (FiSH): Short film festival in Rostock,
especially for young film artists.
Filmkunstfest
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern: Film festival with around 17,000 visitors a year
in Schwerin, where the Golden Ox has been awarded for outstanding
contributions to German film culture since 2002.
Festival in the palace garden: Operetta festival in Neustrelitz with
up to 30,000 visitors, which has been taking place in the palace garden
since 2001.
Müritz-Saga: Open-air theater that has been taking place
every summer since 2006 in the amphitheater on the Mühlenberg in Waren
(Müritz).
Pirate Open Air: Open-air theater in Grevesmühlen near
Wismar with over 50,000 visitors a year, which has been taking place
every summer since 2005.
Schwerin Castle Festival: Opera festival in
Schwerin, which has been organized annually by the Mecklenburg State
Theater since 1993. Up to 70,000 visitors attend the festival every
summer.
Störtebeker Festival: Open-air theater in Ralswiek on the
island of Rügen with over 350,000 visitors a year, which has been held
every summer since 1993.
Vineta Festival: Open-air theater in
Zinnowitz on the island of Usedom, which has been held annually in
summer since 1997.
Thanksgiving festivals: The state thanksgiving festival has been held
on the first weekend in October since 1990. The highlight is the
festivities on Sunday with an ecumenical service, parade and handing
over of the harvest crown. The 26th State Thanksgiving Festival took
place in Brüsewitz in 2016, in 2017 Siedenbollentin is the venue. Other
harvest festivals take place regionally in autumn, for example in
Stralsund.
Carnival or Mardi Gras: There are carnival clubs in many
communities in the state, which organize events such as parades,
sessions with "town hall occupations", guard dances, handmade speeches
and dance evenings. The Mecklenburg-Vorpommern State Carnival
Association is the umbrella organization of 82 carnival associations in
the state, in which around 6,000 carnivalists are active.
Culture
park festivals: In the Neubrandenburg culture park, there are regular
festivals that have an appeal beyond the state borders, such as the
Whitsun Festival, the Fountains in Flames Festival of Lights (Northern
Lights Magic) and the Mecklenburg Oktoberfest.
Martensmann: The
tradition of the November journey of the Martensmann from Lübeck to
Schwerin on St. Martin's Day has existed since 1520. It leads via
Schönberg and is celebrated in Rehna and Schwerin as a folk festival or
Martensmarkt.
Nordic Sound: The largest festival for Northern
European culture outside of Scandinavia. It takes place annually in May
in Greifswald.
POLANDMARKT: The most important festival of Polish
culture outside of Poland. It usually takes place on ten days in
November in Greifswald and the surrounding areas.
Sweden Festival:
Every year in late summer, this event in Wismar commemorates the long
affiliation to the Swedish crown, which began in 1648 after the Thirty
Years' War.
Dance balls: Outstanding festive ball events are the
annual state press ball MV, the theater ball in the Mecklenburg State
Theater in Schwerin and the festival ball of the Neubrandenburg
Philharmonic.
Wallenstein Days: A folk festival in Stralsund that has
been held since 1825, at which the defense against the siege of the city
by Wallenstein in 1628 is commemorated every year in July. It is the
largest historical folk festival in northern Germany.
Christmas
markets: The traditional Rostock Christmas market is considered to be
the largest in northern Germany, and the Christmas markets in Stralsund,
Wismar, Schwerin, Neubrandenburg (Weberglockenmarkt) and in the seaside
resorts on the coast are also known nationally. But there are also
markets in smaller towns and villages, e.g at manor houses, in the barn
Bollewick and at the monastery Zarrentin.
In addition to the national holidays of New Year, Good Friday,
Easter, Labor Day, Ascension Day, Pentecost, German Unity Day and
Christmas, Reformation Day is a public holiday in Mecklenburg-Western
Pomerania. From 2023, International Women's Day will also be a public
holiday.
Since 2002, May 8th has been a national day of
remembrance in the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, as the day of
liberation from National Socialism and the end of the Second World War.
Since 2006, 2-euro commemorative coins have been issued annually with a motif of the state that represents the President of the Bundesrat. In 2007 this was Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, around 30 million 2-euro coins were minted with the Schwerin Castle as a motif, which are in circulation as official means of payment.
The Medienanstalt Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (MMV) is the legal body under the State Broadcasting Act that contributes to the development of radio and television and monitors the activities of private and open media stations, as well as tendering broadcasting licenses. Since 2006, she has been awarding the Media Competence Prize, which recognizes outstanding achievements by committed adults and children.
The regional daily newspapers with the highest circulation are the Ostsee-Zeitung, the Schweriner Volkszeitung with its Rostock local edition, the Norddeutsche Latest News and the Nordkurier. None of the newspapers have their own full editorial staff. There are also various regional advertising papers such as Blitz.
Radio is available for analogue and digital reception. There are also
various open channels, also known as citizen radio or citizen
broadcasting.
Selection of public radio stations and their
reception options:
NDR 1 Radio MV (FM, DAB+, DVB-S)
NDR 2 (FM,
DAB+, DVB-S)
NDR Blue (DAB+, DVB-S)
NDR Info (FM, DAB+, DVB-S)
NDR culture (FM, DAB+, DVB-S)
NDR Schlager (DAB+, DVB-S)
N-Joy
(FM, DAB+, DVB-S)
Deutschlandfunk (FM, DAB+, DVB-S)
Deutschlandradio Kultur (FM, DAB+, DVB-S)
Private radio stations:
80s80s MV (FM)
Baltic wave (VHF)
radio B2 (FM)
Radio Paradiso
(FM)
Open radio stations:
LOHRO (VHF)
NB-Radiotreff 88.0
(VHF)
radio 98eins (FM)
Wave Kummerower See (VHF)
Radio MSP
(FM)
internet radio
The web radio stations from
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania include Ostseemelodie from Schwerin, Radio
Hagenow, Radio MSP from Neustrelitz, Radio Nordland from Leopoldshagen
and web radio Powerplay from Rostock. In addition, most terrestrial
radio stations have streams that can be transmitted and received on the
respective websites.
The public and private television channels can be received via cable
and satellite. Some public broadcasters are also broadcast terrestrially
via DVB-T. NDR Fernsehen is the nationwide TV broadcaster of
Norddeutscher Rundfunk, which supplies regional information not only to
Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein, Lower Saxony and Bremen, but also to
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The state program of NDR television is
the Nordmagazin. In September 2012, MV1, the first nationwide private
television, went on the air.
There are individual TV stations
that can broadcast locally or regionally to a specific area. The local
offer is operated by private and open TV stations. The following local,
open and private TV stations can currently be received via cable and in
some cases via the Internet in streams as Internet TV:
Anklam TV
– Anklam and Western Pomerania-Greifswald
aveo - My TV - Schwerin and
surroundings
FAS - television at the Strelasund - Stralsund
Television in Schwerin - Schwerin
Greifswald TV – Greifswald
Güstrow TV – Güstrow
MV1
Neu.Eins – Neubrandenburg and
surroundings
Peene TV – Demmin and surroundings
rok-tv – Rostock
tv.rostock – Rostock
Rügen TV – Rügen
Wismar TV
Wolgast TV –
Wolgast and partly the island of Usedom
Grimm TV – Grimm
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania is a popular panorama for German and
international film productions. Filmland M-V gGmbH is the contact and at
the same time coordinator for the film industry. By awarding the FiSH
Media Competence Prize, the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania
promotes e.g. young film productions. The Filmkunstfest
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern is the most important film festival in the state
and is one of the largest public festivals in Germany, where the Flying
Ox is awarded as the main prize (see also film events).
Well-known actors from Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania include Matthias
Schweighöfer (born in Anklam), Nadja Uhl (from Stralsund), Charly Hübner
(from Neustrelitz), Katrin Sass (from Schwerin), David C. Bunners (from
Neubrandenburg), Tim Wilde (from Stralsund), Jule Böwe (from Rostock),
Devid Striesow (from Rügan) , Hinnerk Schönemann (Rostock) and
Anne-Catrin Märzke (Parchimer).
MV as a film backdrop
A
classic film is the 1922 horror film Nosferatu - A Symphony of Horror,
in which the main town is represented by Wismar. The island of Usedom
served as a backdrop for the Loriot film Pappa ante portas. The
television series Ein Bayer auf Rügen and Hallo Robbie! made the country
and the island of Rügen known throughout Germany. The 2009 film The
White Ribbon, which won the Palme d'Or, takes place partly in MV, as
does the multi-award-winning thriller Der Ghostwriter from 2010. In the
2010 Sat.1 TV film Die Grenz, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, now ruled
by the radical left, is splitting up , from the Federal Republic of
Germany and continues to exist as an independent state as the
"Democratic Socialist Republic of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania". The
films Die Gustloff and The Hunt for the Treasure of the Nibelung are
also partly set in Mecklenburg and Western Pomerania. In addition, there
are numerous crime films and series that use locations in
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, e.g. the police call 110 from Rostock
(which, however, is largely recorded in Hamburg), the ZDF Saturday crime
series Stralsund, the Usedom crime series from the island of Usedom and
SOKO Wismar.
program cinema
In addition to multiplex cinemas
with several halls in the larger cities and a few private cinemas, there
is the Association of Cultural Cinemas and Film Clubs, which is unique
in Europe, the Filmkommunikation-Landesverband Mecklenburg-Vorpommern,
in which almost all arthouse cinemas (like the Li.Wu Rostock in Frieda
23, the Latücht Neubrandenburg or the BasisKulturfabrik Neustrelitz) and
film clubs of the state are organized. Due to its structure with
playback rings and mobile cinema, it enables even small towns to have
sophisticated cinema, often organized on a voluntary basis and as one of
the few cultural sites on site.
The Landessportbund Mecklenburg-West Pomerania, based in Schwerin,
has been the umbrella organization for organized sports in
Mecklenburg-West Pomerania since 1990. The Sportjugend MV is his youth
organization. The country has produced a number of world and Olympic
champions in various sports, such as successful club and national team
players Toni Kroos and Tim Borowski, cyclists Jan Ullrich and André
Greipel, rower Hannes Ocik, and triathlete and ironman Andreas Raelert,
as well Athletes from SC Neubrandenburg such as canoeist Andreas
Dittmer, shot putter Astrid Kumbernuss and sprinter Katrin Krabbe. The
F.C. Hansa Rostock played in the 1st Bundesliga for over 12 years and is
the most successful team from the former eastern part of Germany to
date. In addition, the country has u. a. successful athletes and clubs
in volleyball, handball, horseback riding, motor sports, boxing and
other sports. Historically worked in the country e.g. Friedrich Ludwig
Jahn, 1802 to 1804 sports and private tutor in Neubrandenburg and
founder of the gymnastics movement. TSV 1814 Friedland is the oldest
sports club in Germany.
ball sports
football
The F.C. In
the 2022/23 season, Hansa Rostock will play in the 2nd Bundesliga in
men's professional football. The team, founded in 1965, is the most
successful team from the GDR after the reunification with twelve
Bundesliga seasons and has one of the largest fan bases of all German
teams.
In the 2022/23 season, Greifswalder FC will play in the
fourth-rate Regionalliga Nordost. In 2022/23 Hansa Rostock II, TSG
Neustrelitz, MSV Pampow, Rostocker FC, FC Mecklenburg Schwerin and SG
Dynamo Schwerin will play in the fifth-rate Oberliga. The state football
association MV organizes the association league MV and organizes the MV
cup every year, the winner takes part in the DFB cup.
The Rostock
seals are successful in beach soccer (beach soccer), they became the
first national champions in the MV Beach Soccer Tour in 2014 and won
several German and international tournaments. The nationwide DFB Beach
Soccer Cup has been held in Rostock-Warnemünde since 2013. There is also
indoor football in the country based on the rules of futsal.
volleyball
The Schweriner SC volleyball team is represented in the
1st women's Bundesliga and has been a twelve-time German champion, most
recently in 2018. The women of the 1st VC Stralsund and VC Olympia
Schwerin play in the 2nd women's Bundesliga. For men, SV Warnemünde
plays in the 2nd Bundesliga North. The annual Usedom Beach Cup is
considered to be the world's most popular beach volleyball competition.
handball
HC Empor Rostock has been playing in the 2nd Bundesliga
since the 2020/21 season, while the Mecklenburger Stiere Schwerin are
represented in the 3rd division. Several teams from Mecklenburg-Western
Pomerania also play in the handball league.
basketball
In
basketball, the Rostock Seawolves have been playing in the top division
of German basketball, the Basketball Bundesliga (BBL), since the 2022/23
season.
ice Hockey
The Rostock Piranhas ice hockey team has
been playing in the ice hockey Oberliga Nord (3rd division) since the
2010/11 season.
hockey
In indoor hockey, the annual Höcker
tournament in Güstrow is of nationwide importance.
golf
Golf
is becoming increasingly popular, mainly due to the creation of new
courses, including for beginners. In 2011, the Golf Association of
Mecklenburg-West Pomerania had around 13,500 members, including around
half from other federal states and abroad. Important tournaments take
place i.a. at the WINSTONopen in Vorbeck near Schwerin.
Further
In table tennis, the TTSV 90 Neubrandenburg organizes the "Table Tennis
Tournament of a Thousand" every year. Team UWR 071 Rostock has been
playing underwater rugby in the 1st Bundesliga since the 2013/2014
season. From the 2008/2009 to 2013/2014 and 2018/2019 to 2021/2022
seasons, the Demminer Radballverein played in the 2nd Bundesliga. The
DBU coordinates the area of billiards, MV belongs within it to the North
German Billiards Association.
Sail
Sailing is practiced on the Baltic Sea coast and on the
numerous smaller bodies of water. Regattas are held on most major bodies
of water. Major annual sporting events related to sailing are the Hanse
Sail and the Warnemünde Week in Rostock. The harbor festival takes place
in Stralsund every summer, in Wismar there are the harbor days and in
Sassnitz on Rügen Sail Sassnitz. The Haff Sail is held annually in
Ueckermünde. Inland, the Müritz Sail in Waren is popular, on the
Tollensesee in Neubrandenburg they sail around the "blue ribbon". The
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Sailing Association based in Rostock-Warnemünde
looks after most of the local sailing clubs.
Windsurfing and
Kitesurfing
The Baltic Sea coast and many lakes are suitable for
windsurfing and kite surfing. Over 50 surf spots are established, as
well as numerous surf schools.
canoeing
Paddling is popular
across the country - canoeing, kayaking and dragon boat clubs are
everywhere. The trend sport of stand-up paddling is also enjoying
increasing popularity. The Landeskanuverband MV is based in
Neubrandenburg. The outrigger regatta in canoeing also takes place there
every year.
To swim
At the Stralsunder Sundschwimmen, more
than a thousand swimmers swim across the Strelasund every year. The
Müritz Swim is a competition that has been held since 1969. The swimming
association MV is based in Rostock and looks after the swimmers as well
as the water jumpers and water polo players.
Dive
Scuba diving
is available throughout the country in many inland lakes as well as in
the Baltic Sea. Many dive centers offer introductory dives, dive
training, guided tours and/or equipment.
Other sports
Motorsports
In motorsport, the annual highlights are the
international mountain ring race on the Teterower Bergring at Whitsun,
with the evening speedway race for the Auerhahn Cup in the Bergring
Arena, the international speedway race for the Whitsun Cup in Güstrow in
the stadium on Plauer Chaussee and the Speedway in Stralsund -Bundesliga
and the International Speedway-Ostseepokal. The annual stock car races
in Grimmen's "Hexencauldron" and in Sanitz (Wendorf) and Stavenhagen
("Basepohler PS-Hölle") are very popular with starters and spectators.
In motoball ("motorcycle soccer"), MSC Kobra Malchin and MSC Jarmen are
successful.
A competitive rally is the summer ADAC rally sprint
"Around the Bergring" in Teterow. Classic car rallies take place all
over the country, popular are u. a. the Kaiser Classic Tour over the
island of Usedom, the Rügen Classics leading over Rügen and the ADAC
Sunflower Rallye in western Mecklenburg, which is used by many oldtimer
and youngtimer drivers. There are several motorsport circuits and
go-kart tracks in the country. The Landes-Motorsport-Fachverband MV
(LMFV) based in Rostock primarily coordinates activities in the areas of
motorcycling and karting.
martial arts
The most popular
martial arts in MV include boxing and kickboxing, judo, jiu-jitsu and
karate. The Boxing Association MV has over 1500 members, the Karate
Union Mecklenburg-Vorpommern has 37 member clubs. Several Fight Nights
with various martial arts take place throughout the year for a wide
audience. Several world championship fights in boxing took place in the
sports and congress hall in Schwerin and in the Jahnsportforum in
Neubrandenburg. Some well-known world boxing champions come from the
country, including Sebastian Sylvester and Jürgen Brähmer. Probably the
most famous German boxer, Max Schmeling (1905-2005), was born in Klein
Luckow, then in the Uckermark, which later came to belong to the state
of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Also known are the successful boxing
trainers Fritz Sdunek (1947-2014) and Michael Timm (* 1962).
Ride
Equestrian sport plays a major role in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and
has a long tradition. The Redefin State Stud is world-renowned for its
stallion breeding and the parades and training there. André Thieme from
Plau am See is one of the most successful show jumpers in the world. The
Ostseerennbahn in Bad Doberan is the oldest on the European mainland.
The Equestrian Sports Association MV is based in Rostock.
cycling
Cycling is popular among all age groups. In Rostock there is a velodrome
with a length of 250 meters. The Mecklenburger Seenrunde, starting and
finishing in Neubrandenburg, has been the largest amateur race in
Germany since 2014 and is to be established as a European cycle race in
the years to come, which could become part of the UCI Europe Tour.
runs
The Rügen Bridge Run with a marathon takes participants
across the Rügen Bridge every year. Other popular marathon routes lead
through Rostock, around the Müritz, around the Tollensesee, via Usedom,
the Darß and along the Szczecin Lagoon.
air sports
Air sports
are especially popular outside of the winter months, e.g. aerobatics,
microlight flying, paragliding and kite sports. In addition to the
larger airfields, there are numerous small air bases and gliding areas
where practice hours can be completed. The Air Sports Association MV
organizes u. the annual air rally and the German championship in powered
flight at Neubrandenburg Airport.
marksmanship
The
Landesschützenverband Mecklenburg-Vorpommern e. V. (LSV M-V) based in
Neubrandenburg.