Schwerin is the state capital of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.
The independent medium-sized town is the smallest of all state
capitals in Germany. Schwerin is the second largest city after
Rostock and one of the four regional centers in the state.
Schwerin was first mentioned as Wendenburg in 1018 and received
German city rights from Heinrich the Lion in 1164. This makes it the
oldest town in what is now Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. In the
course of time, the city expanded on the west and south banks of the
Schwerin Inner Lake, and there are a total of twelve lakes within
the city area. The starting point for urban development was the
place with today's landmark of the city, the Schwerin Castle; it is
located on an island between Schweriner See and Burgsee with the
castle church from 1560. Until 1918 the castle was a main residence
of the Mecklenburg dukes and grand dukes and the power center of the
Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, which in 1919 became a democratic
free state. The castle has been the seat of the state parliament
since 1990. With its surrounding gardens, it was the main venue for
the Federal Horticultural Show 2009 and, as a historically unique
ensemble with the other residential buildings, is a candidate for
UNESCO World Heritage. In addition, Schwerin is characterized by its
old town - unusually well preserved for a German city of this size -
the adjacent shelf city, the spa district of Zippendorf and other
historic districts with many architectural monuments.
Economically, technology companies, authorities, Deutsche Bahn,
mechanical engineering and material processing, consumer production,
healthcare and clinics, service companies, and increasingly tourism
and the cultural and creative industries dominate. In addition,
Schwerin is a university location with around 600 students,
including the private medium-sized technical college, the college of
the Federal Employment Agency and the Vitruvius Design College. In
terms of sport, Schwerin has been known as a boxing town since Fritz
Sdunek and as a volleyball town thanks to the twelve-time German
champions Schweriner SC.
By plane
Rostock-Laage Airport (IATA: RLG), Flughafenstr. 1, 18299
Laage. Tel.: +49 (0)38454 32 13 90, fax: +49 (0)38454 32 13 92, e-mail:
info@rostock-airport.de . The regional airport is about 80km northeast
of Schwerin. Rostock Laage Airport is a regional airport with only a few
charter flight connections.
Hamburg Airport (IATA: HAM),
Flughafenstr. 1 – 3, 22335 Hamburg. Tel.: +49 (0)40 507 50, fax: +49
(0)40 50 75 12 34, e-mail: info@ham.airport.de . Hamburg Airport, which
is about 117 km away, can be reached by train in 1 3/4 hours (regional
and long-distance connections to Hamburg Hbf, continue with the S-Bahn
line S1).
From Berlin Brandenburg Airport internet wikipediacommons
(IATA: BER) it is more than 200km and by train it takes well over 2
hours.
Pinnow Airfield (special landing field, ICAO: EDBP), Am
Flugplatz 1, 19065 Pinnow. Tel.: +49 (0)3860 215, email:
kontakt@flugclub-pinnow.de . Pinnow Airfield is located on the eastern
shore of Lake Schwerin, about 18 km from the city. It is approved for
powered aircraft up to 5.7 t, gliders, ultralight aircraft, helicopters,
airships, balloons, umbrellas, kites, parachuting and model aircraft.
By train
Schwerin Hauptbahnhof, Grunthalplatz 4, 19053 Schwerin
wikipediacommonsinstagram. Schwerin's main train station is about a
10-minute walk from the historic old town and city center. The urban
area is easy to reach via the local transport network and the train
connection. There is a connection to Hamburg and Rostock about every
hour via regional and long-distance trains. Schwerin Hauptbahnhof has
direct long-distance connections to and from Hamburg Hauptbahnhof
(approx. every 2 hours), in the direction of Stralsund/Binz on Rügen
(via Rostock, Velgast), Stuttgart (via Hamburg, Cologne), Koblenz (via
Hamburg, Cologne), Frankfurt am Main ( via Hanover). Feature: wheelchair
accessible.edit info
Bad Kleinen internet wikipediacommons , 20 km
north of Schwerin, is an important railway junction with other direct
connections. From here there are connections (regional express, regional
train, ODEG) to and from Parchim, Berlin (via Ludwigslust), Rostock,
Wismar, Gadebusch, Rehna and to Hamburg (RE to Hamburg approx. every 2
hours in addition to the long-distance connections).
The
Schwerin-Mitte commons stop is close to the city center with shopping
arcades and their multi-storey car parks and is served by regional
trains and the ODEG.
By bus
Schwerin is easily accessible by
long-distance buses. The buses stop at the ZOB at Grunthalplatz directly
in front of the main train station.
In the street
Motorway
connections
From Hamburg via the A 24 exit Wöbbelin, then continue
via the B106 (Ludwigsluster Chaussee, towards Schwerin) or exit Hagenow,
then continue via the B321 towards Schwerin
From Berlin via the A 24
to Dreieck Schwerin, then continue on the A14, exit Schwerin-Nord
(continue via the B104) or Schwerin-Ost, continue via the B321 in the
direction of Schwerin/Raben Steinfeld
Coming from Wismar/ Lübeck/
Rostock via the A20 to Kreuz Wismar, then continue on the A14 exits
Schwerin-Nord (continue via the B104) or Schwerin-Ost, continue via the
B321 towards Schwerin/ Raben Steinfeld
Federal roads The
following federal roads lead to Schwerin or directly into the city area:
B 321 (route: Pritzier - Suckow/ connection to the A24)
B 106
(Course: Wismar – Ludwigslust A24)
B 104 (Course: Lübeck
(Schleswig-Holstein) – Linken (Brandenburg)
By boat
waterways
Lake Schwerin can be reached by boat via the Müritz-Elde-Stör waterway
and is connected to the Elbe. Further information, e.g. on locks,
bridges and clearance heights: | (PDF) Federal Waterways and Shipping
Administration: Leaflet for navigating the Müritz-Elde-Störwasserstraße
with sports and small vehicles
Excursion boating
There is
excursion traffic on Lake Schwerin. Provider: White Fleet Passenger
Shipping Schwerin GmbH | White Fleet website
Tram and bus lines run from Grunthalplatz in front of the main train
station to the city and the surrounding area.
Provider and
timetable information
Local transport Schwerin GmbH | Bus and
trams in the city of Schwerin
ODEG/ | Regional train connection
Parchim - Crivitz - Schwerin - Gadebusch - Rehna ]
VLP and local bus
| Bus connections surrounding area]
Deutsche Bahn AG | Regional
connections and long-distance train connections
The Paulskirche is a neo-Gothic church whose interior has remained
almost unchanged since it was consecrated in 1869. The organ by
Friedrich Friese and the imposing glass windows are particularly worth
mentioning. Viewings are possible Monday to Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4
p.m.
The Schelfkirche St. Nicolai is surrounded by old trees in the
center of Schelfstadt, a baroque part of downtown Schwerin that was
planned on the drawing board. Since September 2013, the restored royal
crypt has been permanently accessible to visitors again. The Shelf
Church is open daily. Visits and guided tours are possible. Contact
Propsteikirche St. Anna. The Catholic Church of St. Anna is a simple
late Baroque church in the heart of the old town. Last modified: Aug
2019 (information may be out of date)
Cathedral At almost 118 meters,
the tower of the mighty brick cathedral towers above the buildings in
downtown Schwerin and all other church buildings in Mecklenburg. With
the three-nave Gothic basilica, the cathedral is also the oldest
surviving building in Schwerin. The Schwerin Cathedral is part of the
European Route of Brick Gothic and is considered one of the most
important North German buildings of this architectural style. Worth
seeing are, among other things, the cross altar from 1495, the organ of
the famous master organ builder Friedrich Ladegast and the historical
tombs. The Wikipedia article on the cathedral contains further
information about the numerous special features of the church building
and the furnishings.
Guided tours The cathedral is open daily. Visits
and guided tours are possible. Public tours of the cathedral take place
on Tuesdays at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. and on Wednesdays at 11 a.m. Tip: From
May 6th to September 23rd, 2013, the Ladegast organ will sound every
Monday at 2:30 p.m. for a 20-minute concert.
Directions/Access - The
entrance to the cathedral is on the side facing the Old Town Market.
Accessibility - The cathedral is barrier-free. FM systems available for
the hearing impaired. Guided tours for the visually impaired are offered
(after registration).
Bell tower Climbing the bell tower is possible
for EUR 2.00. More than 230 steps lead to the bell. Especially when the
weather is good, there is a great view over the city and lake landscape.
Schwerin Castle
is the city's landmark and seat of the state parliament as well as an
important building of romantic historicism. Parts of the castle belong
to the Museum Schloss Schwerin and can be visited. The following can be
visited: living and social apartments on the piano nobile, state halls
on the festival floor, porcelain gallery in the former children's rooms,
Hofdornitz and weapons collection, castle church, castle and castle
gardens. The Wikipedia article on the castle is also worth reading.
Opening hours April 15 to October 14: daily 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. | 15
October to 14 April: Tues - Sun and public holidays 10 a.m. - 5 p.m
Guided tours April 15 to October 14: daily at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.;
Oct. 15 - Apr. 14: Tue. - Fri. 11:30 a.m., in high season: additional
guided tours
Admission €6/reduced: €4; Family day ticket (parents
with children under the age of 18) €10 (all entrance fees plus guide
fee)
Directions/access - Access to Museum Schloss Schwerin is on the
right-hand side of the palace complex, seen from the main portal,
opposite the historic swing bridge. The main portal itself belongs to
the Landtag area and is not used to access the museum rooms.
Accessibility - FM systems for the hearing impaired on request, an
assistance service can be organized by prior arrangement.
Due to its location on the numerous lakes and the swampy
surroundings, the historic old town was able to expand mainly to the
west. Architecturally, the resulting quarters each have an individual
character and their own flair.
The area around the Gothic brick
cathedral is referred to as "the old town" in the narrower sense. Grown
since the Middle Ages, half-timbered architecture and a medieval
alleyway pattern prevail here. In the alleys of the old town there are
restaurants, cafés and mostly owner-managed boutiques. In addition,
gabled and town houses, the town hall in the Tudor Gothic style and the
imposing columned building nestle around the old town market. City tours
and walking tours start on the market square. The town hall also houses
the tourist information. Numerous cafés are a magnet for visitors,
especially in the summer months. A visit to the regional weekly market,
which takes place on Wednesdays on the old market square and on
Wednesdays and Fridays on the immediately adjacent butcher's market, is
particularly recommended.
Other areas are the Schelfstadt and the
Paulsstadt.
Residenzensemble Schwerin The cityscape of downtown
Schwerin has been preserved as a window into the court of the 19th
century. Everywhere in the state capital you can find traces of the
history of the grand dukes, which stretches from the Middle Ages to the
early 20th century. The focus is on Schwerin Castle, gardens and parks
and the numerous buildings for the court and state administration. The
almost completely preserved "cultural landscape of romantic historicism"
was submitted to the Conference of Ministers of Education in June 2012
as a candidate for inclusion in the German list of proposals (tentative
list) for UNESCO World Heritage. In addition to Schwerin Castle, the
castle gardens and the three churches (Cathedral, Paulskirche and
Schelfkirche), the Residenz ensemble includes the following historical
buildings in Schwerin:
Altes Palais , a small half-timbered palace
from the late 18th century
College building (today the building of
the State Chancellery MV and the building of the Ministry of Energy,
Infrastructure and Regional Development MV)
New Town Palace. (today
the building of the Ministry of Justice MV)
Royal stables (today the
building of the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture MV) with
stables for sick horses and linen and bed chambers and the former Grand
Ducal court laundry
The plant was used for cutting and grinding large
natural stones and produced mainly for the ducal court of
Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Today a technical monument in museum use with
demonstrations (see under Museums)
Mecklenburg State Theater in the
Old Garden
State Museum Schwerin in the Old Garden (see under
Museums)
Old artillery barracks (today used by the tax office in
Schwerin)
Rabbit Werder Island
Villas and Werderstrasse
Other important buildings:
Old Town Hall
Main post office in
Neo-Renaissance style from 1892 − 1897
Schwerin main station,
Grunthalplatz 4, 19053 Schwerin. , historical station building,
representative brick building, around 1890. Feature: wheelchair
accessible.Edit info
Reichsbahn Headquarters Schwerin, representative
red brick building from 1898
Arsenal am Pfaffenteich (today the
building of the Ministry of the Interior MV)
Schleswig-Holstein-Haus
(today used as an exhibition and event location)
TV tower
Schwerin-Zippendorf - The TV tower has a viewing platform and a
restaurant 100 m above the ground. The 136.5 m high tower has a very
unusual design. Curiously, there is also a 273 m high tubular steel mast
in the immediate vicinity. The restaurant and viewing platform have been
closed since November 2017.
Monument to Friedrich Franz II in the palace garden
Victory Column
Memorial to the people of Mecklenburg who died in the war of 1870/1871.
Schwerin-Mueß open-air museum also: Mecklenburg Folklore Museum, Alte
Criwitzer Landstraße 13, 19063 Schwerin (Schwerin-Mueß district on the
southern shore of Lake Schwerin). Phone: +49(0)3852084116. Historic
village complex located at the gates of Schwerin. The museum shows the
life of the Mecklenburg rural population in the 19th century and thus
stands in clear contrast to the inner city area of Schwerin, which was
characterized by courtly life. A Low German hall house, the shepherd's
cottage, smithy, Büdnerei, meadow orchards, an old school with a school
garden, as well as rural gardens and courtyards have been preserved.
During the summer season, the blacksmith demonstrates his craftsmanship
on Wednesdays. The open-air museum also offers changing exhibitions and
events. Open: 30 Mar - 29 Sept: Tue - Sun 10am - 6pm / Oct - Mar: Tue -
Sun 10am - 5pm, open on public holidays. Price: €5.00 / reduced: €3.50/
children up to 18 years: €2.00/ children up to 6 years free.
Schwerin
State Museum, Alter Garten 3, 19055 Schwerin (opposite the Victory
Column, entrance currently on both sides below the large outside
staircase). Tel.: +49(0)38559580, fax: +49(0)385563090, e-mail:
info@museum-schwerin.de . Old Masters Gallery: top European collection
of Dutch and Flemish paintings, Modern Gallery: Germany's largest
collection of works by Marcel Duchamp, Ernst Barlach Collection,
changing special exhibitions. Feature: wheelchair accessible. Open: 15
April to 14 Oct: Tues - Sun 10 a.m. - 6 p.m., Thurs 12 p.m. - 8 p.m./ 15
Oct to 14 April: Tues - Sun 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., Thurs 13 - 8 p.m.
Check-in: up to 30 minutes before closing. Price: €5 / reduced: €3.50.
Schleifmühle am Faulen See, Schleifmühlenweg 1, 19061 Schwerin
(southwest of Lake Schwerin). Phone: +49(0)385562751 . Exhibition on the
history of the water mill and stone grinding. The show complex in a
really picturesque setting is off the beaten track and also has a small
collection of minerals. Open: Mon - Fri 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. / weekends and
public holidays 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. Price: €4.00 / reduced: €3.00.
International Fire Brigade Museum Schwerin (IFM-Schwerin), Hamburger
Allee 68, 19063 Schwerin (Neu Zippendorf district). Tel.: +49(0)385
20271539, email: info@ifm-schwerin.de . Germany's largest fire brigade
museum is located in a hall right next to the television tower. Guided
tours are possible. Open: April to October Tue - Sun 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.,
November - March only by telephone agreement. Price: €5.00 / reduced:
€3.00.
Mecklenburg Railway and Technology Museum, Zum Bahnhof 13,
19053 Schwerin (directly opposite Schwerin Central Station). Tel.: +49
(0)385 3261444, mobile: +49 (0)171 6816657, e-mail:
info@mef-schwerin.de. Museum with an extensive vehicle exhibition in the
former Schwerin depot. Open: every last Saturday of the month from 10
a.m. Price: adults €3, reduced €2.50, children €2, family €7.
Market
Butcher market
Old Garden with Old Palace, State Theater
and State Museum (art collections). The Victory Column is located to the
west of Schloßstraße.
Shelf market surrounded by old half-timbered
houses and the St. Nikolai Church.
Castle garden − baroque complex south of the castle island which was
redesigned by Lenné in the 19th century. The castle garden is the focal
point of the Schwerin culture and garden summer every year. The
immediate vicinity of the chateau is also worth seeing with
dendrological rarities and original park design (caves, islets,
galleries and bridges).
Schweriner See - is the second largest lake
in northern Germany and is formative for the city. Round trips are
offered with the White Fleet. Boats can be rented at the harbor opposite
the castle - even those that can be driven without a boat license. The
marina offers space for your own ship. What the professional fishermen
bring out of the lake should definitely be tried. A visit to the island
of Hakenwerder, which is a nature reserve, is also worthwhile. At
Zippendorfer Strand in the district of Zippendorf, swimming is even
monitored during the season.
Pfaffenteich - located in the
Schelfstadt borders the old town/pedestrian zone in the north-west.
Opposite the arsenal, two terraces invite you to linger. In the summer,
the dragon boat race takes place here. On the shore, people often settle
down in the shade of the trees. Children have fun feeding ducks and
swans.
Water hiking, e.g. Schwerin Lake Tour
fishing
Swimming:
Stadtstrandbad Zippendorfer Strand, Kalkwerder bathing establishment,
Kaspelwerder bathing establishment, Seehof bathing establishment
Cycling (well signposted city tour of Schwerin)
Golf: Winston Golf
Vorbeck, Golf & Country Club Fleensee, Swing Golf Boltenhagen
Hiking:
Schwerin Castle Tour, Tour 19 Wiligrad Castle
Flying in a glider or
microlight at 3 Pinnow Airfield (ICAO: EDBP), Am Flugplatz 1, 19065
Pinnow. Tel.: +49 (0)3860 215, email:
kontakt@flugclub-pinnow.de
Events
The Schwerin culture and garden summer is a series of
events that take place annually from spring to early autumn. Gardens,
historic buildings and the old town are used as venues, for example for
concerts, markets, shows, cabaret festivals, exhibitions and theater
performances. The annual program of the Schwerin culture and garden
summer includes the following major events:
Spring awakening with the
Klangwelle Schwerin
Pentecost jazz
Castle Festival Schwerin
gourmet garden
Schwerin Castle Garden Night
Schwerin Castle
Festival (historic festival around the castle, with parade; takes place
every 2 years)
Summer fairy tale (medieval spectacle)
Exhibitions
in the Schwerin State Museum
Other events in Schwerin:
Dragon
Boat Festival Schwerin (major sporting event with folk festival
character)
National Shooting Day
Old Town Festival Schwerin (folk
festival)
Schwerin Martensmarkt (Medieval festival based on local
lore)
Schwerin Christmas market
Events in the area:
Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (classical music festival with various
venues)
Baroque festival in Ludwigslust
Small festival in the
large park in Ludwigslust
Federal Horticultural Show 2009:
In
2009 the Federal Horticultural Show took place in Schwerin. The Federal
Horticultural Show featured seven themed gardens, with the palace park
forming the core area. This was renovated and restored between 2006 and
2008 in order to restore the original character of the important baroque
complex.
Gardens and areas of the BUGA are largely preserved and
freely accessible. The former "Gardens of the 21st Century" extend the
gardens around the castle garden as "Floating Meadow".
On or in the immediate vicinity of Marienplatz wikipediacommons are
the shopping centers Marienplatz-Galerie, Schweriner Höfe and the
Schlossparkcenter.
In the streets of the old town there are many
small shops; an insider tip is the Münzstraße, where you will find shops
for fashion, jewelery and gifts.
Middle
1 Café Prag, Schlossstraße 17. Tel.: +49(0)385 56 59 09.
The classic restaurant in Schwerin. Pleasant atmosphere, central
location.
2 Zur Gute Quelle (hotel and restaurant), Schusterstr. 12,
19055 Schwerin. Tel.: +49 (0) 385 565985. Traditional inn in the center
of the old town. Last change: Aug. 2019 (information may be out of date)
3 Ducal Steam Laundry, Großer Moor 56, 19055 Schwerin. Tel.: +49 (0) 385
562956. Restaurant in the immediate vicinity of the castle, theater and
museum. Open: Mon-Sat 11-22:00, Sun 10-22:00. Last modified: Aug. 2019
(information may be outdated)
Upscale
4 asiatown,
Mecklenburgstrasse 32a, 19055 Schwerin. Asian restaurant on the
Mecklenburgstraße pedestrian zone, mainly Vietnamese, Chinese and
Japanese cuisine. Open: Mon-Fri 11am-10pm, Sat 12pm-11pm, Sun 2pm-9pm.
Cheap
1 DJH youth hostel Schwerin, Waldschulweg 3, 19061 Schwerin
(from Schwerin train station 4 km, bus stop 200 m). Phone: +49 (0)385
3260006, fax: +49 (0)385 3260303, e-mail: jh-schwerin@gmx.de. Youth
hostel with 91 beds in 2 to 8 bed rooms. Cyclists have it good here. The
region around the DJH youth hostel is ideal for excursions into the
beautiful landscape around Lake Schwerin. As a bike-friendly guesthouse,
the youth hostel is part of the ADFC's Bed & Bike program. Leisure
activities in / near the youth hostel: seating areas in the garden with
a view of Lake Schwerin, barbecue and campfire area, own nature
conservation station, table tennis, volleyball, climbing park with high
ropes course, low ropes course and climbing tower, bicycle rentals
nearby. Open: all year round 06:00 - 23:00. Price: BB from €22.00.
Middle
2 NH Hotel Schwerin, Zum Schulacker 1, 19061 Schwerin.
Feature: ★★★★.
3 Pension Ikar, Steinstr. 3, 19053 Schwerin. with two
locations in the "Paulsstadt"
4 Pension am Dom, Schusterstr. 12,
19053 Schwerin. Centrally located guesthouse.
5 Intercity Hotel
Schwerin, Grunthalplatz 5-7, 19053 Schwerin. Located directly at the
train station.
Upscale
6 Amedia Plaza Hotel Schwerin (formerly
Crowne Plaza® Schwerin), Bleicherufer 23, 19053 Schwerin.
In Schwerin there are 3 police stations spread over the city area:
Schwerin Police Headquarters, Graf-Yorck-Strasse 6, 19061 Schwerin.
Tel.: +49 (0)385 5180-0, fax: +49 (0)385 5180-2226, e-mail:
phr.schwerin@polmv.de facebooktwitter. The Schwerin Police Station and
the Schwerin Criminal Police Office are also located in the building.
Police station Schwerin - Lankow, Lübecker Straße 283 19059 Schwerin.
Phone: +49 (0)385 588569-14, Fax: +49 (0)385 588569-13. Open: Mon
08:00-12:00; Tue-Fri 10:00-14:00.
Schwerin-Mitte police station,
Schloßstraße 10, 19053 Schwerin. Phone: +49 (0)385 5393-21, Fax: +49
(0)385 5393-26. Open: Mon-Fri 09:00-17:00.
Pharmacies
There are enough pharmacies in the city area, although
the distances outside of the city center can be a bit longer. The
currently open emergency pharmacy can be found here and also displayed
at every pharmacy.
Doctors
Medical care is very good in
Schwerin. Doctors of all disciplines can be found throughout the city.
In Das Örtliche alone there are 48 doctors specializing in general
medicine.
Emergency Practice Schwerin in the Schwerin Hospital,
Wismarsche Str. 393-397 19055 Schwerin - Lewenberg (House F, Level 1 in
the Helios Clinic). Tel.: +49 (0)385 520-21 97 (hotline), +49 (0)385
520-23 02 (delivery room). Open: 24/7.
Hospitals
Helios
Kliniken Schwerin, Wismarsche Str. 393-397, 19055 Schwerin - Lewenberg.
Tel.: +49 (0)385 5200, fax: +49 (0)385 5202008. All disciplines are
represented here. Open: 24/7.
Tourist information Schwerin, Am Markt 14, 19055 Schwerin (old town hall). Phone: +49(0)3855925212, fax: +49(0)3855925253, e-mail: info@schwerin.info
The city was first mentioned as Zuarina by Thietmar von Merseburg
around 1012/18. Helmold von Bosau called it in 1160 Zuerin, Zwerin.
The Pöhlder annals name the place 1160 Zuarin (-ensis) and the
Steterburger 1174 Zvarin. The place was called Swerin since the 15th
century (still common in the Mecklenburg dialect), and since the
16th century it has been called Suerin or officially Schwerin.
Indirect first mention could have been earlier: In a travel
report of the chronicler Ibn Jacub / Ibrahim Ibn Yaqub, envoy of the
Caliph of Cordoba (Spain), a Slavic castle was mentioned around 973,
which could be identical with Schwerin.
The name is said to
be related to the Polish zvěŕ for wild animal or zvěŕin for game
enclosure, zoo or horse stud. Speculations about the origin of the
place name from the Slavic god Svarog (Swarzyn, place of Svarog)
cannot be proven.
Deviating from this, it was derived from
the old Germanic swaran (defend, stem related to swear), which could
only have been reinterpreted later by immigrating Slavs in the sense
of zvěŕ.
The Latin name Suerina or Suerinum was and is used
for Schwerin.
The main statute of the city of Schwerin
determines the designation “state capital” as an addition to the
city name.
The
present urban area was settled early on. During excavations on the
Marienplatz in Schwerin, tools were found dating back to around 1000
to 600 BC. Were dated. A subsequent Germanic settlement is
documented by the discovery of a well from the 1st century AD.
After 700 AD, Slavs settled in what is now Schwerin. The
Jewish-born Spanish-Moorish traveling salesman Ibrāhīm ibn Yaʿqūb
reported in 965 about a castle in a freshwater lake, which
historians suspect on the site of today's Schwerin. Excavation finds
on the castle island at least confirm the existence of a Slavic
rampart during this period. It could be dendrochronologically dated
to 941/942. In 1018 the Christian Abodrite prince Mistislaw saved
himself from an attack by the Lutizen in Schwerin Castle, which he
then had to give up.
In 1160 the Abodrite prince Niklot
burned down the castle on the castle island in order not to let it
fall into the hands of an advancing Saxon army under the leadership
of Henry the Lion. After the victory over Niklot, the Duke of Saxony
had the castle rebuilt as a Saxon outpost in the Abodrite land. 1160
is therefore traditionally seen as the "German" year Schwerin was
founded, although the city charter was probably only granted in
1164. After Niklot's death, Heinrich the Lion made Gunzelin I
governor of the land of the Abodrites, and thus also of Schwerin.
Heinrich later divided the land, gave part back to Pribislaw,
Niklots' son, and founded the other part into the county of Schwerin
with Gunzelin as the first count of Schwerin. In 1167 Schwerin
became the seat of the County of Schwerin. In 1167 the Cistercian
monk Berno moved his bishopric to Schwerin. After the consecration
of the first cathedral donated by Heinrich around 1171, Schwerin
developed into the starting point for the Christianization of what
would later become Mecklenburg. The city had about 500 inhabitants
at the time, one fifth of whom were clergy.
A city council,
consisting of six councilors and the mayor, was first mentioned in
1228. The power disputes between the count and the bishop hampered
the development of the city. Until 1284, the bishop's successors
were able to take possession of the entire shelf (today:
Shelfstadt), but this was not included in the city fortifications,
so that the cathedral chapter could not increase its property. In
1270 the construction of a second cathedral began. The money for
this came from the income of pilgrims who visited a sacred drop of
blood enclosed in jasper, which Count Heinrich von Schwerin had
brought back from a pilgrimage in 1222 and donated to the canons. At
the instigation of the Count's widow, Countess Audacia, a third of
the income from this relic was used to finance the new building of a
Franciscan convent, which was mentioned in a document as early as
1236; This makes it the oldest settlement of a begging order in
Mecklenburg (repealed in 1552). The replacement of the wooden city
fortifications with a massive city wall was completed in 1340. The
town hall was first mentioned in 1351, burned down three times and
rebuilt again and again in the same place. The medieval archway of
the town hall passage has been preserved. The city wall passed its
first practical test when Duke Albrecht II, a descendant of Niklot,
besieged the city for months in 1358.
The first bishop's mill was mentioned in
1178. They were among the oldest mills in Mecklenburg. But after
that there were various other mills on the Aubach that also bore
this name.
In 1284, the Spieltordamm was built, which dammed the
Aubach in the Mühlenteich, today's Pfaffenteich, and was the
prerequisite for the operation of a water-powered Count's inland
mill in Schwerin.
Numerous mills have been documented for
Schwerin since the 12th century. The mill in Mühlenstraße from 1711
was relocated to the Schwerin outskirts of Wismarer Chaussee in 1749
due to the unfavorable wind conditions and demolished in 1893. Until
1866, the so-called Mühlenzwang (also called Mahlzwang) also applied
in Schwerin. This means that the grain producers were not allowed to
have their grain ground where they wanted, but had to have it
processed into flour in their respective grinding district. When the
old compulsory meal rights ceased to exist in 1867 with the adoption
of the trade regulations of the North German Confederation of
1868/69 and the millers lost their compulsory meal monopoly in their
district, the number of mills in the city grew by leaps and bounds
in the second half of the 19th century and because the introduction
of the freedom of trade also favored this process, the great age of
windmill construction began in Schwerin. Between 1890 and 1895 there
was a water mill, five wind and three steam mills in Schwerin. Then
the decline began; some mills had to be demolished due to
dilapidation, others burned down. Towards the end of the First World
War, only the Bischofsmühle still existed as a water mill.
In
the Duchy of Mecklenburg until the 18th century
After the
Gunzelin family died out, the county of Schwerin passed to the Duchy
of Mecklenburg in 1358. Albrecht II acquired the city for 20,000
silver marks (which he did not pay in full) and made it his
residence and thus the cultural and political center of Mecklenburg.
Schwerin also became a state town in Mecklenburg and was represented
on state parliaments as part of the towns of the Mecklenburg
District until 1918.
From an economic point of view, the
cities of Rostock and Wismar, which are more conveniently located in
terms of transport, developed better. Under Duke Heinrich IV, border
disputes, robbery and murder were the order of the day, and the
coffers were empty. The plague was also rampant.
It was not
until Magnus II. From 1478 that the tide was turned by reorganizing
the administration, particularly the financial administration. He
had plans to connect the Elbe, Elde, Schweriner See and Wismar by
canals. Under him the oldest surviving building in the city was
erected, the Great New House. A princely school was opened in 1553
opposite the castle, to which the Fridericianum Schwerin is
attributed. In 1561, a government library was established under
Tilemann Stella. The fires of 1531 and 1558 destroyed large parts of
the city. Due to an order from the building authorities, stone
houses had to be built to reduce the risk of fire. But another fire
in 1651 again reduced large parts of Schwerin to rubble and ashes.
The reconstruction of the town hall was completed in 1654. In the
Thirty Years' War the city suffered relatively fewer losses than the
duchy.
Between 1560 and 1700, around 4,000
people were charged with witchcraft in Protestant Mecklenburg, a
core zone of witch hunts, of which around half were executed. In
Schwerin too, witch trials took place again and again during this
time, whereby the intensity of the persecution increased
significantly again after the Thirty Years' War. The interrogations
took place in the town hall on the market, in the castle and in the
executioner's house in Burgstrasse. From 1564 to 1770 there are
reports of 103 witch trials, 45 of which were probably executed. One
woman died under torture. Seven expulsions from the country were
possibly issued and two defendants managed to escape.
Between
1665 and 1669 alone, 19 alleged witches were arrested in the city.
Almost all of them were executed and burned after brief but
extremely brutal interrogations and forced confessions. Since the
tormented women gave the court the names of other witches, chain
trials developed. In 1604 several women from Schwerin were accused
of being witches and accused of having caused the death of the young
Duke Johann VII through witchcraft in 1592, including Catharina
Wankelmod (Katharina Wankelmut), who was later burned at the stake,
and Margarethe Schultze, who after a The five-year trial was
acquitted in 1609. Children were also among the victims in Schwerin.
In 1642, eight-year-old Hans Donken (Hans Douke) was flogged for
sorcery. Asmut Veith was even beheaded at the age of fourteen.
A relief plaque by the sculptor Anni Jung on the ceramic column set up on the Great Moor has been a reminder of this dark side of the city's history since 1986. On April 18, 2016, the city council decided to rehabilitate the victims of witch persecution in Schwerin and to install a memorial plaque near the town hall.
According to a ducal order of 1705, today's Schelfstadt
was expanded. In 1717 the few Jews who were allowed to reside again
after 1679 set up a cemetery there. In 1740 the town hall of
Schwerin Neustadt was initially built as a residential building and
in 1776 it was converted into the administrative center. The attempt
to establish commercial and commercial enterprises and to revitalize
the city failed because of the backward economy due to the
predominance of the nobility and knighthood.
In 1752 200
lanterns were already lighting the streets of Schwerin. The
development of the suburb continued. Duke Friedrich moved the
residence from Schwerin to Ludwigslust from 1756 to 1765, which
remained there until 1837. In 1759 Prussian troops occupied the
country and also besieged Schwerin. In 1764 there were 3,288
inhabitants in the old and suburbs of Schwerin. In 1773 the
synagogue was inaugurated, in the vicinity of which houses for the
regional rabbi and the cantor were built.
Between 1783 and
1785, the new building was built as a market hall on the market
according to plans by Johann Joachim Busch. It replaced open market
stalls with poor hygienic conditions in the open space between four
old, irregular properties. During his visits to Schwerin, Duke
Friedrich found the stench of the market and the screeching of the
market women repugnant.
From September 1813 the Dreesch was used by the Russian-German
Legion as a training ground for the liberation struggle against
Napoleon.
The cityscape was changed in the 19th century by
extensive construction work. Schwerin lost its medieval character
and expanded further. City fortifications that were no longer needed
disappeared, stone and half-timbered buildings gradually replaced
wooden huts. Building on the Great Moor turned out to be a difficult
undertaking in the swampy subsoil. At Marienplatz and in Rostocker
Straße (today: Goethestraße) new buildings were built, from 1824 to
1834 Friedrich Franz I built a new seat of government in
Schloßstraße (Schwerin) and other buildings. By 1836 the town hall
was transformed into a representative building by the court building
officer Georg Adolf Demmler, the theater at the Alter Garten and the
Marstall on the Marstall peninsula were built. In the north of
Schwerin, Northern Germany's first scientifically managed insane
sanctuary and care institution was established on Sachsenberg.
After the ducal residence was relocated from Ludwigslust to
Schwerin under Grand Duke Paul Friedrich in 1837, it was decided to
completely rebuild the Schwerin Palace due to the poor structural
condition. Demmler's designs, in which he was based on French
Renaissance castles, met with approval from the sovereign, who died
in 1842, whereupon the new Grand Duke Friedrich Franz II stopped the
new building. The old palace was completely renovated from 1845 to
1857 and partially rebuilt, from 1851 under the direction of the
Berlin architect Friedrich August Stüler and with the participation
of Hermann Willebrand after Demmler came into conflict with the
court officials.
The arsenal at Pfaffenteich was built
between 1840 and 1844 according to a design by Demmler under the
supervision of Hermann Willebrand and Gottlieb Ruge on the southwest
bank of the Schwerin Pfaffenteich. It was first used as an armory
and after the First World War as a police barracks. In 1842 the
Paulsdamm was built through Lake Schwerin. The Jewish community grew
to 300 members who renovated the synagogue from scratch in 1825 and
expanded it several times.
In 1847 the city was connected by
a rail link to Hagenow on the Berlin – Hamburg line that ran far
south of the city. In 1852 the first steamship sailed from
Zippendorf to the Rabbit Werder island.
In April 1882, the theater originally built by Demmler burned
down during a performance. The new house was designed by court
architect Georg Daniel and completed between 1883 and 1886. On the
day of the opening on October 3, 1886, the new building was one of
the most progressive theater buildings in the world at the time.
Between 1889 and 1890, the station building was built in the
Wilhelminian style in place of several previous buildings, which has
remained largely unchanged except for renovations in the 1920s . In
1904 the power station was built on the north bank of the
Pfaffenteich. An electric tram started running in 1908.
The
first German sightseeing flight in 1911, during which the royal seat
was a stage, gave the impetus to build the Schwerin-Görries
airfield. In November 1912 the "Mecklenburgische
Flugplatz-Gesellschaft Görries-Schwerin mbH" was founded. By Easter
1913, the airfield company had the selected tournament field in
Görries leveled and fenced and the Berlin architect Richard Thiede
built a grandstand, a restaurant and an aircraft hangar. The
aircraft manufacturer Anton Herman Gerard Fokker relocated his
company Fokker Aeroplanbau from Berlin-Johannisthal to Schwerin in
1913 and built his workshops, among other things. in
Bornhövedstrasse. The Fokker Dr.I was also built there. As a result
of the Versailles Treaty, aircraft production had to be stopped in
1919.
Also in 1913, a fire destroyed the Golden Hall of
Schwerin Palace.
As a result of the First World War, there
were social and political tensions. Hunger and hardship drove young
people and women to break into slaughterhouses and bakeries to get
food. In 1918 many workers went on strike. In 1918 Grand Duke
Friedrich Franz IV abdicated and the social democracy was able to
establish itself more strongly in the capital of the new Free State
of Mecklenburg-Schwerin.
As a result of the provisions of the
Versailles Treaty, the aircraft manufacturer Fokker left its
headquarters in Schwerin in 1919.
From 1919 to 1933, the
State Theater served as the first democratic parliament and state
parliament of the Free State of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. In 1920 15
workers were killed near the arsenal in bloody clashes with Kapp
putschists.
In 1932 the NSDAP achieved a narrow absolute majority in the state elections in Mecklenburg-Schwerin and from then on provided the state government. In 1933 SPD and KPD functionaries were persecuted and arrested, and the mayor and the heads of public institutions were dismissed. Friedrich Hildebrandt was appointed Reich Governor of Mecklenburg. In the same year there were book burnings in the city. In 1934 Schwerin became the capital of Gaus Mecklenburg, which had emerged from the merger of the Free States of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Mecklenburg-Strelitz. In 1934 the youth were consecrated in the arsenal, 6000 young people marched on the market and on the first State Youth Day there was a demonstration of 1600 members of the youth. In 1935 a Gauführerschule was built in today's Schloßgartenallee, in the north of the city area a new festival hall was completed in 1934, which could hold several thousand people (used by various companies after 1945 and until today by a mechanical engineering company). In 1935 Schwerin became the seat of the newly created district of Schwerin. A huge grove of honor was built to honor the heroes of the National Socialist Wilhelm Gustloff, who was born in Schwerin and shot in Switzerland in 1936. The rulers carried out further new construction and renovation measures in the city with the aim of adapting the cityscape to the ideals of a district capital at the time and turning Schwerin into a logistical and transport center. The city was to be defined by monumental buildings, a popular festival site for around 20,000 people was to be built on Lambrechtsgrund, barracks, apartments, infrastructure and the Schwerin-Görries airfield were to be expanded. Plans envisaged a 30-meter-wide aisle in the area of today's Wismarschen Strasse to the city center for marches and parades. However, many of the plans were abandoned at the start of the war due to a lack of funds. However, the number of new apartments built was above the average of previous years. In Lankow and Neumühle, the construction of homes typical of that time began.
The Jewish community in Schwerin still had 49 members in April
1938. During the Reichspogromnacht from November 9th to 10th, 1938,
Jewish shops and the synagogue on the Schlachtermarkt were destroyed
by the National Socialists. The reactions of the people of Schwerin
to the National Socialist ideology and dictatorship ranged from
enthusiasm to tacit reluctance. As everywhere, there was hardly any
open resistance. In July and November 1942, and most recently in
November 1944, Jews were deported from Schwerin.
In the
former sanatorium and nursing home (today's
Carl-Friedrich-Flemming-Klinik) in Schwerin, over 1000 children and
adult patients were victims of "euthanasia".
At the beginning
of the Second World War, in October 1939, the main camp II E was
established, from which prisoners of war from several countries were
used in the armaments industry and in agriculture and forestry. The
prisoners were housed in several barracks, the largest in Stern
Buchholz. The Soviet prisoners in particular suffered from
malnutrition and were used for dangerous work on the Görries
airfield and on the Wehrmacht area in Stern Buchholz. You had to z.
Some work under inhuman conditions, which resulted in numerous
deaths.
During the war Schwerin experienced four bomb
attacks; the first British aircraft destroyed houses in and around
Severinstrasse on the night of July 20-21, 1940, killing six people.
The target of an American bomber association was the airfield in
Görries on August 4th and 25th, causing damage to 81 houses in the
neighboring village center. The last and heaviest attack by several
squadrons of American bombers on April 7, 1945 particularly hit
Wilhelminian-style apartment buildings in Feldstadt. 217 people
died, according to another source more than 250 people; 40 houses
and the slaughterhouse were completely destroyed and 29 partially
destroyed. A school and the cemetery were also hit. Among other
things, the local transport depot in Wallstrasse and the cars parked
there were hit, which led to the temporary suspension of passenger
transport. In contrast to other larger cities in Northern Germany,
Schwerin emerged from the war relatively lightly, also because there
was hardly any war-related industry located there. Overall, Schwerin
was destroyed to 3%.
A death march by inmates of the
Sachsenhausen concentration camp ended near Schwerin, around 18,000
prisoners survived. American troops occupied the city on May 2, 1945
without a fight and surrendered the occupying power to the British
for a month on June 1. The Stör Canal in the southeast (Mueß
district) and the eastern shore of Lake Schwerin acted as a
demarcation line between the Allies for a few weeks. According to
the agreements of the allies Great Britain, the Soviet Union and the
USA of September 12 and November 14, 1944, respectively, on the
division of Germany, the city was then handed over to the Red Army.
After the Second World
War, the city became the seat of government for the state of
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, which was renamed Mecklenburg in 1947
on Soviet orders. From 1945 to 1949 Schwerin was under the military
administration of the Soviet power. The Schwerin Border Treaty was
concluded here on September 21, 1945. The number of inhabitants rose
from about 64,000 to 88,200 between 1939 and 1946 because of the
reception of refugees, which led to a shortage of housing. The
situation worsened when the Russian military had the
Schlossgartenviertel between Cecilienallee and Faulem See evacuated
on July 12, 1945; additional living space was occupied by state
authorities. Makeshift shelters in barracks, basement apartments and
living quarters were part of the cityscape. After residents fled to
West Germany, the situation eased somewhat after 1948, but the
creation of new living space was still one of the most urgent tasks.
In 1949, construction of new apartments began with the construction
of three apartment blocks on the Schwälkenberg. The municipal
housing company was initially the main sponsor of housing
construction after 1950.
The office of the Soviet secret
police NKVD was located on Demmlerplatz. Numerous, often innocent,
people from all over Mecklenburg were imprisoned there and
arbitrarily sentenced to severe sentences by Soviet military
tribunals. In 1954, the Stasi district office took over the complex
and continued to use it as a place of detention.
Opposition
to the SED rule and dictatorship in the GDR emerged early on. Four
students from the Goethe High School were expelled from the school
as members of the Young Community in 1953, against which there was
widespread protest. On June 17, 1953, there were protest meetings of
workers in the Bau-Union, the Abus works and the cigarette factory,
but strikes were not enforced.
With the administrative reform of 1952, the states were dissolved
and replaced by districts. Schwerin, with 96,625 inhabitants at the
time, became the capital of the Schwerin district and the seat of
the district administration of the Schwerin-Land district. The city
itself did not belong to this district, but formed its own urban
district. The former Görries military airfield became an industrial
site between 1954 and 1970. The VEB brewery Schwerin set up a
company holiday camp in the Forsthof.
The Schwerin housing
cooperative was founded in 1957. From 1955 to 1974 the Weststadt was
expanded as a prefabricated housing estate, and from 1962 to 1972
prefabricated buildings were erected in Lankow. The settlement of
industry in Schwerin-Süd from 1972 onwards led to a need for workers
and thus to an increase in the number of inhabitants. In 1971
construction began on the Großer Dreesch in the south of the city,
which later became the most populous district of Schwerin.
The building stock of the old town, however, visibly deteriorated.
Since 1978, new residential buildings have been built on the Great
Moor in the city center, after old, neglected buildings there were
demolished and piled up on the Burgsee. The design of the inner-city
prefabricated buildings was loosened up by retaining the historical
street layouts, partially clinker facing the facades and the
beveling of the roofs.
At the end of the 1960s, the plan was
to demolish all of Schwerin's inner city, except for a few
particularly historically significant buildings, and to replace them
with prefabricated buildings. However, these plans failed due to a
lack of money. With the exception of a few reconstructions, concepts
and plans for redesigning the historic districts were not
implemented due to high development costs. The goal set in the 1980s
to bring every apartment into a warm, dry and structurally safe
condition by 1990 was unattainable given that 17,000 of the 44,000
residential units were in urgent need of repair. A citizens'
initiative, architects, preservationists and photographers as well
as the fact that at the end of the 1980s there was no money for a
large-scale demolition saved the architecturally valuable
Schelfstadt. It wasn't until the 1980s that some half-timbered
buildings were also renovated.
In publicly accessible
facilities, the stadium on Lambrechtsgrund was built in 1953–1956
and the pet park in Zippendorf (from 1974 zoological garden),
1959–1962 the sports and congress hall, until 1964 the television
tower with tower café and in 1970 the district museum and the
open-air museum Schwerin-Mueß .
In November 1979, one of the
first movements of the opposition environmental movement was in
Schwerin. initiated by Jörn Mothes the tree planting movement in the
GDR.
In 1986 a passenger plane crashed on the way from Minsk
shortly before landing in Berlin-Schönefeld. 72 people died,
including 20 schoolchildren from a 10th grade at the Ernst Schneller
School in Schwerin.
On October 23, 1989 the first Monday
demonstration took place in Schwerin, for which 50,000 people
gathered at the cathedral and in the old garden. In advance, the SED
district leadership had organized a counter-demonstration in the Old
Garden, which ended in a fiasco. Many comrades joined the New Forum
demonstration. Six fighters from combat group unit 410 of the
railway refused to work against the demonstration of the New Forum
at 2:30 p.m. The mood of the Schwerin population was opposed to the
SED dictatorship. A march with thousands of candles in their hands
and the united shout "No violence" set 40,000 to 50,000 peaceful
citizens in motion at 5:00 pm. They marched from the Old Garden
through Werderstrasse, across the Schelfmarkt, then around the
Pfaffenteich. Hundreds of lit candles were placed in front of the
arsenal. A glass memorial plaque on the arsenal still bears witness
to the Schwerin’s first major protest march.
After reunification, Schwerin became the state capital of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania on October 27, 1990. The decision was preceded by a competition with the Hanseatic city of Rostock, in which Schwerin made the race. The criteria were the historical role of Schwerin as the seat of the dukes and the state parliament from 1948 to 1952 and existing buildings that could be used for offices, ministries and the government. In addition, Rostock saw the potential to become a science and business center even without the status of a state capital. Private individuals also campaigned for Schwerin as the capital, the flower woman Bertha Klingberg collected 17,000 signatures for it.
In 1993 the last Russian occupation troops left the city. During
a district reform in 1994, Schwerin remained independent and the
Schwerin-Land district was dissolved. Even during the district
reform of 2011, Schwerin retained its status as a district-free city
after plans that would have led to the integration of Schwerin in a
district of West Mecklenburg failed as a result of a ruling by the
state constitutional court.
From 1991 the castle and the
historical areas of the old town, Schelfstadt and Feldstadt were
thoroughly renovated as part of the urban development funding. From
the end of the 1990s the Werdervorstadt and since 2004 the
Paulsstadt were also designated as redevelopment areas. The
improvements to the residential environment in the large
prefabricated building areas of Großer Dreesch, Neu Zippendorf and
Mueßer Holz began in 1993. In 1994, the Friedrichsthal district saw
the development of the first new residential area that was intended
to slow down the movement of residents into the surrounding area.
Schwerin received the gold plaque in the nationwide competition for
the preservation of historical urban space in the new federal states
from 1992 to 1994.
In addition to trade, it was above all
culture that developed. The Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Film
Festival has been organized since 1991; In 1993 the new open-air
theater was inaugurated.
The € 2 commemorative coin with the
Schwerin Castle motif was issued in 2007 on the occasion of the
Federal Council Presidency of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. In
2009, Schwerin hosted the Federal Garden Show, which attracted 1.86
million visitors. The extensive preparatory work, for example in the
palace garden and at the castle lake, began in 2006.
Schwerin was a garrison town for various units of the
Mecklenburg military: Grand Ducal Mecklenburg Grenadier Regiment No.
89, Grand Ducal Mecklenburg Field Artillery Regiment No. 60 and
Grand Ducal Mecklenburg Jäger Battalion No. 14 (with the
restructuring of the army in the North German Confederation in 1867
and the German Empire the troops became part of the Prussian army),
later the Reichswehr, the Wehrmacht, the NVA as well as the Soviet /
Russian troops and finally the Bundeswehr. The new and old artillery
barracks on Ostorfer Berg, Johannes-Stelling-Straße, today the
Schwerin tax office and the Werder barracks (today the
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania regional command of the Bundeswehr)
date from the time of the monarchy. During the time of National
Socialism, new barracks were built during the armament of the
Wehrmacht on Johannes-Stelling-Straße (Fritsch barracks - south of
the old artillery barracks), on Ziegelsee- / Möwenburgstraße (north
of Werder barracks), and an air base in Görries Luftwaffe, as well
as three areas in the south of the city on Ludwigsluster Chaussee
(today New Garden City - just south of the Großer Dreesch - between
Großem Dreesch and Stern Buchholz). In addition, an area in Stern
Buchholz, until 2007 Blücher barracks with the armored battalion 403
of the Bundeswehr.
The Werder barracks (Kurt Bürger barracks,
command of the 8th motorized rifle division), the old artillery
barracks and the area in Stern Buchholz were used by the armed
forces of the GDR. All remaining areas were occupied by the Soviet /
Russian troops (94th Guards Mot. Rifle Division), which withdrew by
April 1993.
Schwerin originally only consisted of the old town. From 1282, some surrounding villages were added (such as Zippendorf, Göhren or Ostorf), which later became independent communities again. From 1705, a decree of the Duke of Mecklenburg resulted in the expansion of the so-called shelves, which developed into a separate town (Neustadt) with the St. Nicholas Church, the Schelfkirche, and the Schelfmarkt. In 1832 it was united with the old town of Schwerin. The city continued to expand in the 19th century. From around 1840 the Paulsstadt was built to the west and in the second half of the 19th century the Feldstadt to the south. After that, with the increasing population, the urban territory began to grow, in addition to incorporations, also a transfer of formerly grand ducal areas into the administrative sovereignty of the city.
Schwerin is located in the west of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania
on the southwestern shore of Lake Schwerin in a wooded lake
landscape. Other lakes in the city area are the Burgsee, the Faule
See, the Grimkesee, the Heidensee, the Große Karausche, the Lankower
See, the Medeweger See, the Neumühler See, the Ostorfer See, the
Pfaffenteich and the Ziegelsee. Running waters are the Aubach, whose
water feeds Lake Schwerin through the connection of several lakes,
and the Stör, the natural outflow of the fourth largest German lake
that has been developed into a waterway.
The residents like
to refer to Schwerin as the “city of seven lakes and forests”. This
name goes back to a time when Schwerin did not yet have its current
geographical extent and was actually surrounded by only seven lakes.
The extensive forests gradually had to give way to urban
development; numerous remains of the forest have been preserved,
especially on the banks of the lakes. Of the 130.46 km² city area,
28.9 percent is covered with water and 18.5 percent with forest. The
height of the city above sea level is 38 meters on the shores of
Lake Schwerin and 86.1 meters on the vineyard in the Neumühle
district.
The next larger cities are Lübeck approx. 54
kilometers northwest, the Rostock regiopolis approx 69 kilometers
northeast and Hamburg approx 94 kilometers west. In terms of spatial
planning, the Schwerin regional center belongs to the West
Mecklenburg region (with Wismar as an important center on the Baltic
coast); it became part of the Hamburg metropolitan region in 2016.
The city of Schwerin borders on the
following municipalities (clockwise, starting in the northeast on
the east bank of Lake Schwerin):
in the district of
Ludwigslust-Parchim: Leezen, Raben Steinfeld and Plate (Amt
Crivitz), Lübesse (Amt Ludwigslust-Land), Holthusen, Pampow, Klein
Rogahn and Wittenförden (all Amt Stralendorf)
in the district of
Northwest Mecklenburg: Brüsewitz, Pingelshagen, Klein Trebbow,
Seehof and Lübstorf (Amt Lützow-Lübstorf)
According to Section 11 (2) of the main statute, the city of
Schwerin is currently divided into 17 districts, each with a local
advisory council. The districts consist of one or more districts.
The local advisory councils have between 5 and 15 members, depending
on the number of inhabitants. They are determined by the city
council after each local election for the duration of the city
council's electoral period. The local councils are to be heard on
important matters relating to the district and have a right of
initiative. The final decisions, however, are made by the city
council.
The 17 current districts with their associated
districts:
District 1: Schelfstadt, Werdervorstadt, Schelfwerder
District 2: Old Town, Feldstadt, Paulsstadt, Lewenberg
District
3: Großer Dreesch (formerly Dreesch I)
District 4: Neu Zippendorf
(formerly Dreesch II)
District 5: Mueßer Holz (formerly Dreesch
III)
District 6: Gartenstadt, Ostorf (formerly Haselholz, Ostorf)
District 7: Lankow
District 8: Weststadt
District 9:
Krebsförden
District 10: Wüstmark, Göhrener Tannen
District
11: Görries
District 12: Friedrichsthal
District 13: Neumühle,
Sacktannen
District 14: Warnitz
District 15: Wickendorf,
Medewege
District 16: Zippendorf
District 17: Mueß
To the
south of the Neumühle district is an approximately 12 hectare
enclave that belongs to the Klein Rogahn community.
Schwerin is located north of an ice edge from the Vistula Ice
Age. The relief was shaped by different phases and seasons of the
Brandenburg stage of the Vistula glaciation. There are hilly
basement and terminal moraine courses in the western part and a sand
area in the south and east of the city. The heights of the terminal
moraine in the west reach 86.1 m above sea level at Neumühle.
Some of the lakes, such as the Lankower and Neumühler See, were
created after the ice had receded from former meltwater channels
that were permanently filled with water.
The Schweriner See
lies in a pre-Pleistocene depression that extends from Wismar to
Lewitz. The body of water was shaped as a tongue basin during the
Frankfurt phase of the Vistula Ice Age. The glacier gate with
meltwater runoff towards the Elbe glacial valley existed in the Mueß
area. Later glacial phases left moraine material in the lake, such
as at the level of the Paulsdamm, which separates the inner and
outer lake, as well as to the lakes that are adjacent today, such as
the Ziegelsee.
Schwerin has a moderate climate. The mean annual temperature from 1961 to 1990 was 8.4 ° C. The difference between the mean temperature of the warmest and coldest month was 17.2 degrees. An average of 621 millimeters of precipitation fell per year and square meter. Compared to north-west Germany, spring is cooler due to harsh north-east winds. The summer heat is softened by the proximity to the Baltic Sea, this body of water has a warming effect in autumn.