Anklam
Encyclopedia
Anklam (ˈaŋklam) is a town in the Western Pomerania region of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany
. It is situated on the banks of the Peene
river, just 8 km from its mouth in the Kleines Haff, the western part of the Stettin Lagoon. Anklam has a population of 14,603 (2005) and was the capital of the former Ostvorpommern
district. Since September 2011, it is part of the district Vorpommern-Greifswald
.
, there was an important Scandinavia
n and Wendish
settlement near the present town, now known as Altes Lager Menzlin
.
Anklam was founded on the site of an abandoned Wendish fortress during the medieval German Ostsiedlung
. First named after the founder Tanglim, it obtained German town law
in 1244. In 1283, it became a member of the Hanseatic League
. Though the town was small and non-influential compared to other Hanseatic cities, membership brought wealth and prosperity to Anklam.
The decline of Anklam began with the Thirty Years' War
, when Swedish
and Imperial
troops battled almost twenty years for Anklam. Anklam was occupied by imperial forces
from 1627 to 1630, and thereafter by Swedish forces
. After the war, Anklam became part of Swedish Pomerania
in 1648. In 1676 was captured by Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg
, and in 1713 was plundered by soldiers of the Russian Empire
.
The southern parts of the town were ceded to the Kingdom of Prussia
by the peace of Stockholm
in 1720, while the smaller section north of the Peene River remained Swedish. Anklam was thus a divided town until 1815, when all of Western Pomerania became Prussian in the Province of Pomerania.
Anklam was nearly completely destroyed by several bombing raids of the U.S. Airforce in 1943 and 1944 and in the last days of World War II
, when the advancing Soviets
burned and leveled most of the town. After Prussia and its Pomeranian province were dissolved and most of Pomerania was allocated to Poland
under the terms of the Potsdam Conference
, Anklam became part of the East German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. That was soon to be dissolved, too, and Anklam was within the district of Neubrandenburg
. The town was rebuilt in the rather uniform socialist style.
After the 1990 reunification of Germany, Anklam became part of the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, re-created at that time.
, Seven Years' War
and the Second World War. This, together with the repeated incidents of fire and the plague, has made its history often tragic. The fortifications of Anklam were dismantled in 1762, although the old walls are still standing. Anklam has some significant buildings remaining. The church of St Mary, founded in the 13th century and with its present form by the 15th century, was damaged but not destroyed in the war and repaired by 1947.
is navigable up to the town, and some shipbuilding is carried on at wharves on the river. Anklam has a station on the Berlin
-Stralsund
railway line, and is connected with the Autobahn 20 coastal highway.
Limbaži
, Latvia
Heide
, Germany
Ustka
, Poland
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. It is situated on the banks of the Peene
Peene
The Peene is a river in Germany. The Westpeene, Kleine Peene and Ostpeene flow into the Kummerower See, and from there as Peene proper to Anklam and into the Oder Lagoon....
river, just 8 km from its mouth in the Kleines Haff, the western part of the Stettin Lagoon. Anklam has a population of 14,603 (2005) and was the capital of the former Ostvorpommern
Ostvorpommern
Ostvorpommern was a Kreis in the eastern part of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. The district was created on June 12, 1994 by merging the former districts of Anklam, Greifswald and Wolgast. It was merged into Vorpommern-Greifswald on 4 September 2011.Neighboring districts were Uecker-Randow,...
district. Since September 2011, it is part of the district Vorpommern-Greifswald
Vorpommern-Greifswald
Vorpommern-Greifswald is a district in the east of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is bounded by the districts Mecklenburgische Seenplatte, Vorpommern-Rügen, the Baltic Sea, Poland and the state Brandenburg...
.
History
In the Early Middle AgesEarly Middle Ages
The Early Middle Ages was the period of European history lasting from the 5th century to approximately 1000. The Early Middle Ages followed the decline of the Western Roman Empire and preceded the High Middle Ages...
, there was an important Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
n and Wendish
Wends
Wends is a historic name for West Slavs living near Germanic settlement areas. It does not refer to a homogeneous people, but to various peoples, tribes or groups depending on where and when it is used...
settlement near the present town, now known as Altes Lager Menzlin
Altes Lager Menzlin
Altes Lager is a site 1,5 km south of the Menzlin village near Anklam, Western Pomerania, Germany. The site at the banks of the river Peene was an important Viking trade post during the Middle Ages...
.
Anklam was founded on the site of an abandoned Wendish fortress during the medieval German Ostsiedlung
Ostsiedlung
Ostsiedlung , also called German eastward expansion, was the medieval eastward migration and settlement of Germans from modern day western and central Germany into less-populated regions and countries of eastern Central Europe and Eastern Europe. The affected area roughly stretched from Slovenia...
. First named after the founder Tanglim, it obtained German town law
German town law
German town law or German municipal concerns concerns town privileges used by many cities, towns, and villages throughout Central and Eastern Europe during the Middle Ages.- Town law in Germany :...
in 1244. In 1283, it became a member of the Hanseatic League
Hanseatic League
The Hanseatic League was an economic alliance of trading cities and their merchant guilds that dominated trade along the coast of Northern Europe...
. Though the town was small and non-influential compared to other Hanseatic cities, membership brought wealth and prosperity to Anklam.
The decline of Anklam began with the Thirty Years' War
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....
, when Swedish
Swedish Empire
The Swedish Empire refers to the Kingdom of Sweden between 1561 and 1721 . During this time, Sweden was one of the great European powers. In Swedish, the period is called Stormaktstiden, literally meaning "the Great Power Era"...
and Imperial
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
troops battled almost twenty years for Anklam. Anklam was occupied by imperial forces
Capitulation of Franzburg
The Capitulation of Franzburg was a treaty providing for the capitulation of the Duchy of Pomerania to the forces of the Holy Roman Empire during the Thirty Years' War...
from 1627 to 1630, and thereafter by Swedish forces
Treaty of Stettin (1630)
The Treaty of Stettin or Alliance of Stettin was the legal framework for the occupation of the Duchy of Pomerania by the Swedish Empire during the Thirty Years' War...
. After the war, Anklam became part of Swedish Pomerania
Swedish Pomerania
Swedish Pomerania was a Dominion under the Swedish Crown from 1630 to 1815, situated on what is now the Baltic coast of Germany and Poland. Following the Polish War and the Thirty Years' War, Sweden held extensive control over the lands on the southern Baltic coast, including Pomerania and parts...
in 1648. In 1676 was captured by Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg
Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg
|align=right|Frederick William was Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia – and thus ruler of Brandenburg-Prussia – from 1640 until his death. A member of the House of Hohenzollern, he is popularly known as the "Great Elector" because of his military and political prowess...
, and in 1713 was plundered by soldiers of the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
.
The southern parts of the town were ceded to the Kingdom of Prussia
Kingdom of Prussia
The Kingdom of Prussia was a German kingdom from 1701 to 1918. Until the defeat of Germany in World War I, it comprised almost two-thirds of the area of the German Empire...
by the peace of Stockholm
Treaty of Stockholm (Great Northern War)
With the death of Charles XII of Sweden in 1718 it was obvious that the Great Northern War was coming to a close. His successor Frederick I began negotiating the Treaty of Stockholm, which refers to the two treaties signed in 1719 and 1720 that ended the war between Sweden on one side and Hanover...
in 1720, while the smaller section north of the Peene River remained Swedish. Anklam was thus a divided town until 1815, when all of Western Pomerania became Prussian in the Province of Pomerania.
Anklam was nearly completely destroyed by several bombing raids of the U.S. Airforce in 1943 and 1944 and in the last days of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, when the advancing Soviets
Battle of Berlin
The Battle of Berlin, designated the Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation by the Soviet Union, was the final major offensive of the European Theatre of World War II....
burned and leveled most of the town. After Prussia and its Pomeranian province were dissolved and most of Pomerania was allocated to Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
under the terms of the Potsdam Conference
Potsdam Conference
The Potsdam Conference was held at Cecilienhof, the home of Crown Prince Wilhelm Hohenzollern, in Potsdam, occupied Germany, from 16 July to 2 August 1945. Participants were the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States...
, Anklam became part of the East German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. That was soon to be dissolved, too, and Anklam was within the district of Neubrandenburg
Neubrandenburg
Neubrandenburg is a city in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is located in the southeastern part of the state, on the shore of a lake called the Tollensesee ....
. The town was rebuilt in the rather uniform socialist style.
After the 1990 reunification of Germany, Anklam became part of the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, re-created at that time.
Sights
Formerly, Anklam was a town of considerable military importance and suffered severely during the Thirty Years' WarThirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....
, Seven Years' War
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War was a global military war between 1756 and 1763, involving most of the great powers of the time and affecting Europe, North America, Central America, the West African coast, India, and the Philippines...
and the Second World War. This, together with the repeated incidents of fire and the plague, has made its history often tragic. The fortifications of Anklam were dismantled in 1762, although the old walls are still standing. Anklam has some significant buildings remaining. The church of St Mary, founded in the 13th century and with its present form by the 15th century, was damaged but not destroyed in the war and repaired by 1947.
Economy and infrastructure
Anklam's industries consists of iron foundries and factories for sugar and soap. There is also a military school. The PeenePeene
The Peene is a river in Germany. The Westpeene, Kleine Peene and Ostpeene flow into the Kummerower See, and from there as Peene proper to Anklam and into the Oder Lagoon....
is navigable up to the town, and some shipbuilding is carried on at wharves on the river. Anklam has a station on the Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
-Stralsund
Stralsund
- Main sights :* The Brick Gothic historic centre is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.* The heart of the old town is the Old Market Square , with the Gothic Town Hall . Behind the town hall stands the imposing Nikolaikirche , built in 1270-1360...
railway line, and is connected with the Autobahn 20 coastal highway.
Transport
Anklam is connected with the Autobahn 20 coastal highway.- Anklam railway stationAnklam railway stationAnklam is a railway station in the town of Anklam, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. The station lies on the Angermünde–Stralsund railway and the train services are operated by Deutsche Bahn.-Train services:The station is served by the following services:...
is served by national and local services to AngermündeAngermündeAngermünde is a town in the district of Uckermark in the state of Brandenburg, Germany. It is located on the Mündesee, 43 miles northeast of Berlin on the Berlin–Szczecin railway...
, BerlinBerlinBerlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, DresdenDresdenDresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
, EberswaldeEberswaldeEberswalde is a major town and the administrative seat of the district Barnim in the German Federal State of Brandenburg, about 50 km northeast of Berlin. Population 42144 , geographical location . The town is often called Waldstadt , because of the large forests around it, including the...
, FrankfurtFrankfurtFrankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
, MünichMunichMunich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
, PraguePraguePrague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
and StralsundStralsund- Main sights :* The Brick Gothic historic centre is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.* The heart of the old town is the Old Market Square , with the Gothic Town Hall . Behind the town hall stands the imposing Nikolaikirche , built in 1270-1360...
.
Sons and daughters of Anklam
- Christian Andreas Cothenius, prominent physician
- Heinrich Hannover, German jurist and author
- Ulrich von HassellUlrich von HassellUlrich von Hassell was a German diplomat during World War II. A member of the German Resistance against German dictator Adolf Hitler, Hassell was executed in the aftermath of the failed July 20 plot.- Family :...
, German diplomat and anti-Nazi resistance fighter - Ludwig von HenkLudwig von HenkLudwig von Henk was a German naval officer, who distinguished himself in the Prussian Navy and later in the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire. He retired as a Vice-Admiral....
, German vice-admiral - Gustav LilienthalGustav LilienthalGustav Lilienthal was a German social reformer, a pioneer in building and construction technology , inventor of different Construction sets and involved in the pioneering work of his brother, Otto Lilienthal in aviation.-External links:* on the website of Otto-Lilienthal-Museum...
, German master builder and social reformer - Otto LilienthalOtto LilienthalOtto Lilienthal was a German pioneer of human aviation who became known as the Glider King. He was the first person to make well-documented, repeated, successful gliding flights. He followed an experimental approach established earlier by Sir George Cayley...
, German aviation pioneer - Günter SchabowskiGünter SchabowskiGünter Schabowski is a former official of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany , the ruling party during most of the existence of the German Democratic Republic...
, German politician - Matthias SchweighöferMatthias SchweighöferMatthias Schweighöfer is a German actor. He is sometimes credited as Matthias Schweighofer.Born in Anklam, East Germany, Schweighöfer attended the renowned acting school Hochschule für Schauspielkunst "Ernst Busch", but dropped out after one year...
, German actor - Julius Urgiss, German-Jewish screenwriter and critic for Kinematograph
- Max WagenknechtMax WagenknechtMax Otto Arnold Wagenknecht was a German composer of organ and piano music. He was born in Woldisch Tychow, Pomerania, Free State of Prussia and spent most of his life in the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania region where he was music teacher at the Franzburg Teachers’ College and in his later life...
, German composer
International relations
Anklam is twinned with: Burlöv, SwedenSweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
Limbaži
Limbaži
Limbaži is a town in the Vidzeme region of northern Latvia. Limbaži is located 90 km northeast of the capital Riga. The population is 8705 people. During the Middle Ages, as part of Livonia, Limbazi was a fortified town with stone walls, second in importance only to Riga.-Etymology:The name...
, Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
Heide
Heide
Heide is a town in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is the capital of the Kreis Dithmarschen. Population: 21,000.The German word Heide means "heath". In the 15th century four adjoining villages decided to build a church in the "middle of the heath". This remained the town's name to date...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
Ustka
Ustka
Ustka is a town in the Middle Pomerania region of northwestern Poland with 17,100 inhabitants . It is also part of Słupsk County in Pomeranian Voivodeship since 1999, and was previously in Słupsk Voivodeship .- History :...
, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...