Uckermark
Uckermark is a Kreis (district) in the northeastern part of Brandenburg, Germany. Neighboring districts are (from the south
clockwise) Barnim and Oberhavel, the
districts Mecklenburg-Strelitz and Uecker-Randow in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, and to the east Poland. The district is the largest district of Germany areawise.
Geography
The region is named after the Uecker river, which is a tributary of the Oder. Its
source is close to Angermünde, from where it runs northward to Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The Oder river, forming the Polish border, bounds the district
in the east. The district is characterised by 600 lakes and 2800 km of rivers. Rare animals still live in the lakeland: ospreys, beavers and otters.
The western parts of the Lower Oder
Valley National Park (Nationalpark Unteres Odertal) are located in Uckermark.
History
Uckermark was always a sparsely populated region. From the 6th to the 12th century Slavic peoples settled in the area; then invaders from Brandenburg came to Uckermark and founded castles and
towns. In medieval times the region was claimed by Pomerania and Mecklenburg. In 1479 a treaty awarded Uckermark once and for all to Brandenburg. It
was later divided into the two administrative units Uckerkreis and Stolpirischer Kreis. In 1817 a third district was created in the area, the district Angermünde, and the other two districts were renamed
to Prenzlau and Templin.
The district Uckermark was created in 1993 by merging the previous districts Angermünde,
Prenzlau and Templin, as well as the previously district-free city Schwedt.
Uckermark was also a small camp on the outskirts of the Ravensbrück concentration camp in Fürstenberg, Germany. It opened in 1942 for female youth,
whom the Nazis saw as "threats." The women were imprisoned there under fair conditions and treated humanely enough by
concentration camp standards. Located only down the road from Ravensbruck, it closed in mid-1944, and the girls shipped to the
main camp. In late 1944, Ravensbruck opened Uckermark as an extermination camp. There over 5,000 women, under SS Oberaufseherin Ruth Closius and her SS Aufseherinnen were murdered. Each day a doctor with a red
cross came and picked out the names of hundreds of women off lists and had them selected for a "transfer" to another camp. Later
that day a black canvas truck rolled into the camp and SS men threw the women into the trucks. It made two or three rounds. Later
the screams of the dying women [in the gas chamber] permeated the camp. Other women died from poisoning, shootings, abuse, cold,
despair, suffocation and drownings. Only 500 women and children survived. The Soviets liberated the camp on the night of April
29-30, 1945. Today it lays in ruins, unrecognizable.
Coat of arms
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The main feature of the coat of arms are the brick buildings of the district - the churches of Prenzlau and Angermünde. The
city wall below remembers the many wars of medieval times. The two circular windows in the church tower symbolizes the division
into two districts before the reform of 1817, the three gothic windows represent this division. On the city wall are two shields
- one with the griffin of Pomerania, the other with the eagle of Brandenburg. The
wavy lines in the upper part represent the main rivers in the district, Oder, Randow and Ucker. The yellow color of the
background represents the agriculture of the district, as the Uckermark was the "granary" of Brandenburg. The coat of arms were
created by Hans Benthin, and were officially granted on November 8, 1995. |
Towns and municipalities
External links
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