Lärz is a
municipality
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
in the
district, in
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (MV; ; nds, Mäkelborg-Vörpommern), also known by its anglicized name Mecklenburg–Western Pomerania, is a state in the north-east of Germany. Of the country's sixteen states, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern ranks 14th in po ...
, Germany. It is governed by the
Röbel-Müritz amt
Amt is a type of administrative division governing a group of municipalities, today only in Germany, but formerly also common in other countries of Northern Europe. Its size and functions differ by country and the term is roughly equivalent to ...
based in the city of
Röbel
Röbel () is a municipality in the Mecklenburgische Seenplatte district, in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany. It is situated on the western shore of Lake Müritz, 25 km north of Wittstock, and 27 km southwest of Waren. It is pa ...
.
Geography
Lärz is located south of lake
Müritz
The Müritz (; from Slavic "little sea") is a lake in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, northern Germany. Its area is , which makes it the second largest lake in Germany (after Lake Constance) and the largest lake located entirely within German territory ...
– in the
– between the towns of
Rechlin
Rechlin is a municipality in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany, around 100 km (60 mi) northwest of Berlin. The town's airport has a long history and was the Luftwaffe's main testing ground for new aircraft designs in Nazi Germany. ...
and
Mirow
Mirow () is a town in the district of Mecklenburgische Seenplatte in southern Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany.
Name (Etymology)
"Mir" in Slavonic languages means "peace" or "glory". The name "Mirow" was derived from "villa mirowe", translating ...
. The Mirow canal leads from
Mirow
Mirow () is a town in the district of Mecklenburgische Seenplatte in southern Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany.
Name (Etymology)
"Mir" in Slavonic languages means "peace" or "glory". The name "Mirow" was derived from "villa mirowe", translating ...
to
Vietzen, through the municipality of Lärz, and is part of the Müritz-Havel waterway. The west and south of the wooded district of Lärz is rich in lakes, such as lake
Thüren, lake Tralow, lake Nebel, lake
Müritzsee and lake
Müritzarm; lake Sumpfsee and lake
Kleine Müritz are also nearby. The upper Elde flows into lake Müritzsee, which is connected to lake Müritz via lake Müritzarm. The slightly hilly terrain around Lärz reaches a maximum of 89 m above sea level (
NHN). The town of Mirow is five kilometers away, the town of Röbel about 15 kilometers away.
Lärz is surrounded by the neighboring communities of Rechlin in the north, Mirow in the east,
Schwarz in the south,
Wittstock
Wittstock/Dosse is a town in the Ostprignitz-Ruppin district, in north-western Brandenburg, Germany.
Geography
It is located in the eastern Prignitz region on the Dosse River near the confluence with its Glinze tributary, about east of Pritzwal ...
/Dosse in the south-west,
Buchholz and
Priborn in the west and
Südmüritz in the north-west.
The districts of Alt Gaarz, Gaarzer Mühle, Ichlim, Krümmel, Neu Gaarz and Troja belong to Lärz.
History
In 1237, the originally
Slavic settlement appeared as ''Lositz'' in a document from Prince Nikolaus von Werle. In 1257, ''Loziz'' was mentioned as a property of the Dobbertin Monastery. The old Polish place name was originally ''*Losica'' and was formed from the noun ''*los'', "elk". It can be translated as the "''location of the elk''".
In contrast to the lawlessness of the farmworkers in the neighboring communities, the farmers in Lärz had enforced their own "village rules", a regulation of leasing to the farmers, in 1859 through trials against the Dobbertin monastery, which was progressive given the conditions in Mecklenburg at the time.
From 1914 to 1993, together with the neighboring municipality of Rechlin, Lärz was a military base. In 1941, the stationing of various test squadrons and the formation of a test command began in Lärz. Tests with the world's first jet aircraft,
Heinkel He 178
The Heinkel He 178 was an experimental aircraft designed and produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Heinkel. It was the world's first aircraft to fly using the thrust from a turbojet engine.
The He 178 was developed to test the jet propu ...
, took place at the
Lärz airfield
Lärz is a Municipalities of Germany, municipality in the Mecklenburgische Seenplatte (district), Mecklenburgische Seenplatte district, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is governed by the Röbel-Müritz Amt (Germany), amt based in the city ...
.
The railway connection built in 1922 from Mirow, Starsow branch, to Ellerholz and Rechlin led via Lärz. In 1967 the passenger traffic was stopped, the route was mainly used for military transport. It was planned to reactivate the railway line for tourist use, but it was dismantled in 2007. From 1934 to 1935, the road from Mirow via Lärz to Vietzen was built. From 1934 to 1936 the Müritz-Havel Canal was built from Mirow via Lärz to Vietzen.
Because of the military facilities in the area, Lärz was also the target of heavy bombardments in 1944 and 1945. On 21 May 1944, the first deep attack by American fighter-bombers took place on the airfield. On 24 May 1944, thirteen US bombers dropped further bombs and on 10 April 1945, 105 US bombers dropped 232 tons of bombs on the Lärz airfield.
On 2 May 1945, the area was occupied by the
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...
, which continued to use the airfield. In the 1980s, for example, up to 2 000 members of the Soviet armed forces were stationed in Lärz, such as fighter-bomber and helicopter squadrons. In March 1993, the troops now called the CIS armed forces withdrew from Lärz.
The airfield has been used as a civil airfield by the operating company Müritzflugplatz Rechlin-Lärz since 1994. The Rechlin-Lärz aviation museum is located on the airfield. In addition to an exhibition about the Rechlin test site, it also houses several aircraft that can be viewed, such as
Mi-8
The Mil Mi-8 (russian: Ми-8, NATO reporting name: Hip) is a medium twin-turbine helicopter, originally designed by the Soviet Union in the 1960s and introduced into the Soviet Air Force in 1968.
It is now produced by Russia.
In addition to ...
,
MiG-21
The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 (russian: Микоян и Гуревич МиГ-21; NATO reporting name: Fishbed) is a supersonic jet fighter and interceptor aircraft, designed by the Mikoyan-Gurevich Design Bureau in the Soviet Union. Its nickna ...
and
Bréguet Atlantic.
In November 2018, a referendum took place in Lärz and Schwarz on an area change agreement, according to which the two municipalities would have merged with Rechlin. Both in Lärz and in Schwarz, however, a majority voted against a merger. In Lärz, of the 439 eligible voters, 252 voted against and 75 for a merger. The turnout was around 74 percent.
Politics
The municipality has no officially approved emblem, neither a coat of arms nor a flag. The official seal is the small state seal with the coat of arms of the state of Mecklenburg. It shows a bull's head and the inscription "GEMEINDE LÄRZ".
Culture
In Lärz, the annual
Fusion Festival
The Fusion Festival is a music and arts festival with a countercultural character. It takes place at a former military airport called Müritz Airpark in Lärz, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, in northeastern Germany. The festival name is often depicte ...
and the biennial at.tension theater festival are hosted by the Kulturkosmos Müritz registered association.
Sights
* In the village church of Lärz, built in 1724, there is a pulpit altar and remains of baroque ceiling paintings. The organ comes from the Silesian organ building company
Schlag & Söhne. It was built in 1895 and is the only completely preserved instrument from this company in Mecklenburg.
* The wood-paneled village church Alt Gaarz from 1854/55 houses a
Buchholz organ. The church was built by the court architect
Friedrich Wilhelm Buttel.
* The aviation museum at the
Müritz Airpark airfield shows aircraft and a helicopters on 800 m² of exhibition space. The
Fusion Festival
The Fusion Festival is a music and arts festival with a countercultural character. It takes place at a former military airport called Müritz Airpark in Lärz, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, in northeastern Germany. The festival name is often depicte ...
takes place every year in June at the airfield.
Traffic
Lärz is located on the road from Mirow to Rechlin, which, in contrast to
federal highway 198, passes south of Lärz airfield. To the south there is a road connection to
Rheinsberg
Rheinsberg () is a town and a municipality in the Ostprignitz-Ruppin district, in Brandenburg, Germany. It is located on lake and the river Rhin, approximately 20 km north-east of Neuruppin and 75 km north-west of Berlin.
History
Fre ...
in Brandenburg. The Röbel motorway junction on the
A 19 motorway is around 21 km away. The next train station is in nearby Mirow, serving the railway line to
Neustrelitz
Neustrelitz (; East Low German: ''Niegenstrelitz'') is a town in the Mecklenburgische Seenplatte district in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is situated on the shore of the Zierker See in the Mecklenburg Lake District. From 1738 ...
.
References
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