Parchim (;
Mecklenburgisch: ''Parchen'') is a town in
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...
. It is the capital of the
Ludwigslust-Parchim
Ludwigslust-Parchim is a district in the west of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is bordered by (clockwise starting from the west) the state Schleswig-Holstein, the district Nordwestmecklenburg, the district-free city Schwerin, the distri ...
district. It was the birthplace of
Helmuth von Moltke the Elder, to whom a monument was erected in 1876.
Founded about 1210, it was the seat of the short-lived
Lordship of Parchim-Richenberg, a partition of the
Duchy of Mecklenburg, from 1226 until 1248 when the lord relocated to Richenberg. Parchim was absorbed into the
Lordship of Werle in 1255. In 1277 Werle was partitioned and Parchim became the seat of Werle-Parchim until it was reunited with Werle-Güstrow in 1307. One branch of the family of the
duke of Mecklenburg resided in Parchim during part of the 14th century. It became a prosperous industrial town during the 16th century, but this prosperity was destroyed by the
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of batt ...
.
Image:Parchim_town_hall_W.jpg,
Image:Parchim_town_hall_S.jpg,
Population development
* 1648 – 1,300
* 1789 – 4,000
* 1830 – 5,800
* 1850 – 6,270
* 1910 – 12,804
* 1939 – 16,000
* 1974 – 23,000
* 1990 – 23,800
* 2000 – 20,048
* 2005 – 19,348
Notable residents
*
Helmuth Karl Bernhard von Moltke (1800-1891), Prussian general field marshal, honorary citizen
*
Rudolf Tarnow (1867-1933), low German writer
*
Elise Blumann (1897-1990), German-Australian expressionist painter
*
Friedrich Hildebrandt (1898–1948), German SS Obergruppenführer, a Gauleiter, and executed for war crimes
*
Ernst Goldenbaum (1898-1990), politician, chairman of the
DBD and Minister of Agriculture and Forestry of the GDR, 1949-1990 Member of the Volkskammer
*
HA Schult (born 1939), object and action artist
*
Jana Gerisch (born 1978), volleyball player
*
Stefanie Weichelt (born 1983), football player
*
Laura Larsson (born 1989), podcast and radio host
See also
*
Wockersee
References
External links
* http://www.parchim.de
{{Authority control
Cities and towns in Mecklenburg
Ludwigslust-Parchim
1226 establishments in Europe
Populated places established in the 13th century
Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin