Pasewalk () is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an o ...

in the

Vorpommern-Greifswald Vorpommern-Greifswald is a district in the east of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is bounded by (from the west and clockwise) the districts of Mecklenburgische Seenplatte and Vorpommern-Rügen, the Baltic Sea, Poland ( West Pomeranian Voivo ...

district, in the state of

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 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 ...

. Located on the Uecker river, it is the capital of the former

Uecker-Randow Uecker-Randow was a ''Kreis'' (district) in the eastern part of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany. Neighboring districts were (from south clockwise) Uckermark in Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Strelitz and Ostvorpommern. To the east was the West P ...

district, and the seat of the

Uecker-Randow-Tal Uecker-Randow-Tal is an '' Amt'' in the district of Vorpommern-Greifswald, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. The seat of the ''Amt'' is in Pasewalk, itself not part of the ''Amt''. The ''Amt'' Uecker-Randow-Tal consists of the following municip ...

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 ...

'', of which it is not part.

History

Pasewalk became a town during the 12th century and was soon a member of the

Hanseatic League The Hanseatic League (; gml, Hanse, , ; german: label= Modern German, Deutsche Hanse) was a medieval commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and market towns in Central and Northern Europe. Growing from a few North German to ...

. In 1359 it passed to the

Duke of Pomerania This is a list of the duchies and dukes of Pomerania. Dukes of the Slavic Pomeranian tribes (All Pomerania) The lands of Pomerania were firstly ruled by local tribes, who settled in Pomerania around the 10th and 11th centuries. Non-dynastic ...

. Frequently ravaged during the wars which devastated the district, it was plundered several times by Imperial troops during 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 ...

. In 1657 it was burned down by the

Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, who share a common history, culture, the Polish language and are identified with the country of Poland in ...

and in 1713 by the

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

ns. In the

Peace of Westphalia The Peace of Westphalia (german: Westfälischer Friede, ) is the collective name for two peace treaties signed in October 1648 in the Westphalian cities of Osnabrück and Münster. They ended the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) and brought pe ...

in 1648 it was given to

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...

, but in 1676 it was conquered by

Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an area of 29,480 squ ...

. In 1720, in the ''Peace of Stockholm'', it was finally assigned to

Brandenburg-Prussia Brandenburg-Prussia (german: Brandenburg-Preußen; ) is the historiographic denomination for the early modern realm of the Brandenburgian Hohenzollerns between 1618 and 1701. Based in the Electorate of Brandenburg, the main branch of the Hohe ...

. The town is famous for having been surrendered to the French without a fight during the

War of the Fourth Coalition The Fourth Coalition fought against Napoleon's French Empire and were defeated in a war spanning 1806–1807. The main coalition partners were Prussia and Russia with Saxony, Sweden, and Great Britain also contributing. Excluding Prussia, s ...

, despite them being way less numerous than the defenders of the city. On the day

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

ended,

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and the ...

, the future dictator of

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

, was being treated here after being wounded by a gas attack. During the

Battle of Berlin The Battle of Berlin, designated as the Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation by the Soviet Union, and also known as the Fall of Berlin, was one of the last major offensives of the European theatre of World War II. After the Vistula– ...

, part of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, Pasewalk was captured by troops of the

2nd Belorussian Front The 2nd Belorussian Front ( Russian: Второй Белорусский фронт, alternative spellings are 2nd Byelorussian Front) was a military formation, of Army group size, of the Soviet Army during the Second World War. Soviet army g ...

of the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian language, Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist R ...

on 28 April 1945.

Mayors of Pasewalk

*1905–1917 Wilhelm Prüter *1917–1937 Dr. Willy Peppler (1880-1957) *1937–1942 Malsfey *1942 Klingbeil *1942–? Hans-Heinrich Wentzlaff-Eggebert (born 1894, died ?) *1945–? Hermann Bülow *1945–1949 Erich Pretzer (1882-1968) *1950–1961 Helene Medrow (1902-1976) *1961–1974 Eberhard Schmidt (1924-2010) *around 1982 Börner *1986–1990 Bärbel Steinmüller (born 1948) *1990–1994 Heinz-Georg Eckleben (born 1945), independent *1994–2002 Wilfried Sieber (born 1941), CDU *2002–2014 Rainer Dambach (1952-2013), independent *November 2013-May 2014 Gudrun Baganz, temporary *May 2014 - May 2022 Sandra Nachtweih (born 1975), independent *since May 2022 Danny Rodewald (born 1979), independent

Population over time

Born in Pasewalk

Wilhelm von Tümpling Wilhelm Ludwig Karl Kurt Friedrich von Tümpling (b. 30 December 1809 - d. 13. February 1884) was a Prussian ''General der Kavallerie''. Tümpling commanded a division in the Austro-Prussian War and VI Army Corps during the Franco-Prussian War. ...

(1809-1884), Prussian General of the Infantry * Georg von Kameke (1817-1893), Prussian General of the Infantry and War Ministers *

Erich Paulun Erich Paulun () (born 4 March 1862 in Pasewalk; died 5 March 1909 in Shanghai) was a German naval surgeon. After leaving active duty in 1899, he founded together with the German doctor Oscar von Schab the Tung Chee Hospital for Chinese (Tung-Chee ...

(1862-1909), founder of the Tongji Hospital Shanghai, former naval surgeon *

Erich Hamann Erich Hamann (born 27 November 1944) is a retired German football player who played as a midfielder. He was also the manager of Vorwärts Frankfurt and Hanse Frankfurt. Club career He played for the clubs SC Neubrandenburg and FC Vorwärts Fr ...

(born 1944), German footballer and former player of the GDR national football team *

Rainer Knaak Rainer Fritz Albert Knaak (born 16 March 1953 in Pasewalk, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern) is a German chess player who holds the FIDE title of Grandmaster (GM). He learned the game at the age of 5 from his father, Hans Knaak. Rapid progress brought ...

(born 1953), German chess player * Sabine Zimmermann (born 1960), German politician *

Chris Gueffroy Chris Gueffroy (21 June 1968 – 6 February 1989) was the last person to be shot and the second-last to die in an escape attempt while trying to escape from East Berlin to West Berlin across the Berlin Wall. Biography Chris Gueffroy was bo ...

(1968-1989), penultimate death victim on the Berlin Wall

Climate

Köppen-Geiger climate classification system classifies its climate as oceanic (Cfb).

International relations

Pasewalk is twinned with: * :

Halen Halen (), formerly Haelen ( li, Hôle), is a city and municipality located in the Belgian province of Limburg, to the west of Hasselt. On January 1, 2018, Halen had a total population of 9,461. The total area is 36.29 km² which gives a ...

* :

Norden Norden is a Scandinavian and German word, directly translated as "the North". It may refer to: Places England * Norden, Basingstoke, a ward of Basingstoke and Deane * Norden, Dorset, a hamlet near Corfe Castle * Norden, Greater Manchester, a vil ...

* :

Police The police are a Law enforcement organization, constituted body of Law enforcement officer, persons empowered by a State (polity), state, with the aim to law enforcement, enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citize ...

External links

References

* {{Authority control Vorpommern-Greifswald Members of the Hanseatic League Populated places established in the 13th century 1250s establishments in the Holy Roman Empire 1251 establishments in Europe