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Neuruppin (, , in contrast to " Old Ruppin"; ; North
Brandenburgisch The Marchian dialects (named after the March of Brandenburg; also called Brandenburgiane.g. Michael .Clyne: ''The German language in a changing Europe.'' 1995, p. XV or Brandenburgish; German: ''Brandenburgisch'') are dialects of Low German, m ...
: ''Reppin'') is a town in
Brandenburg Brandenburg, officially the State of Brandenburg, is a States of Germany, state in northeastern Germany. Brandenburg borders Poland and the states of Berlin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony. It is the List of Ger ...
,
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
, the administrative seat of
Ostprignitz-Ruppin Ostprignitz-Ruppin is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the northwestern part of Brandenburg, Germany. Neighboring are (from north clockwise) the districts Müritz and Mecklenburg-Strelitz (district), Mecklenburg-Strelitz in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, ...
district. It is the birthplace of the novelist
Theodor Fontane Theodor Fontane (; 30 December 1819 – 20 September 1898) was a German novelist and poet, regarded by many as the most important 19th-century German-language Literary realism, realist author. He published the first of his novels, for which he i ...
(1819–1898) and therefore also referred to as ''Fontanestadt''. A
garrison A garrison is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a military base or fortified military headquarters. A garrison is usually in a city ...
town since 1688 and largely rebuilt in a Neoclassical style after a devastating fire in 1787, Neuruppin has the reputation of being "the most
Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...
n of all Prussian towns".


Geography


Geographical position

Neuruppin is one of the largest cities in Germany in terms of area. The city of Neuruppin, northwest of
Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
in the district of Ostprignitz-Ruppin ( Ruppin Switzerland), consists in the south of the districts located on the shores of Ruppiner See, which is crossed by the
Rhin The Rhin is a long river in Brandenburg, Germany, right tributary to the river Havel. It flows through the city Neuruppin and several lakes. A few kilometres downstream from Rhinow it flows into the Havel, about upstream from where the Have ...
River, including the actual core city of Neuruppin and Alt Ruppin. In the north, it stretches up to the Rheinsberg Lake Region and the border with
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (MV; ; ), also known by its Anglicisation, anglicized name Mecklenburg–Western Pomerania, is a Federated state, state in the north-east of Germany. Of the country's States of Germany, sixteen states, Mecklenburg-Vorpom ...
. It is part of the Stechlin-Ruppiner Land Nature Park and is connected to the Wittstock-Ruppiner Heide, which was partly used for military purposes as the Wittstock military training area.


Municipal subdivisions

After several annexations in 1993, Neuruppin today is one of Germany's largest municipalities by area. The following districts and residential areas belong to Neuruppin since the annexations in 1993. In addition, there is the deserted Krangensbrück.


Climate


History


Before the city fire (until 1787)

The prehistoric settlement of the country ranges from the Middle
Stone Age The Stone Age was a broad prehistory, prehistoric period during which Rock (geology), stone was widely used to make stone tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years and ended b ...
through the younger
Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...
with first Germanic, later Slavic settlements (in the old town area - including "Neuer Markt" - and in the surrounding countryside) on the shores of Lake Ruppin. In late Slavic times, this area was settled by the Zamzizi tribe, whose center was probably the Slawenburg Ruppin on the island of Poggenwerder near Alt Ruppin. After the
Wendish Crusade The Wendish Crusade () was a military campaign in 1147, one of the Northern Crusades, led primarily by the Kingdom of Germany within the Holy Roman Empire and directed against the Polabian Slavs (or "Wends"). The Wends were made up of the Slavic ...
in 1147 and the conquest of the land by the German
nobility Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally appointed by and ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. T ...
, around 1200 on the Amtswerder, a peninsula next to the island of Poggenwerder, the Ruppin Castle (also ''Planenburg'') was built as a large
lowland castle The term lowland castle or plains castle () describes a type of castle that is situated on a lowland, plain or valley floor, as opposed to one built on higher ground such as a hill spur. The classification is extensively used in Germany where ...
and political center of the Lordship of Ruppin. In the northern foreland a market settlement with Nikolai church developed, east of it and beyond the Rhin the Kietz: the town (''Olden Ruppyn'') Alt Ruppin had arisen. Southwest of the castle town, the settlement of today's Neuruppin with Nikolaikirche (St. Nicholas' Church) and a street market was established at the beginning of the 13th century, keeping the name ''Ruppin''. The then (Neu-)Ruppin was a planned town foundation of the counts of Lindow-Ruppin, a collateral line of the Arnsteins, who resided in Alt Ruppin. The first documentary mention dates back to 1238. An expansion of the original Marktsiedlung Alt Ruppin, towards the present-day city of Neuruppin, probably took place before the foundation of the Dominican monastery in 1246 as the first settlement of the order between the Elbe and Oder rivers by the first prior Wichmann von Arnstein. The granting of the Stendal town charter took place on March 9, 1256, by Günther von Arnstein. The city was fortified in the 13th century by palisades and a rampart-ditch system, later it was fortified by walls and rampart-ditches; 24 "Wiekhäuser" and two high towers reinforced the
city wall A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or Earthworks (military), earthworks to extensive military fortifications such as ...
. In addition, there were three gates, the Altruppiner/Rheinsberger Tor in the north, the Berliner/Bechliner Tor in the south and the Seetor in the east. The complete walled enclosure occurred at the latest towards the end of the 15th century. Neuruppin's oldest part was an elongated Anger, accompanied by two parallel streets between the southern and northern city gates, in the south on it the oldest church of Neuruppin (St. Nikolai). The main street of Neuruppin was pavement since the middle of the 16th century. Across Neuruppin, from the northwest toward the lake, ran the Klappgraben, coming from the Ruppiner Mesche, to supply the city with service water and for drainage, which was partially filled in 1537 and renewed as an open canal in Schinkelstraße after the city fire of 1787. In the
Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...
, Neuruppin was one of the larger northeastern German cities. Preserved from this period are, among other things, parts of the
city wall A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or Earthworks (military), earthworks to extensive military fortifications such as ...
, parts of the monastery church of St. Trinitatis (1246), St. George's Chapel (1362), the leprosorium (1490) with the St. Lazarus Chapel consecrated in 1491, as well as remains of the lake district. The medieval city had a nearly square ground plan of about 700 m × 700 m, which blunts conspicuously at the eastern corner. The east-southeast side borders on the Ruppiner Lake. In 1512, to celebrate a peace treaty, Elector Joachim I organized a three-day jousting tournament in Neuruppin. After the extinction of the Counts of Lindow-Ruppin in 1524, Neuruppin came to the Elector Joachim I as a settled
fief A fief (; ) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form of feudal alle ...
. The
Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...
also devastated Neuruppin. In the course of the
Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...
, the monastery property fell to the elector around 1540. In 1564, he donated the monastery to the city. During this time, a legend depicted in the monastery church about a mouse chasing a rat, which is interpreted as a sign that the church would remain
Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...
in the future. A
Latin school The Latin school was the grammar school of 14th- to 19th-century Europe, though the latter term was much more common in England. Other terms used include Lateinschule in Germany, or later Gymnasium. Latin schools were also established in Colon ...
was first documented in Neuruppin in 1365, which at times had supra-regional importance. Its history is well documented since 1477. In 1777 Philipp Julius Lieberkühn and Johann Stuve took over the school administration and reformed the school in the Basedowsche Sense, which received general attention. In 1688 Neuruppin became one of the first
garrison A garrison is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a military base or fortified military headquarters. A garrison is usually in a city ...
towns in Brandenburg. It was here that Crown Prince Frederick was imprisoned from 1732 to 1740 after his unsuccessful escape attempt and subsequent imprisonment in Küstrin. Holder of the Regiment on Foot Crown Prince. During this time, Bernhard Feldmann city physicist. His transcripts of historically interesting council records are considered the most important collection of sources on early town history, as the original records were destroyed in the town fire of 1787. At times the number of soldiers and civilian troop members was 1500 out of 3500 inhabitants. Neuruppin only lost this status with the withdrawal of the
Group of Soviet Forces in Germany The Western Group of Forces (WGF), previously known as the Group of Soviet Occupation Forces in Germany (GSOFG) and the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany (GSFG), were the troops of the Soviet Army in East Germany. The Group of Soviet Occupation ...
. After 1685, French
Huguenots The Huguenots ( , ; ) are a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, ...
settled there. From 1740 the organ builder Gottlieb Scholtze had his workshop in Neuruppin, who among other things built the organ in
Rheinsberg Rheinsberg () is a town and a municipality in the Ostprignitz-Ruppin district, in Brandenburg, in north-eastern Germany. It is located on lake and the river Rhin, approximately north-east of Neuruppin and north-west of Berlin. History Freder ...
.


City fire and reconstruction (1787-1803)

A break in the development of the town was the wildfire of Sunday, August 26, 1787. The fire broke out in a barn filled with grain at the Bechliner Tor in the afternoon and spread rapidly. Only two narrow areas on the eastern and western edges of the city remained. A total of 401 bourgeois houses, 159 outbuildings and outhouses, 228 stables and 38 barns, the parish church of St. Mary, the town hall, the Reformed church, and the Prince's Palace were destroyed. Property damage was estimated at nearly 600,000 talers. The Fire Fund replaced about 220,000 thalers, a special church collection yielded 60,000 thalers, and the
Prussian Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, the House of Hohenzoll ...
Government provided 130,000 thalers of funding for the reconstruction of the city. In total, the state spent over one million thalers in the following years. The city planning director Bernhard Matthias Brasch (1741-1821), who had been active in the city since 1783, implemented the specifications of the reconstruction commission and supervised the corresponding works. These took place from 1788 to 1803, following a uniformly planned ground plan. Brasch's plan envisaged the expansion of the city from 46 to almost 61
hectares The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), that is, square metres (), and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. A ...
with the removal of the ramparts between the Tempelgarten and the lake. The two north–south streets, which were close together, were united into one axis, later Karl-Marx-Strasse. A rectangular network of streets with continuous two-story troughs
house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...
s was created. Long wide streets interrupted by stately plazas, and houses in a transformation architecture mixing Baroque, Mannerist and Gothic design elements with Neoclassical trends, have shaped the townscape since that time. These urban reform principles are well recognizable. Thus, with the reconstruction, a classicist city layout unique in this originality was created. The reconstruction was already completed in 1803. Only the completion of the parish church of St. Mary (built 1801-1806 by Philipp Bernard François Berson with the collaboration of Carl Ludwig Engel) dragged on until 1806 due to structural problems. After the disastrous fire in 1787, the neo-classicism of the rebuilt town's buildings have characterised its townscape to the present day. It remained a garrison town until the late 20th century, since Soviet troops were stationed here until 1993; during this time, there were as many Soviet soldiers as inhabitants in Neuruppin.


Reconstruction in the 19th century (1804-1900)

Johann Bernhard Kühn Johann, typically a male given name, is the German form of ''Iohannes'', which is the Latin form of the Greek name ''Iōánnēs'' (), itself derived from Hebrew name '' Yochanan'' () in turn from its extended form (), meaning "Yahweh is Gracious" ...
(1750-1826) began producing picture sheets in Neuruppin, thematically designed and for a long time as hand-colored broadsides. His son Gustav Kühn (1794-1868) achieved print runs of sometimes over three million copies per year (e.g., the
Franco-Prussian War The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...
of 1870/71). The prints became known worldwide with the inscription ''Neu-Ruppin, zu haben bei Gustav Kühn''. Three other companies produced the popular picture sheets: Philipp Oehmigke, Hermann Riemschneider, and Friedrich Wilhelm Bergemann. All three picture sheet producers managed to hold their own in the German picture sheet manufacturer competition (more than 60 companies throughout Germany) and to occupy the leading positions for a long time. From 1815 to 1945, Neuruppin was part of the
Prussian Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, the House of Hohenzoll ...
Province of Brandenburg The Province of Brandenburg () was a province of Prussia from 1815 to 1947. Brandenburg was established in 1815 from the Kingdom of Prussia's core territory, comprised the bulk of the historic Margraviate of Brandenburg (excluding Altmark) and ...
. In September 1820, the Infantry Regiment 24 came to Neuruppin with its staff and two battalions, while the
Fusilier ''Fusilier'' is a name given to various kinds of soldiers; its meaning depends on the historical context. While ''fusilier'' is derived from the 17th-century French word – meaning a type of flintlock musket – the term has been used in cont ...
Battalion took up garrison in Prenzlau. The regiment had been raised elsewhere in 1813, and had participated in the wars of liberation and the occupation of France. Initially, the regiment was housed in Neuruppin burghers' quarters. In 1877, the organ builder Albert Hollenbach set up his workshop in Neuruppin. His works include organs in the churches of the districts of Bechlin, Buskow, Karwe, Nietwerder and Storbeck as well as the Siechenhauskapelle in the old town of Neuruppin. After 1880, Neuruppin became the center of a branch line network, which was operated by the Ruppiner Eisenbahn AG until 1945. This radiated to Fehrbellin-Paulinenaue (1880), Kremmen-Berlin and Wittstock-Meyenburg (1899), and Neustadt and Herzberg respectively (1905). For this purpose, a railroad embankment was built across the Ruppiner See, cutting across the lake 2.5 kilometers from the north shore in an east–west direction. In 1893, the Neuruppin State Lunatic Asylum was built on the southern edge of the central city.


The city in the 20th century

Fire extinguishers have been manufactured in Neuruppin since 1905. Minimax fire extinguishers in particular quickly became widespread due to their ease of use. During
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, an aviation squadron was stationed in Neuruppin and an airfield was established. In 1921, an open-air settlement was founded in the Gildenhall district by master builder and settlement engineer Georg Heyer (1880-1944), whose goal was to gather artists and artisans to live and work together in order to create and produce everyday products affordable to all and in artisanal form. It attracted many renowned artists and artisans, and existed until 1929. In 1926, the road next to the railroad embankment across Lake Ruppin was completed. The settlements Gildenhall and Kolonie Wuthenow thus received a direct connection to Neuruppin. In 1929, these settlements were incorporated, after the Treskow estate district had already been incorporated in 1928. After the
Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...
seized power in June 1933, more than 80 political opponents of the regime, mainly
Social Democrats Social democracy is a social, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achieving social equality. In modern practice, s ...
,
Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
, and
Communists Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, d ...
, were taken to a provisional prison run by the SA within the buildings of a brewery on Altruppiner Allee, which had been shut down at that time. SA members tortured and mistreated many of the prisoners here. They are commemorated by a memorial stone created during the
Soviet occupation During World War II, the Soviet Union occupied and annexed several countries effectively handed over by Nazi Germany in the secret Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of 1939. These included the eastern regions of Poland (incorporated into three differe ...
in 1947 and by the ensemble of figures created in 1981 at the behest of the SED district leadership, which replaced the original memorial on Schulplatz. In 1934, the Neuruppin military airfield was revived as the ''Fliegerschule Neuruppin''. The city's approximately 90 Jewish citizens were persecuted, deported, and murdered during the Nazi era. Their Old Cemetery, established in 1824, was treated relatively leniently; preserved Jewish gravestones were moved to the New Cemetery (Protestant Cemetery) by order of the then regimental commander of the
Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...
,
Paul von Hase Karl Paul Immanuel von Hase (24 July 1885 – 8 August 1944) was a Nazi Germany, German career soldier and figured among the members of the German_resistance_to_Nazism, resistance against Adolf Hitler's Nazism, Nazi regime. Life Von Hase was bo ...
. Since November 17, 2003,
Stolpersteine A (; plural ) is a concrete cube bearing a brass plate inscribed with the name and life dates of victims of Nazi extermination or persecution. Literal translation, Literally, it means 'stumbling stone' and metaphorically 'stumbling block'. ...
("stumbling stones") markers in the core city and in Alt-Ruppin have commemorated the murdered Jewish residents. For the
Aktion T4 (German, ) was a campaign of Homicide#By state actors, mass murder by involuntary euthanasia which targeted Disability, people with disabilities and the mentally ill in Nazi Germany. The term was first used in post-WWII, war trials against d ...
mass murder campaign of those deemed physically infirm during the National Socialist era, the Neuruppin State Lunatic Asylum served as an intermediate facility for the
Brandenburg Euthanasia Centre The Brandenburg Euthanasia Centre (), officially known as the Brandenburg an der Havel State Welfare Institute (''Landes-Pflegeanstalt Brandenburg a. H.''), was a killing centre established in 1939 as part of the Nazi euthanasia programme, known af ...
and the
Bernburg Euthanasia Centre The Nazi Euthanasia Centre at Bernburg () operated from 21 November 1940 to 30 July 1943 in a separate wing of the State Sanatorium and Mental Hospital (''Landes-Heil- und Pflegeanstalt'') in Bernburg (Saale), Bernburg on the River Saale in the Ger ...
. Therefore, the number of patients increased from 1,971 on January 1, 1937, to 4,197 on April 1, 1940. In 1941, only 1,147 of the 1,797 planned beds were still occupied. In 1943, the greater part of the patients were transferred to other institutions in Aktion Brandt. The hospital was also partly used as a reserve hospital during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. After 1945, parts of the facility served as a district hospital. On September 20, 2004, six Stolpersteine were laid on the grounds of the Ruppiner Kliniken in memory of the euthanasia victims of the former state lunatic asylum. On May 1, 1945, Soviet forces reached Neuruppin and prepared to shell the city from the opposite shore of the lake. However, an unknown person managed to raise a white flag on the tower of the monastery church, and the same happened at the parish church. This prevented any destruction. A Soviet cemetery of honor was established north of the Rheinsberger Tor train station, where more than 220 Soviet soldiers were buried. Neuruppin became one of the largest garrisons of the
Group of Soviet Forces in Germany The Western Group of Forces (WGF), previously known as the Group of Soviet Occupation Forces in Germany (GSOFG) and the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany (GSFG), were the troops of the Soviet Army in East Germany. The Group of Soviet Occupation ...
(GSSD). The Soviet forces used the military airfield located immediately north of the central city, whose operation caused considerable noise pollution in the city. In 1989, massive demonstrations by Neuruppin residents in connection with plans for the continued use of the Wittstock military training and air-to-ground firing range led to the closure of the airfield. Until about 1950, the theater Die neue Bühne was located in the city center. It was operated as part of the state association of the German People's Stage and had up to 95 employees. In 1951, the Elektro-Physikalische Werkstätten was founded in Neuruppin as a producer of electronic components. From 1970, they were expanded as Elektro-Physikalische Werke (EPW) to become the largest
printed circuit board A printed circuit board (PCB), also called printed wiring board (PWB), is a Lamination, laminated sandwich structure of electrical conduction, conductive and Insulator (electricity), insulating layers, each with a pattern of traces, planes ...
manufacturer in the GDR, employing up to 3,500 workers. Later, the plant was an integral part of the Kombinat Mikroelektronik. In the GDR era, the children's
summer camp A summer camp, also known as a sleepaway camp or residential camp, is a supervised overnight program for children conducted during the summer vacation from school in many countries. Children and adolescents who attend summer residential camps ...
''Frohe Zukunft DDR'' was located in Gühlen-Glinicke. In 1952, Neuruppin became the district town of the district of the same name in
Bezirk Potsdam The Bezirk Potsdam was a district (''Bezirk'') of East Germany. The administrative seat and the main town was Potsdam. History The district was established, with the other 13, on 25 July 1952, substituting the old German states. After 3 October ...
as a result of the GDR district reform. As a result of the fall of the
Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall (, ) was a guarded concrete Separation barrier, barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and the East Germany, German Democratic Republic (GDR; East Germany). Construction of the B ...
and the peaceful revolution in the GDR, the state of
Brandenburg Brandenburg, officially the State of Brandenburg, is a States of Germany, state in northeastern Germany. Brandenburg borders Poland and the states of Berlin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony. It is the List of Ger ...
was reestablished in 1990, while the district of Neuruppin remained in existence for the time being.


Neuruppin as a socialist district town 1970-1989

Plans for the development of a modern district town with up to 100,000 inhabitants were made from the mid-1960s to the mid-1970s. The basis for this was the planned industrial and administrative development of the district town of Neuruppin. Beginning in the 1970s, VEB Elektrophysikalische Werke Neuruppin was established to handle all printed circuit board production for the GDR's microelectronics and entertainment technology industries. The VEB Feuerlöschgerätewerke Neuruppin, as the main producer of hand-held fire extinguishers for the Eastern Bloc countries united in the CMEA, and the Volkseigene Backwarenkombinat, as the main producer of all kinds of baked goods for the district town and the district of Neuruppin, were expanded considerably. All this required the influx of highly qualified management, research, and development personnel as well as many thousands of workers. The resident core population of Neuruppin until the end of the 1960s was not sufficient for this. Planning also took into account Neuruppin's convenient location at the intersection of four important branch lines of the Deutsche Reichsbahn with favorable north–south connections for freight and passenger traffic and the Berlin-Rostock/Hamburg highway (now the
A24 A24 Films LLC, commonly referred to as A24, is an American Privately held company, independent entertainment company that specializes in film and television production, as well as film distribution. The studio is based in Manhattan. The company ...
and A19), which was in planning and later under construction. The plans for a socialist district town included the construction of several residential complexes outside the town's settlement area, which existed until 1968, and the transformation of the old town, which was located outside the medieval city walls. Due to the dwindling economic power of the socialist planned economy of the GDR, only the following urban development projects were implemented from the 1970s onwards: * Construction of the "VEB Elektrophysikalische Werke Neuruppin". * Construction of the "Volkseigene Kombinat Backwaren Neuruppin" (People's Own Bakery Combine Neuruppin) * Expansion of the "VEB Feuerlöschgerätewerk Neuruppin" (VEB fire extinguisher plant) * 1961: Construction of the polyclinic (Neustädter Straße) for medical care * 1970-1974: Construction of the housing complex (WK) I Junckerstraße / Thomas-Mann-Straße / Franz-Maecker-Straße (GDR housing construction series IW 64 type Brandenburg / Markkleeberg) * 1970-1972: Construction of the road axes E-Strasse (initially without a name E-Strasse = relief road around the city center, since 1973 Heinrich-Rau-Strasse) and the feeder roads north and south to the highway (today A 24), * 1972: Establishment of a public transport system that still operates according to a regular timetable through the Neuruppin city bus line. * 1972-1974: Construction of the housing complex (WK) II Hermann-Matern-Straße / Erich-Schulz-Straße / August-Fischer-Straße / Anna-Hausen-Straße (GDR housing series IW 64 type Brandenburg / Markkleeberg) * 1970-1974: construction and opening of children's combinations (crèche and kindergarten) in housing complexes I and II, construction and opening of Polytechnic Secondary School Theodor Fontane / Karl-Liebknecht and Extended Secondary School Karl-Friedrich Schinkel, opening of department stores in housing complexes I and II * 1978-1980: Expansion of residential complex I through gap construction (GDR housing construction series WBS 70) between WK I (Junckerstraße) and WK II (Hermann-Matern-Straße), as of 1982, the addition of delicatessen, fruit and vegetable store and residential area restaurant in combination with FDJ youth club 019 (today club disco and night bar "Club 019"), construction of the community center in residential complex II as a residential area restaurant, event hall and student dining hall of the POS Theodor Fontane / Karl Liebknecht * 1980-1991: Construction of the residential complex III (GDR housing construction series WBS 70) Heinrich-Rau-Straße / Bruno-Salvat-Straße / Otto-Grotewohl-Straße / Otto-Winzer-Straße / Rudolf-Wendt-Straße, partly with apartments for senior citizens. The historic old town of Neuruppin was spared further redesigns during GDR times for reasons of cost. The construction of a four-lane expressway following the model of an automotive city - leading from Fehrbelliner Strasse along the present Regattastrasse via Bollwerk, crossing Seedamm / Steinstrasse, in the direction of Wittstocker Allee - was opposed by financial constraints in the GDR. The relocation of the VEB Feuerlöschgerätewerk Neuruppin and the compensation for the areas and buildings between Bollwerk and the VEB Feuerlöschgerätewerk which had been taken up by the Soviet Army, did not help the economic power of the GDR in the mid-1970s.


The 1970s

Neuruppin grew from a small town with about 18,000 inhabitants to 33,000 inhabitants between 1970 and 1989 through the settlement and expansion of technology and industry, which was economically significant for the GDR and the RGW states and as exports to the NSW (non-socialist economic area) in exchange for foreign currency, due to an influx of differently educated people from all parts of the GDR. Added to this were the many foreign workers and apprentices from the allied socialist states of Vietnam, Angola, Cuba, and the Soviet armed forces stationed there with around 12,000 men (including their families). Thus, a diverse population developed in the new
housing complex A housing estate (or sometimes housing complex, housing development, subdivision or community) is a group of homes and other buildings built together as a single development. The exact form may vary from country to country. Popular throug ...
developments I to III.


The Old Town of Neuruppin 1980-1990

For reasons of cost, the old town of Neuruppin was spared the planned modern redesigns, but it deteriorated noticeably by the end of the 1970s. Beginning in the 1980s, the SED of the GDR began to reflect on the cities' historical past. Thus, from 1980 to 1986, the old town of Neuruppin was redeveloped according to the classicist model with the cooperation of then-mayor Harald Lemke.


Future Residential Complex I to III

Contrary to the trend after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 in the state of Brandenburg, no residential buildings were demolished in residential complexes I to III. All apartments in residential complexes I to III Neuruppin are 100% in municipal or cooperative management (statistics as of 2015) and 99% are rented.


Neuruppin after the incorporation in 1993

When the new districts were formed, which came into effect on December 6, 1993, the district of Neuruppin was absorbed into the district of
Ostprignitz-Ruppin Ostprignitz-Ruppin is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the northwestern part of Brandenburg, Germany. Neighboring are (from north clockwise) the districts Müritz and Mecklenburg-Strelitz (district), Mecklenburg-Strelitz in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, ...
. On the same day, Neuruppin was significantly enlarged by incorporating the town of Alt Ruppin as well as the communities of Buskow, Gnewikow, Gühlen-Glienicke, Karwe, Krangen, Lichtenberg, Molchow, Nietwerder, Radensleben, Stöffin, Wulkow and Wuthenow. Until 1991, Neuruppin was still the location of the 12th Soviet Armored Division. The barracks were later converted into residential buildings as part of the
Expo 2000 Expo 2000 was a World Expo held in Hanover, Germany from 1 June to 31 October 2000. It was located on the Hanover Fairground (Messegelände Hannover), which is the largest exhibition ground in the world. Initially, some 40 million people were ...
outdoor project. Parts of the airfield are now still used for
gliding Gliding is a recreational activity and competitive air sports, air sport in which pilots fly glider aircraft, unpowered aircraft known as Glider (sailplane), gliders or sailplanes using naturally occurring currents of rising air in the atmospher ...
. In 1996, the then Neuruppin Regional Clinic and the District Hospital passed into the ownership of the Ostprignitz-Ruppin district as parts of the Ruppiner Kliniken GmbH. The Ruppiner Kliniken are thus one of the largest regional employers. The
Protestant church Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes justification of sinners through faith alone, the teaching that salvation comes by unmerited divine grace, the priesthood of all believers, and the Bible as the sole infallible sourc ...
districts of Ruppin and Wittstock/Dosse merged in 1998, and Neuruppin lost the seat of the superintendent to Wittstock as a result. On March 11, 1998, the city was awarded the additional designation of Fontanestadt. On January 1, 2001, the focal public prosecutor's office for
corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense that is undertaken by a person or an organization that is entrusted in a position of authority to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's gain. Corruption may involve activities ...
was established in Neuruppin as the successor to the department for GDR injustices and district crime. It is responsible for corruption offenses throughout the state of Brandenburg. On September 7, 2002, the 7th Brandenburg Day was held in Neuruppin with approximately 230,000 visitors. In response to the Elbe flood in July 2002 in Saxony, numerous artists such as
Udo Lindenberg Udo Lindenberg (born 17 May 1946) is a German singer, composer, and painter. Career Lindenberg started his musical career as a drummer. In 1969, he founded his first band Free Orbit, and also appeared as a studio and guest musician (with Micha ...
and Gerhard Schöne donated their fees in support of the flood victims. In May 2009, it became public knowledge for the first time that the groundwater under a new development area at Ruppiner See was contaminated with
halogenated hydrocarbons The haloalkanes (also known as halogenoalkanes or alkyl halides) are alkanes containing one or more halogen substituents of hydrogen atom. They are a subset of the general class of halocarbons, although the distinction is not often made. Haloalka ...
. The district of Ostprignitz-Ruppin, as the responsible environmental authority, admitted to having known about the environmental contamination since 1999 through measurements taken during earlier construction projects. On May 12, 2011, the iodine-containing thermal brine pool in Neuruppin received the first state recognition of a medicinal spring in the state of Brandenburg. The thermal brine pool is used by the Fontane-Therme on the edge of the old town for wellness operations and heating purposes.


Demography

Bevölkerungsentwicklung Neuruppin.pdf, Development of population since 1875 within the current Boundaries (Blue Line: Population; Dotted Line: Comparison to Population development in Brandenburg state; Grey Background: Time of
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
; Red Background: Time of communist
East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...
) Bevölkerungsprognosen Neuruppin.pdf, Recent Population Development and Projections (Population Development before Census 2011 (blue line); Recent Population Development according to the
Census in Germany A national census in Germany (, ) was held every five years from 1875 to 1910. After the World Wars, only a few full population censuses have been held, the last in 1987. The most recent census, though not a national census, was the 2011 Europea ...
in 2011 (blue bordered line); Official projections for 2005–2030 (yellow line); for 2017–2030 (scarlet line); for 2020–2030 (green line)
Territorial status of the respective year, number of inhabitants: as of December 31 (from 1991), from 2011 on the basis of the 2011 census.


Politics


City Council

The city council of Neuruppin comprises 30 city councilors and the full-time mayor. The municipal election on May 26, 2019, with a voter turnout of 49.0%, resulted in the following: The
AfD Alternative for Germany (, AfD, ) is a far-right,Far-right: * * * * * * * * * * * * * * right-wing populist and national-conservative political party in Germany. The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), ...
accounted for four seats in line with its share of the vote, two of which remain unoccupied because the party nominated only two candidates. The CDU and FDP have joined forces to form a parliamentary group, as have Bündnis 90/Die Grünen and the voters' group Kreisbauernverband.


Mayors


Before the city reform

* around 1786: Goering


After the city reform in 1808


After the annexations in 1993

* 1994–2004: Otto Theel * 2005-2020: Jens-Peter Golde * since 2020: Nico Ruhle Ruhle was elected to an eight-year term in the November 29, 2020 mayoral runoff election with 56.7% of the valid votes.


Dealing with corruption

In 2004, Neuruppin made headlines for corruption and
nepotism Nepotism is the act of granting an In-group favoritism, advantage, privilege, or position to Kinship, relatives in an occupation or field. These fields can include business, politics, academia, entertainment, sports, religion or health care. In ...
. In view of the growing scandals in local politics, the city acquired derogatory nicknames such as "Märkisches Palermo" or "Klein Palermo" and "Korruppin" as it struggled with battling corruption.Alexander Fröhlich
Stadt unter Filz
Tagesspiegel (meaning ''The Daily Mirror'') is a German daily newspaper. It has regional correspondent offices in Washington, D.C., and Potsdam. It is the only major newspaper in the capital to have increased its circulation, now 148,000, since reunification ...
published 17 September 2008, retrieved on 12 August 2022.
Zuletzt Alexander Fröhlich
Tagesspiegel
published 7 February 2010, retrieved on 12 August 2022.
The former CDU city councilor Olaf Kamrath was legally sentenced in 2006 as the head of the XY gang to many years in prison for, among other things, gang-related narcotics offences. In 2007, the verdict against former city councilor Reinhard Sommerfeld (Neuruppiner Initiative) was the only legally binding conviction of an elected official in Germany for bribery of members of parliament to date. The former state parliament member Otto Sommerfeld was convicted of
bribery Bribery is the corrupt solicitation, payment, or Offer and acceptance, acceptance of a private favor (a bribe) in exchange for official action. The purpose of a bribe is to influence the actions of the recipient, a person in charge of an official ...
of members of parliament. On May 15, 2008, former state parliament member Otto Theel (
Die Linke Die Linke (; ), also known as the Left Party ( ), is a democratic socialist political party in Germany. The party was founded in 2007 as the result of the merger of the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS) and Labour and Social Justice – The ...
) was given a nine-month suspended prison sentence for taking advantage in office during his term as mayor of Neuruppin. He subsequently resigned his seat in the state parliament. In September 2008, Sparkasse Ostprignitz-Ruppin parted ways with its previous CEO Josef Marckhoff, who had his employer throw him a circa 55,000 euro celebration to mark his own 60th birthday. The date coincided with the company's 160th anniversary. The former managing director of the municipal public utility company Neuruppin Dietmar Lenz was sentenced to a suspended prison sentence of two years on March 19, 2009, on charges of a serious breach of trust and acceptance of benefits, having spent more than 500,000 euros bypassing the supervisory board to support the sports club MSV Neuruppin. At the end of 2009 he committed suicide. A citizens' initiative initiated with the help of the two relevantly previously convicted Otto Theel and Reinhard Sommerfeld a deselection petition against Mayor Jens-Peter Golde. Golde was accused by the citizens' petition "Kein weiter so!" of lacking leadership quality, failing to fulfill his election program and endangering jobs in Neuruppin. It failed by its own account in February 2010 with 5079 of the required 5300 signatures.Bürgerbegehren "Kein weiter so!", Presseerklärung 8 February 2010. As of January 1, 2016, Neuruppin became the sixth corporate municipal member of
Transparency International Transparency International e.V. (TI) is a German registered association founded in 1993 by former employees of the World Bank. Based in Berlin, its nonprofit and non-governmental purpose is to take action to combat global corruption with civil s ...
, along with Bonn, Hamm (Westphalia), Potsdam, Leipzig, and Halle (Saale).


Neuruppin remains colorful

In the run-up to a planned demonstration of radical right-wing groups in the core city of Neuruppin on September 1, 2007, the non-partisan action alliance ''Neuruppin bleibt bunt'' formed and organized a counter-event with about 1000 participants. On September 5, 2009, in view of another planned demonstration of radical right-wing groups, the action alliance organized a series of actions for civil courage along the demonstration route. On March 27, 2010, Neuruppin bleibt bunt organized the democracy festival Demokratie im Quadrat with 2,000 participants in the face of a demonstration march by the radical right-wing Freie Kräfte Neuruppin with 350 participants. On June 6, 2011, the action alliance received the ''Band für Mut und Verständigung'' award for its work. In November 2011, a party convention of the NPD took place in Neuruppin under protest of ''Neuruppin bleibt bunt'' against the will of the city. The action alliance was able, through broad civil society engagement, with cultural stage program on the school square and a blockade for the first time to stop the so-called "Day of the German Future". The far-right Freie Kräfte Neuruppin/Osthavelland had organized the demonstration for June 6, 2015.


Coat of arms

In § 2 para 1 and 2 of the main statutes of the city of Neuruppin Fontanestadt Neuruppin, 8 July 2005 in Gestalt der 3. Änderungssatzung 6 March 2007: retrieved 30 December 2009. states: The coat of arms was confirmed on March 31, 2003.
Blazon In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct an accurate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The visual d ...
: "In blue a silver castle with two pinned, two-storey towers with two superimposed black gates and gold-knobbed, red pointed roofs; the central building with three turrets and a black gate, which is covered by a red triangular shield, topped with a gold-armed and gold-tongued silver eagle.". The eagle is the heraldic animal of the Arnstein noble family.


Twin towns – sister cities

Neuruppin is twinned with: * Babimost, Poland *
Bad Kreuznach Bad Kreuznach () is a town in the Bad Kreuznach (district), Bad Kreuznach district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is a spa town, known for its medieval bridge dating from around 1300, the Alte Nahebrücke (Bad Kreuznach), Alte Nahebrücke, ...
, Germany *
Certaldo Certaldo () is a town and (municipality) of Tuscany, Italy, in the Metropolitan City of Florence, located in the middle of Valdelsa. It is about southwest of the Florence Cathedral (50 minutes by rail and 35 minutes by car from the city), and 40 m ...
, Italy * Niiza, Japan *
Nymburk Nymburk (; ) is a town in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 16,000 inhabitants. It is situated on the Elbe River. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an Cultural monument (Czech Republic)#Mo ...
, Czech Republic


Notable people

* Joachim Ludwig Schultheiss von Unfriedt (1678–1753), architect * Karl Friedrich von dem Knesebeck (1768–1848), Prussian field marshal *
Karl Friedrich Schinkel Karl Friedrich Schinkel (13 March 1781 – 9 October 1841) was a Prussian architect, urban planning, city planner and painter who also designed furniture and stage sets. Schinkel was one of the most prominent architects of Germany and designed b ...
(1781–1841), architect * Ferdinand Möhring (1816–1887), composer *
Theodor Fontane Theodor Fontane (; 30 December 1819 – 20 September 1898) was a German novelist and poet, regarded by many as the most important 19th-century German-language Literary realism, realist author. He published the first of his novels, for which he i ...
(1819–1898), novelist and poet * Otto Friedrich Ferdinand von Görschen (1824–1875), lieutenant colonel * Paul Carl Beiersdorf (1836–1896), pharmacist and founder of Beiersdorf AG * Johannes Kaempf (1842–1918), politician, president of Reichstag *
Carl Großmann Karl Friedrich Wilhelm Großmann (13 December 1863 – 5 July 1922), better known as Carl Großmann, was a German serial killer and rapist who murdered at least twenty women in the Friedrichshain quarter of Berlin between 1918 and 1921. He k ...
(1863–1922), serial killer *
Ferdinand von Bredow Ferdinand von Bredow (16 May 1884 – 30 June 1934) was a German ''Generalmajor'' and head of the ''Abwehr'' (the military intelligence service) in the Ministry of the Reichswehr, Reich Defence Ministry and deputy defence minister in Von Schleic ...
(1884–1934), Major General of
Reichswehr ''Reichswehr'' (; ) was the official name of the German armed forces during the Weimar Republic and the first two years of Nazi Germany. After Germany was defeated in World War I, the Imperial German Army () was dissolved in order to be reshaped ...
*
Hermann Hoth Hermann Hoth (12 April 1885 – 25 January 1971) was a German army commander, war criminal, and author. He served as a high-ranking panzer commander in the Wehrmacht during World War II, playing a prominent role in the Battle of France and on th ...
(1885–1971), army commander and war criminal *
Klaus Schwarzkopf Klaus Schwarzkopf (18 December 1922, in Neuruppin – 21 June 1991, in Bochum) was a German actor. From 1971 until 1978 he starred in the Norddeutscher Rundfunk version of the popular television crime series '' Tatort''. He was also known as a res ...
(1922–1991), actor * Horst Giese (1926–2008), actor * Eva Strittmatter (1930–2011), writer * Jörg Hube (1943–2009), actor * Uwe Hohn (born 1962), javelin thrower * Ulrich Papke (born 1962), canoeist * Bernd Gummelt (born 1963), race walker *
Jens-Peter Herold Jens-Peter Herold (born 2 June 1965 in Neuruppin) is a retired German middle-distance runner who participated in several international championships in the late 1980s and early 1990s. In the 1987 World Championships in Athletics, 1987 World Ch ...
(born 1965), middle-distance runner * Ralf Büchner (born 1967), gymnast *
Timo Gottschalk Timo Gottschalk (born August 28, 1974 in Neuruppin) is a German Rallying, rally co-driver, most notable for being on the winning team of the 2011 Dakar Rally alongside Nasser Al-Attiyah and in 2025 Dakar Rally, 2025 with Yazeed Al-Rajhi. Career ...
(born 1974), rally navigator *
Hans Bettembourg Hansjörg "Hans" Bettembourg (born 28 March 1944) is a Swedish former weightlifter who won a bronze medal in the 90 kg division at the 1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad ...
, Weightlifter


Associated with the town

*
Frederick the Great Frederick II (; 24 January 171217 August 1786) was the monarch of Prussia from 1740 until his death in 1786. He was the last Hohenzollern monarch titled ''King in Prussia'', declaring himself ''King of Prussia'' after annexing Royal Prussia ...
(1712–1786), lived in Neuruppin in his years as
crown prince A crown prince or hereditary prince is the heir apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The female form of the title, crown princess, is held by a woman who is heir apparent or is married to the heir apparent. ''Crown prince ...
of Prussia * Carl Phillip Gottlieb von Clausewitz (1780–1831), Prussian general and military strategist, resided in Neuruppin for a few years


Gallery

Neuruppin_Schinkel.jpg, Schinkel statue Neuruppin_Parzival_Detail.jpg, Statue by Matthias Zágon Hohl-Stein Gentzrode_manor.jpg, Manor house of the family Gentz in Gentzrode Ruppiner See.jpg, Ruppiner Lake with monastery church towers Binenwalde_Sabine.jpg, ″Sabine" in Binenwalde Neuruppin_Neumuehle.jpg, Neumühle Neuruppin Trinitatiskirche asv2023-10 img2.jpg, Trinitatiskirche Neuruppin_Feuerloeschgeraetewerk.jpg, Former fire extinguisher factory


References


External links

{{Authority control Localities in Ostprignitz-Ruppin