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Schwedt | |
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 Old town | |
 Coat of arms | |
Location of Schwedt within Uckermark district  | |
  Schwedt  Schwedt | |
| Coordinates:53°03′N14°16′E / 53.050°N 14.267°E /53.050; 14.267 | |
| Country | Germany |
| State | Brandenburg |
| District | Uckermark |
| Government | |
| • Mayor(2021–29) | Annekathrin Hoppe[1] (SPD) |
| Area | |
• Total | 360.73 km2 (139.28 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 6 m (20 ft) |
| Population (2022-12-31)[2] | |
• Total | 33,495 |
| • Density | 93/km2 (240/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+01:00 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (CEST) |
| Postal codes | 16303 |
| Dialling codes | 03332, 033336 |
| Vehicle registration | UM, SDT |
| Website | www |
Schwedt (orSchwedt/Oder;German:[ˈʃveːt]ⓘ) is a town inBrandenburg, in northeasternGermany. With the official status of aGroße kreisangehörige Stadt (major district town), it is the largest town of theUckermark district, located near the riverOder, which forms the border withPoland.
The formerly agrarian town today has one of the largestoil refineries (PCK Raffinerie GmbH) in Germany, established in 1958 and connected to the RussianDruzhba pipeline network.[3] The refinery uses 20 million cubic meters of water per year for the process.[4]
A largepaper factory (UPM) is located near Schwedt.[5] Most industries were located in the remote area duringcommunist rule in the 1960s and 1970s.
Large residential areas were built for the workers moving to Schwedt. About 9% of the town's flats are in prefab concrete buildings (Plattenbau) dating from the era. As many jobs were lost afterGerman reunification and the return to market economy, Schwedt has lost a quarter of its population since 1990. In recent decades, Schwedt became a model town for the demolition ofPlattenbau housing to combaturban decay.
Schwedt is situated in the east of the historicUckermark region stretching from the Oder to theHavel River. It is situated on asandur at the western edge of the Oderfloodplain running along theGerman-Polish border, which in 1995 was declared as theLower Oder Valley National Park nature reserve. Across the river and the border, about 10 km (6.2 mi) to the southeast, is the Polish town ofChojna. The nearest German towns areAngermünde (about 18 km (11 mi) to the west) andGartz (18 km (11 mi) down the Oder).
In a 1974 municipal reform, the neighbouring village of Heinersdorf was incorporated into Schwedt, followed by Blumenhagen, Gatow and Kunow in 1993, by Kummerow in 1998, by Criewen and Zützen in 2001, Stendell in 2002, the former townVierraden in 2003,Schöneberg in January 2021 andBerkholz-Meyenburg,Mark Landin andPassow in April 2022.[6] With 360.73 km2 (139.28 sq mi) Schwedt is among the 10 largest German municipalities by area (9th as of Nov. 2023).
Gartz (Germany),Penkun (Germany),Szczecin (Poland),Gryfino (Poland),Cedynia (Poland),Chojna (Poland),Mieszkowice (Poland),Moryń (Poland),Trzcińsko-Zdrój (Poland),Myślibórz (Poland),Pyrzyce (Poland).
After theMigration Period, the area had been settled byPolabian Slavs. From 937 onwards the lands of the SlavicUkrani tribes in the west were subdued by theSaxon forces of MargraveGero and incorporated into his vastMarca Geronis, while the lands east of the Oder were held byPomeranian tribes under sovereignty of the newly formedDuchy of Poland ruled by DukeMieszko I. The SaxonNorthern March was lost in theGreat Slav Rising of 983, and not before 1147 the Saxon countAlbert the Bear again invaded the lands on the Oder river, which remained disputed between the newly establishedMargraviate of Brandenburg and thePomeranian dukes.
The settlement of Schwedt was first mentioned in a 1265 deed. In the course of theBrandenburg–Pomeranian conflict, the Brandenburg margraveLouis II the Roman ceded it to DukeBarnim III of Pomerania in 1354. It was again besieged by the firstHohenzollern margraveFrederick I in 1434, but to no avail. In 1481 theThuringian counts ofHohnstein acquired the estates; they granted town privileges to Schwedt as well as to neighbouring Vierraden and introduced theProtestant Reformation.
The rise of Schwedt came to an end with the extinction of the Hohnstein counts in 1609 and the disastrousThirty Years' War, when the town on the road fromStettin toBerlin was plundered several times. In 1631 KingGustavus Adolphus of Sweden, after landing in Pomerania, camped here on his way to theBattle of Breitenfeld. Six years later the Swedish field marshalJohan Banér set the town on fire, after its citizens refused to capitulate.
During theGreat Northern War, theTreaty of Schwedt was signed in the town.
From 1815 to 1945, Schwedt was part of thePrussianProvince of Brandenburg.
Near the end ofWorld War II, over two months of heavy fighting destroyed an estimated 85 percent of the town, including the Schwedt Castle. TheSoviet Army occupied Schwedt on April 26, 1945, two weeks before the final defeat of Nazi Germany.[7] From 1945 to 1952, Schwedt was part of the state ofBrandenburg and from 1952 to 1990 of theBezirk Frankfurt ofEast Germany. During the 1960s, the government of the DDR expanded housing and encouraged people to move to Schwedt, a trend that ended withGerman reunification. Since 1990, Schwedt is again part of the State of Brandenburg.
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