Uckermark | |
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 Interactive map of Uckermark | |
| Country |  Germany |
| Traditional capital | Prenzlau |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
TheUckermark (German pronunciation:[ˈʊkɐˌmaʁk]ⓘ) is a historical region in northeasternGermany, which currently[update] straddles theUckermark District ofBrandenburg and theVorpommern-Greifswald District ofMecklenburg-Vorpommern. Its traditional capital isPrenzlau.
The region is named after theUecker River, which is a tributary of theOder; the nameUckermark means "March of the Uecker". The river's source is close toAngermünde, from where it runs northward to Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The Oder River, forming theGerman-Polish border, bounds the region in the east. The western parts of theLower Oder Valley National Park are located in the Uckermark.
In theIce Age,glaciers shaped the landscape of the region. A climate change left a hilly area with several lakes formed by the melting ice, and humans started to settle the area.Megalithic-cultures arose, followed byGermanic cultures.
From the 6th–12th centuriesPolabian Slavs migrating fromEastern Europe moved westward into the later Uckermark. The Slavs settling theterra U(c)kera (Uckerland, laterUckermark) became known asUkrani (Ukranen,Ukrer,Ukri,Vukraner).[1] Their settlement area was centered around the lakesOberuckersee andUnteruckersee at the spring of the Uecker River. In this region,burghs with a proto-townsuburbium were set up atDrense and on an isle in Lake Oberuckersee (near modernPrenzlau).
In 954,MargraveGero of theSaxon Eastern March (themarca Geronis), aided byHoly Roman EmperorOtto I's son-in-law,Conrad of Lorraine, launched a successful campaign to subdue the Ukrani, who had come in reach of the Empire after the 929Battle of Lenzen. After the 983 revolt of theObodrites andLiutizians, the area became independent again, yet remained under permanent military pressure, especially fromPoland and theHoly Roman Empire.
In 1172Pomeranian dukes, vassals of theDuchy of Saxony, formerly of Poland, and later ofDenmark and theHoly Roman Empire, controlled the area. In the course of the medievalOstsiedlung, the Ukrani wereChristianized andGermanized bySaxons, who founded monasteries, castles, and towns; the Slavic heritage is reflected in the many regional towns whose names end with "-ow" and "-in". The early centers of the territory were the Seehausen (Gramzow)Premonstratensian monastery and the city of Prenzlau, developed and grantedGerman town law byBarnim I, Duke of Pomerania, in 1234. Both the central city and the central monastery were set up beside the former Ukrani central burghs.
TheMargraviate of Brandenburg, holding claims on the Duchy of Pomerania, expanded north since the 1230s, taking her chances while theHouse of Pomerania was weakened. In the 1250Treaty of Landin, Barnim I conceded the Uckermark toJohn I andOtto III,Ascanian Margraves of Brandenburg.
After the extinction of the Ascanians, it was contested by several principalities. In 1319 it was seized byMecklenburg.[2] In 1320 the allied forces of the duchies ofPomerania andJawor clashed with Mecklenburg in the Uckermark.[3] In late 1320, a portion of the Uckermark was occupied bySaxe-Wittenberg, whereas the northernmost parts with Prenzlau andPasewalk remained under Pomeranian control.[4] War between Pomerania and Mecklenburg continued in 1322 with Pomerania recapturingTorgelow.[5] Mecklenburg lost her gains in a 1323 war with Brandenburg.
In thePomeranian-Brandenburg War from 1329–33, Pomerania was able to defeat Brandenburg atKremmer Damm. In the following years, control of the Uckermark was disputed by Brandenburg, Mecklenburg, and Pomerania.
The firstPeace of Prenzlau of 3 May 1448 established Brandenburg's control over most of the territory, except for the northernPasewalk andTorgelow region, which was to remain in Pomerania and is not considered to be a part of Uckermark anymore. Thoughanother Brandenburgian-Pomeranian war was fought in the area in the 1460s, Brandenburg's possession of most of the Uckermark was confirmed again in a secondPeace of Prenzlau on 30 July 1472, which wasrenewed on 26 June 1479.
The Uckermark became part ofBrandenburg-Prussia in 1618, but was ravaged during theThirty Years' War.Frederick William, the Great Elector, invited large numbers of FrenchHuguenots to resettle the Uckermark and his other territories by announcing theEdict of Potsdam. These Huguenots helped to develop the economy and culture of the Uckermark. In 1701 the territory became part of theKingdom of Prussia.
In 1815 after theNapoleonic Wars, the Uckermark became part of the PrussianProvince of Brandenburg. Previously divided into the administrative unitsUckerkreis andStolpirischer Kreis, in 1817 a third district was created in the area, the district of Angermünde, and the other two districts were renamed Prenzlau and Templin.
DuringWorld War II, Germany operated theOflag II-A and Oflag 80prisoner-of-war camps for Polish and Belgian officers in Prenzlau.[6]
The Uckermark was a battleground duringWorld War II, with many of its towns being severely damaged. As part ofEast Germany after the war, the Uckermark was divided betweenBezirk Neubrandenburg andBezirk Frankfurt (Oder). WithGerman reunification in 1990, most of the Uckermark voted to become part of the restored state of Brandenburg, with the exception of the smallStrasburg region becoming part of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.
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