Güstrow

Güstrow


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Coat of arms
Güstrow

Coordinates: 53°47′38″N 12°10′35″E / 53.79389°N 12.17639°E / 53.79389; 12.17639Coordinates: 53°47′38″N 12°10′35″E / 53.79389°N 12.17639°E / 53.79389; 12.17639
Country Germany
State Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
District Rostock
Government
  Mayor Arne Schuldt (Ind.)
Area
  Total 70.86 km2 (27.36 sq mi)
Population (2013-12-31)[1]
  Total 28,540
  Density 400/km2 (1,000/sq mi)
Time zone CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes 18273
Dialling codes 03843
Vehicle registration LRO
Website www.guestrow.de

Güstrow (German pronunciation: [ˈɡʏstʁo], Latin Gustrovium) is a town in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany. It is capital of the Rostock district (Rostock itself is a district-free city and regiopolis).

It has a population of 28,600 (2012) and is the seventh largest town in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Since 2006 Güstrow has had the official suffix Barlachstadt.

The town is known for its renaissance Güstrow Palace, the old town and its brick gothic cathedral with Barlach's Floating Angel sculpture.[2]

Geography

Güstrow is 45 kilometers south of Rostock at the Nebel, an arm of the Warnow. The Bützow-Güstrow-Kanal (Kanal=channel) is a navigable connection to the Warnow and used by water tourists. There are five lakes (Inselsee, Sumpfsee, Parumer See, Grundloser See and Gliner See (See = lake) and several forests around Güstrow.

History

The name Güstrow comes from the Polabian Guščerov and means lizard place.[3]

In 1219 the Wendish castle Güstrowe was built where the renaissance palace stands now. Güstrow is said to be founded by Heinrich Borwin II, a grandson of Henry the Lion, between 1219 and 1226 and was first mentioned in 1228 in the deed of city rights of Schwerin, confirmed by the sons of Heinrich Borwin II, who donated the cathedral as collegiate church in 1226. Güstrow was a residence of the lords of Werle from 1229 until 1436. In 1441 the first privileged shooting society of Güstrow was founded.

The host desecration-trial of 1330 ended with the burning of 23 Jews and the destruction of the synagogue. The Kapelle des heiligen Bluts (Chapel of the Holy Blood) was built on the site of the synagogue. In 1503, 1508 and in 1512 fires destroyed the town and in 1556 the palace burned down.

After the division of Mecklenburg (1621) it became the capital of the small Duchy of Mecklenburg-Güstrow. (Albrecht von Wallenstein, the imperial general in the Thirty Years' War, was a duke of Mecklenburg-Güstrow.)

In 1695 the last duke of Mecklenburg-Güstrow died, and the duchy ceased to exist. Güstrow became a part of the Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin.

The famous sculptor Ernst Barlach lived in Güstrow from 1910 to his death in 1938.

Sights

There are several notable sights in Güstrow:

Gallery

Education

Transport

City buses are run by OVG (Omnibusverkehrsgesellschaft Güstrow).

People

Twin cities and towns

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Güstrow.

(alphabetic list)

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Güstrow.

References

  1. "Bevölkerungsstand der Kreise, Ämter und Gemeinden in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern 31.12.2013". Statistisches Amt Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (in German). 23 September 2014.
  2. European Route of Brick Gothic Güstrow Cathedral
  3. Ernst Eichler: Städtenamenbuch der DDR. Leipzig 1988, p. 125.
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