Schwedt
Encyclopedia
Schwedt is a city in Brandenburg
, Germany
. It is the largest city of the district Uckermark near the Oder
river on the border with Poland
.
at the German-Polish border. Across the river and the border, about 10 km to the southeast, is the Polish town of Chojna
(Königsberg/Neumark). The nearest German towns are Angermünde
(18 km to the west) and Gartz
(18 km down the Oder).
Schwedt has one of the largest oil refineries (PCK Raffinerie GmbH) in Germany and is the largest location of paper industry in Europe. Most industries were located in the formerly remote town of Schwedt during socialist 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 after German 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 of Plattenbau housings in order to fight flat vacancies and urban decay.
, Zützen
(Germany
), Gartz
(Germany
), Penkun
(Germany
), Szczecin
(Poland
), Gryfino
(Poland
), Cedynia
(Poland
), Chojna
(Poland
), Mieszkowice
(Poland
), Moryń
(Poland
), Trzcińsko-Zdrój
(Poland
), Myślibórz
(Poland
), Pyrzyce
(Poland
)
with: Koszalin
, Poland
Brandenburg
Brandenburg is one of the sixteen federal-states of Germany. It lies in the east of the country and is one of the new federal states that were re-created in 1990 upon the reunification of the former West Germany and East Germany. The capital is Potsdam...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. It is the largest city of the district Uckermark near the Oder
Oder
The Oder is a river in Central Europe. It rises in the Czech Republic and flows through western Poland, later forming of the border between Poland and Germany, part of the Oder-Neisse line...
river on the border with Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
.
Overview
Schwedt is an agrarian city at the edge of the Lower Oder Valley National ParkLower Oder Valley National Park
The Lower Oder Valley International Park is a shared German-Polish nature reserve. It comprises the western banks of the Oder river within the Uckermark district in the German state of Brandenburg as well as the steep eastern banks in the Gryfino and Police counties of the Polish West Pomeranian...
at the German-Polish border. Across the river and the border, about 10 km to the southeast, is the Polish town of Chojna
Chojna
Chojna is a small town in western Poland in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship. It lies approximately 60 km south of Szczecin and participates in the Douzelage....
(Königsberg/Neumark). The nearest German towns are Angermünde
Angermünde
Angermünde is a town in the district of Uckermark in the state of Brandenburg, Germany. It is located on the Mündesee, 43 miles northeast of Berlin on the Berlin–Szczecin railway...
(18 km to the west) and Gartz
Gartz
Gartz is a town in the Uckermark district in Brandenburg, Germany. It is located on the West bank of the Oder River, about 30 km south of Szczecin .-Overview:...
(18 km down the Oder).
Schwedt has one of the largest oil refineries (PCK Raffinerie GmbH) in Germany and is the largest location of paper industry in Europe. Most industries were located in the formerly remote town of Schwedt during socialist rule
German Democratic Republic
The German Democratic Republic , informally called East Germany by West Germany and other countries, was a socialist state established in 1949 in the Soviet zone of occupied Germany, including East Berlin of the Allied-occupied capital city...
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
Plattenbau
Plattenbau is the German word for a building whose structure is constructed of large, prefabricated concrete slabs. The word is a compound of Platte and Bau...
) dating from the era. As many jobs were lost after German reunification
German reunification
German reunification was the process in 1990 in which the German Democratic Republic joined the Federal Republic of Germany , and when Berlin reunited into a single city, as provided by its then Grundgesetz constitution Article 23. The start of this process is commonly referred by Germans as die...
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 of Plattenbau housings in order to fight flat vacancies and urban decay.
Local districts
Blumenhagen, Kunow, Criewen, Heinersdorf, Hohenfelde, Kummerow, Gatow, Stendell, former town VierradenVierraden
Vierraden was the name of a small town in the northeast of the German state of Brandenburg.On October 26, 2003, it was incorporated into the city of Schwedt , which is about 3 kilometers to the south...
, Zützen
Nearest cities and towns
VierradenVierraden
Vierraden was the name of a small town in the northeast of the German state of Brandenburg.On October 26, 2003, it was incorporated into the city of Schwedt , which is about 3 kilometers to the south...
(Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
), Gartz
Gartz
Gartz is a town in the Uckermark district in Brandenburg, Germany. It is located on the West bank of the Oder River, about 30 km south of Szczecin .-Overview:...
(Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
), Penkun
Penkun
Penkun is a town in the Vorpommern-Greifswald district, in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany. It is situated 25 km east of Prenzlau, and 23 km southwest of Szczecin.-Towns near Penkun:* Szczecin City * Eggesin...
(Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
), Szczecin
Szczecin
Szczecin , is the capital city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in Poland. It is the country's seventh-largest city and the largest seaport in Poland on the Baltic Sea. As of June 2009 the population was 406,427....
(Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
), Gryfino
Gryfino
Gryfino is a town in Pomerania, northwestern Poland with 22,500 inhabitants . It is also the capital of Gryfino County in West Pomeranian Voivodeship , previously in Szczecin Voivodeship ....
(Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
), Cedynia
Cedynia
Cedynia is a town in Poland, in West Pomeranian Voivodeship, in Gryfino County. It lies close to the Oder River, near the border with Germany, and is the westernmost town in Poland...
(Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
), Chojna
Chojna
Chojna is a small town in western Poland in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship. It lies approximately 60 km south of Szczecin and participates in the Douzelage....
(Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
), Mieszkowice
Mieszkowice
Mieszkowice is a town in Gryfino County, West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland, about east of the Oder river and the border with Germany...
(Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
), Moryń
Moryn
Moryń is a town in Gryfino County, West Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland, with 1,580 inhabitants .The English author Christopher Isherwood describes spending several months in the spring and summer of 1932 in Mohrin in chapter five of his biography Christopher & His Kind...
(Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
), Trzcińsko-Zdrój
Trzcinsko-Zdrój
Trzcińsko-Zdrój is a town in Gryfino County, West Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland, with 2,591 inhabitants .-External links:*...
(Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
), Myślibórz
Myslibórz
Myślibórz is a city in north-west Poland, in West Pomeranian Voivodeship. It is the capital of the Powiat of Myślibórz...
(Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
), Pyrzyce
Pyrzyce
Pyrzyce , is a town in Pomerania, north-western Poland, with 13,331 inhabitants Capital of the Pyrzyce County in West Pomeranian Voivodeship , previously in Szczecin Voivodeship .-History:...
(Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
)
Demography
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Notable people
- Jörg HoffmannJörg Hoffmann (swimmer)Jörg Hoffmann is a former freestyle swimmer from Germany, who won the bronze medal in the 1500 m freestyle at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain...
– Freestyle swimmer - Britta SteffenBritta SteffenBritta Steffen is a German swimmer who specializes in freestyle, who is the current holder of the world record in women's 50 and 100 metre freestyle....
– Freestyle swimmer - a current holder of the world record in women's 50 and 100 metre freestyle.
International relations
Schwedt is twinnedTown twinning
Twin towns and sister cities are two of many terms used to describe the cooperative agreements between towns, cities, and even counties in geographically and politically distinct areas to promote cultural and commercial ties.- Terminology :...
with: Koszalin
Koszalin
Koszalin ; is the largest city of Middle Pomerania in north-western Poland. It is located 12 km south of the Baltic Sea coast. Koszalin is also a county-status city and capital of Koszalin County of West Pomeranian Voivodeship since 1999...
, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...