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State of Germany
Schwerin Castle, seat of the state parliament
Schwerin Castle, seat of the state parliament
Flag of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
Coat of arms of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
Coat of arms
Deutschland Lage von Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.svg
Coordinates: 53°37′00″N 12°42′00″E﻿ / ﻿53.61667°N 12.70000°E﻿ / 53.61667; 12.70000
Country Germany
Capital Schwerin
 • Minister-President Erwin Sellering (SPD)
 • Governing parties SPD / CDU
 • Votes in Bundesrat 3 (of 69)
 • City 23,174 km2 (8,948 sq mi)
Population (2009-11-1)[1]
 • City 1,652,000
 • Density 71/km2 (180/sq mi)
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
ISO 3166 code DE-MV
Vehicle registration formerly: MP (1945–1947), SM (1948–1953)[2]
GDP/ Nominal €35.78 billion (2010)[citation needed]
NUTS Region DE8

Mecklenburg-Vorpommern [ˈmeːklənbʊʁk ˈfoːɐ̯pɔmɐn] (also known as Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania in English, or nicknamed MeckPomm or MV) is a federal state in northern Germany. The capital city is Schwerin. The state was formed through the merger of the historic regions of Mecklenburg and Vorpommern after World War II, dissolved in 1952 and recreated prior to the German reunification in 1990.

Mecklenburg-Vorpommern is the sixth largest German state by area, and the least densely populated. The coastline of the Baltic Sea, including islands such as Rügen and Usedom, as well as the Mecklenburg Lake District, feature many holiday resorts and unspoilt nature, making Mecklenburg-Vorpommern one of Germany's leading tourist destinations. Three of Germany's fourteen national parks are in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, in addition to several hundred nature conservation areas.

Major cities include Rostock, Schwerin, Neubrandenburg, Stralsund, Greifswald and Wismar. The University of Rostock (est. 1419) and the University of Greifswald (est. 1456) are amongst the oldest in Europe. Mecklenburg-Vorpommern was the site of the 33rd G8 summit in 2007.


Due to its lengthy name, the state is often abbreviated as MV or (colloquially) shortened to MeckPomm. In English, it is sometimes translated as Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania or literally Mecklenburg-Cispomerania.



Slavic ring fortress at Cape Arkona (Rügen Island)
Late medieval Brick Gothic architecture in Stralsund, today a World Heritage Site.

In the aftermath of World War II and the German re-unification in 1990, the state was constituted from the historic states of Mecklenburg and Vorpommern, both of which had long and rich independent histories.








In the Middle Ages, the area was ruled by the Pomeranian dukes as part of the Duchy of Pomerania. Pomerania was under Swedish rule after the Peace of Westphalia from 1648 until 1815 as Swedish Pomerania. Pomerania then became a province of Prussia in 1815. It remained a Prussian province until 1945.


Rostock was the major overseas port of the GDR and is one of the most important Baltic Sea ports today. (Rostock City Harbour during Hanse Sail, one of Europe's largest maritime events)

In May 1945, the armies of the Soviet Union and the Western allies met east of Schwerin. Following the Potsdam Agreement, the Western allies handed over Mecklenburg to the Soviets. Mecklenburg-Vorpommern was established on July 9, 1945, by order No. 5 of Red Army Marshal Georgy Zhukov, head of the Soviet Military Administration in Germany (SMAD), as the Province of Mecklenburg and West Pomerania (zapadnoi Pomeranii).[4]


On June 5, 1946, a law enacted by the Soviets constituted a provisional German administration (Beratende Versammlung, English: consulting assembly) under Soviet supervision on June 29, 1946. After the rigged elections of October 20, 1946, a Landtag replaced the Beratende Versammlung and created the constitution of January 16, 1947, for the Land Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. On April 18, 1947, the state's name was shortened to Land Mecklenburg. The GDR regime attempted to downplay the fact that Germany had made significant concessions to Poland after the war, including a ban on the use of any terms referring to these former territories. Mecklenburg was a constituent state of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) upon its formation in 1949. In 1952, the East Berlin government abandoned "states" in favour of districts (German: Bezirke). As a result of this, Mecklenburg and Vorpommern were replaced by three districts covering roughly the same area: Bezirk Rostock, Bezirk Schwerin and Bezirk Neubrandenburg. These were commonly known as the Nordbezirke (northern districts)) under the highly centralised GDR government. The changes also erased the historical border between Mecklenburg and Pomerania from the maps. The East German government developed the shipyards in the old Hanseatic ports (the largest being in Rostock and Stralsund), and also established a nuclear power plant in Lubmin near Greifswald.

Prior to German reunification in 1990, the postwar eastern states were reconstituted, including the use of the full historic term Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Since 1990, the state has undergone dramatic changes.


Constituent regions and districts of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, including the border of the historical Mecklenburg and Western Pomerania regions.

Location and urban areas[edit]




Schwerin, state capital of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern

Since 4 September 2011, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern is divided into six Kreise (districts) and two independent urban districts:

  1. Landkreis Rostock
  2. Ludwigslust-Parchim
  3. Mecklenburgische Seenplatte
  4. Nordwestmecklenburg
  5. Vorpommern-Greifswald
  6. Vorpommern-Rügen


  1. Rostock (HRO)
  2. Schwerin (SN)


Chalk cliffs at Jasmund National Park (island of Rügen)

The state's Baltic Sea coast features several islands, most notably Germany's two biggest islands Rügen and Usedom, but also a number of smaller islands such as Hiddensee and Poel. The southern part of the state is marked by a multitude of lakes, the largest of which is Lake Müritz.

The "state of a thousand lakes" (German: Land der tausend Seen) is mainly characterised by its unspoilt nature. Mecklenburg-Vorpommern's varied coastline also has many peninsulas such as Fischland-Darß-Zingst, lagoons and islands. Due to its clean air and idyllic setting, medical tourism[6] has become a notable tourism sector in the region.[6]

A total of 283 nature reserves, 110 landscape reserves and three of Germany's 14 national parks (see below) are scattered all over the state. Many lakes used for fishing and watersports (swimming, sailing, canoeing) are located in the Mecklenburg Lake District. As the state has Germany's longest coastline (2000km) and some of its largest islands and lakes, it is a popular place for windsurfing and sailing, e.g. the Hanse Sail event in Rostock.

National parks[edit]

Name Established Size (km²) Map Picture
Jasmund National Park 1990 30
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern is located in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
Kreidefelsen Ruegen.jpg
Müritz National Park 1990 318
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern is located in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
Western Pomerania Lagoon Area National Park 1990 805
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern is located in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
Darss Küste.jpg






Rural areas of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern are often characterized by Brick Gothic village churches and agricultural heritage, like brick homesteads, windmills, thatched roof houses, manor houses and castles.


Museums, art and theatres[edit]


The largest publicly funded theatres in the state are the Mecklenburg State Theatre, the Rostock People's Theatre, the Theatre of West Pomerania, with venues in Stralsund, Putbus and Greifswald, and the Mecklenburg State Theatre of Neustrelitz with venues in Neubrandenburg and Neustrelitz. All four theatres offer both drama and musical theatre as well as orchestral music. Other important theatres are the Ernst Barlach Theatre of Güstrow, the Mecklenburg State Theater of Parchim, the Anklam Theatre and the Wismar Theatre. There are also many small theatres on the Baltic coast and in individual artist's villages and resorts (e.g. the popular concert pavilion at the Baltic Sea). Since its growing importance for summer tourism, open air theatres and festivals become more common again as well, such as the Störtebeker Festival on the island of Rügen.

Theatre Visitors
Mecklenburg State Theatre, Schwerin 170,681
West Pomeranian Theatre and Symphony Orchestra, Greifswald/Stralsund 140,902
Neustrelitz/Neubrandenburg Theatre and Orchestre 120,042
Rostock People's Theatre 119,758
West Pomeranian State Theatre, Anklam 71,825
Mecklenburg State Theatre, Parchim 14,773






Low German dialects


Food and drinks[edit]



Religion in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern - 2010
religion percent
Roman Catholics
Other or none

The majority (79.4%) of the citizens of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania are irreligious or unaffiliated. As of 2010 the 17.3% are members of the Evangelical Church in Germany and 3.3% of the Catholic Church.[8]

Following the Christian Reformation, led in Germany by Martin Luther, as well as a period of Swedish rule, the traditional faith in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern is Protestantism, specifically Lutheranism. There are also a number of Catholics and people of other faiths. Both confessions are split at the old border; Mecklenburg belongs to the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Mecklenburg and the Archdiocese of Hamburg, West Pomerania forms the Pomeranian Evangelical Church (some parts however belonging to Brandenburg in this respect) or belongs to the Archdiocese of Berlin. As to the Protestants, a union to form a North Church (together with the North Elbians) is in progress. More than three quarters of the population are religiously unaffiliated.[citation needed]


Hochschule Wismar (University of Applied Sciences)

Universities and colleges[edit]


Also, there are four colleges / technological universities.




Schwerin - State capital and seat of the state Landtag of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern

Article 20 of the State Constitution states that the Landtag is the "site of political decision-making".[9] The Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Landtag is elected democratically by the citizens of the state who sit for one 5-year legislative period at a time.[9] At least four parties must form the Landtag. The seat of Landtag is located at Schwerin Castle in Schwerin.[9] The essential functions of the Landtag is to elect the Minister-President of the state; to discuss and decide on laws which have been proposed by the government, by a people's initiative or a petition for a referendum initiated directly by the people; and to control the state government.[9]


The executive is led by a cabinet, in turn led by a Minister-President, who is the official head of government. The election to determine the Minister-President is held no later than four weeks after the newly elected Landtag starts.[9]


The last election of the Landtag took place on 4 September 2011. As a result of the 2006 election, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern is governed by a Grand coalition of SPD and CDU.[10] Whether re-elected Erwin Sellering is going to continue this coalition after the Social Democrats' victory in the 2011 election is currently subject to negotiations.

2011 preliminary election results[edit]

Social Democrat Erwin Sellering, Minister President

Official preliminary results from the election of 4 September 2011 as of 5 September 2011 (without part of Rügen, where election is postponed for two weeks due to the death of a candidate):[11]

e • d Preliminary summary of the 2011 election results for the Landtag of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
Social Democratic Party (SPD) Social democracy 35.7% (+3.7%) 28 (+5)
Christian Democratic Union (CDU) Christian democracy 23.1% (-5.7%) 18 (-4)
Die Linke (formerly The Left Party.PDS) Democratic socialism 18.4% (+1.6%) 14 (+1)
Alliance '90/The Greens (Die Grünen) Green politics 8.4% (+5.0%) 6 (+6)
National Democratic Party (NPD) Far-right politics 6.0% (-1.3%) 5 (-1)
Free Democratic Party (FDP) Classical liberalism 2.7% (-6.9%) 0 (-7)
All Others 5.7% (+1.8%) 0 (±0)
Total 100.0%   71 100.0%


Airports in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania

The labour market[edit]


In Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, approximately 732,200 people were gainfully employed in 2008 with 657,100 of them were white and blue collar workers.[13] About 4,200 new jobs were created in 2007.[13] Employees worked an average of 1,455 hours a year.[13] The number of self-employed did not change in 2008.[13] Three out of every four of all people in work are employed in the service sector.[13]


Sellin on the Island of Rügen

Mecklenburg-Vorpommern is the top destination for inner-German tourism and gains importance for international tourism. The main tourist regions are:

As a relict of its rich history, nearly 2,000 castles, palaces and manor houses exist in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, many of which are used as venues for public events like concerts and festivals, such as Festpiele MV (a classical music festival).

Medical tourism[6] based on the clean air and idyllic settings by the Baltic Sea has a growing importance to the regional tourism industry.[6]



Notable people[edit]

Caspar David Friedrich in his studio (1819) - one of the world's most important 19th century artists, a primary representative of Romanticism.
Angela Merkel's constituency is the central northern part of MV.



See also[edit]


  1. ^ "State population". Portal of the Federal Statistics Office Germany (in German). Retrieved 2007-04-25. 
  3. ^ Gesellschaft für Deutsche Sprache (1990), Der Sprachdienst (in German) 34, Wiesbaden, p. 128 
  6. ^ a b c d "Branche mit Zukunft". Die Welt. 2009-05-07. Retrieved 2009-05-08.  (German)
  7. ^ [1] Visitor nos. at public theatres in M-V
  9. ^ a b c d e "State Parliament". Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Retrieved March 30, 2011. 
  10. ^
  11. ^ 2011 preliminary Landtag election results at SPON
  12. ^ Unemployment in MV, Sept '12
  13. ^ a b c d e "Employment and Labour Market". Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Retrieved March 30, 2011. 

External links[edit]
