Uckermark is a Kreis (district) in the northeastern part of Brandenburg, Germany. Neighboring districts are (from the south clockwise) Barnim and Oberhavel, the districts Mecklenburg-Strelitz and Uecker-Randow in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and to the east Poland. The district is the largest district of Germany areawise.
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2 History 3 Coat of arms 4 Towns and municipalities 5 External links |
Geography
The region is named after the Uecker river, which is a tributary of the Oder. Its source is close to Angermünde, from where it runs northward to Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The Oder river, forming the Polish border, bounds the district in the east. The district is characterised by 600 lakes and 2800 km of rivers. Rare animals still live in the lakeland: ospreys, beavers and otters.
The western parts of the Lower Oder Valley National Park (Nationalpark Unteres Odertal) are located in Uckermark.
History
Uckermark was always a sparsely populated region. From the 6th to the 12th century Slavic peoples settled in the area; then invaders from Brandenburg came to Uckermark and founded castles and towns. In medieval times the region was claimed by Pomerania and Mecklenburg. In 1479 a treaty awarded Uckermark once and for all to Brandenburg. It was later divided into the two administrative units Uckerkreis and Stolpirischer Kreis. In 1817 a third district was created in the area, the district Angermünde, and the other two districts were renamed to Prenzlau and Templin.
The district Uckermark was created in 1993 by merging the previous districts Angermünde, Prenzlau and Templin, as well as the previously district-free city Schwedt.
Coat of arms
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| valign="top" |The main feature of the coat of arms are the brick buildings of the district - the churches of Prenzlau and Angermünde. The city wall below remembers the many wars of medieval times. The two circular windows in the church tower symbolizes the division into two districts before the reform of 1817, the three gothic windows represent this division. On the city wall are two shields - one with the griffin of Pomerania, the other with the eagle of Brandenburg. The wavy lines in the upper part represent the main rivers in the district, Oder, Randow and Ucker. The yellow color of the background represents the agriculture of the district, as the Uckermark was the "granary" of Brandenburg. The coat of arms were created by Hans Benthin, and were officially granted on November 8, 1995.
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Towns and municipalities
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¹ administrated inside a Amt
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External links