Bützow

Town in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany

Town in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany

Bützow is a town in the district of Rostock in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in north-eastern Germany, centered on Bützower See.

History

The town was first mentioned in 1171. From 1815 to 1918 Bützow was part of the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, from 1871 within the German Empire.

From 1933 to 1945, during Nazi rule and World War II, a Nazi prison was operated in the Dreibergen district with multiple forced labour subcamps located in various places in the region.^[2] After the war, the town was part of East Germany until 1990.

On 5 May 2015, the town was struck by an F3 tornado which caused severe damage to many buildings, including the local hospital.^[3] This tornado grew to 1.5km wide (1500m)

Culture

Medieval Bützow Castle is located in Bützow. The town also has a medieval Brick Gothic church, which contains an altarpiece made by the Master of the Bützow Altarpiece (1503). Bützow also has one of the last German monuments dedicated to Lenin, a memorial stone located at Leninring.^[4]

Notable people

• Dietrich Ludwig Gustav Karsten (1768-1810), mineralogist
• Karl Johann Bernhard Karsten (1782–1853), mineralogist.^[5]
• Else Hirsch (1889-1943), Jewish teacher and member of the German Resistance

Sport

• Eckhard Martens (born 1951), rower, team silver medallist at the 1972 Summer Olympics
• Torsten Fröhling (born 1966), soccer player and football coach; played 109 games
• Andrea Philipp (born 1971), sprinter and three time Olympic competitor

People who have worked in Bützow

• Sophie Charlotte of Hesse-Kassel (1678-1749), Duchess of Mecklenburg, lived in Bützow and founded the German Reformed Church
• Wenceslaus Johann Gustav Karsten (1732-1787), mathematician, grew up locally with his grandfather; twice rector of the University of Bützow

References

1. "Bevölkerungsstand der Kreise, Ämter und Gemeinden 2022" (XLS) (in German). Statistisches Amt Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. 2023.
2. "Zuchthaus und Strafgefängnis Dreibergen". Bundesarchiv.de (in German). Retrieved 30 October 2021.
3. "Tornado as violent storms batter northern Germany". BBC News Online. Retrieved 6 May 2015.
4. https://leninisstillaround.com/2017/04/23/residents-save-lenin-monument/ checked 26.1.2020
5. "Karsten, Karl Johann Bernhard" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 15 (11th ed.). 1911. p. 683.