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MECKLENBURG. 



MECKLENBURG. 



appearance about many of the lakes, especially Lake Malchin, and 

 near the sea-coast. The climate is healthy; but the weather is variable 

 and frequently foggy, and the winter often very cold. 



Natural Prodactiom. — Agriculture is the chief employment of the 

 inhabitants. Wheat, rye, tarley, oil, seeds, oats, peas, and vetches are 

 very abundant; the wheat is grown for exportation. The forests 

 produce oak, beech, and fir-timber of excellent quality. The horses 

 are light and active, show a good deal of blood, and are superior 

 generally speaking to those met with in the rest of North Germany. 

 Horned-cattle and sheep are numerous, and the quantity of butter 

 made and the wool sold is very considerable. The wool fairs are held 

 in Rostock, Gaatrow, and Neu-Brandenburg in June. Swine are 

 abundant. In parts wild boars, stags and deer, bustards, partridges, 

 snipes, wild geese, and duclcs are numerous. The geese of Mecklenburg 

 are celebrated for their size and quality. Fish abound both in the 

 sea and in all the lakes. The country is poor in minerals, and no 

 mines of any kind are worked. 



Trade and Manufactures. — The manufactures are inconsiderable, 

 but great pains are taken to promote the woollen manufacture. 

 Favourably situated as the country is between the Baltic and the 

 Elbe, its commerce is far more important than its manufactures. The 

 exports consist of the farm products before named, together with 

 oil-cake, rags, bones, kc. ; the imports of wine, spirits, sugar, molasses, 

 coffee, iron, fish, manufactured goods, hemp, flax, oil, cheese, chalk 

 for manure, pitch, &c. The revenue of Mecklenburg-Schwerin 

 amounted to 3,251,171 thalers, the expenditure to 3,439,561 thalers 

 in 1852-3. 



The southern part of Mecklenburg is traversed by the Berlin and 

 Hamburg railway, from the Hagenow station on which a line 71 miles 

 in length runs north-eastward through Schwerin and Biitzow to 

 Rostock, with branches to GUstrow and Wismar. 



Rdigion and Education. — The inhabitants in Mecklenburg-Schwerin, 

 who are of Vandal and Slavonic origin, profess the Lutheran religion, 

 with the exception of 687 Catholics, 181 Calvinista, and 3232 Jews; 

 and in Mecklenburg-Strelitz about 800 Jews and 50 Catholica The 

 sovereigns are the beads of the Lutheran Church. There is a university 

 at Rostock with faculties of Lutheran theology, law, medicine, and 

 philosophy, 37 professors, and about 105 students. There are 

 gymnasia for Lutheran pupils in Schwerin, Parchim, Giistrow, Ros- 

 tock, Wiimar, Neu-Streiitz, Neu-Brandenburg, and Friedland; and 

 elementary education has been widely diffused since the reign of 

 Ftaderick Francis. 



The military force of Mecklenburg-Schwerin in time of peace is 

 2665 officers and men ; in time of war 4572 officers and men. The 

 peace establishment of Mecklenburg-Strelitz amounts to 742 men. 

 Their contingents to the army of the Confederation exceed their 

 ordinary establishment, that of Mecklenburg-Schwerin being 3580, 

 and that of Mecklenburg-Strelitz 718 men. In the full council 

 Schwerin has two votes and Strelitz one ; in the select council they 

 have together one vote, namely, the 14th. 



Form of Oovemmenl. — The grnnd-dukes, assisted by a ministry of 

 state, have the whole executive power, but share with the estates the 

 legislative power and the right of imposing taxes. The grand-dukes 

 indeed govern their respective dominions independently of each other, 

 but the estates of the two grand-duchics arc inseparably united by a 

 compact made in l.'>23, called the Landus-Union. The clergy, formerly 

 the first estate, baring been excluded after the Reformation, the 

 assembly has since consisted of two estates. The first is called the 

 eqaestrian order, which includes all the owners of noble estates 

 (whether they are noblemen or not). They have great privileges and 

 immunities, and are rich and powerful. There are about 572 land- 

 owners who have seats and votes in the assembly. The second estate 

 consists of the deputies of the 44 towns. They meet annually at 

 Sternberg and Malchin alternately. In general above 200 members 

 attend. The grand-duke alone has the right of introducing such 

 measures ('propositions') as he deems necessary. The estates may 

 accept or reject them ; and they may likewise state grievances, and 

 petition for remediei. 



Mecklenburg was in ancient times inhabited by the Vand<ils. On 

 their emigrating to the south they were succeeded by Slavonic tribes, 

 of whom the most powerful were the Obotriti, to whose prince, 

 Heiniich Burewin, son of Pridislaus, Henry the Lion gave his daughter 

 Matilda. Pridislaus was declared in 1170 a prince of the empire, and 

 was the ancestor of the succeeding sovereigns of Mecklenburg. These 

 princes received the ducal title from the emperor Charles IV. in 1340, 

 and assumed that of grand-duke on joining the German confederation 

 in 1816. The house of Mecklenburg is the oldest reigning family in 

 Europe — perhaps in the world, 



I. Mecklenburg-Schwerin is divided into the circles of Mecklenburg, 

 Wenden, the principality of Schwerin, Rostock, and the lordship of 

 Wismar. It contains an area of 4824 square miles, and had a popu- 

 lation of 542,763 in 1852. 



Biitzow, the capital of the principality of Schwerin, is situated on 

 the Wamow, 19 miles by railway S.3.W. from Rostock, and has about 

 4000 inhabitants, who manufacture paper and playing-cards. 



ChMroa, capital of Wenden district, and one of the finest towns in 

 Uia graod-ducfay, was formerly the residence of the princes. It is 

 sitni^ed on the left bank of the Nebel, 27 miles by railway S.K from 



Rostock, and has about 9000 inhabitants. The most remarkable 

 buildings are the cathedral, containing some costly monuments of the 

 reigning family; and the old palace (now a house of correction), 

 described as the finest princely residence of the middle ages in Meck- 

 lenburg. Giistrow is a walled town, and a place of some commercial 

 importance. There are several breweries, distilleries, and factories in 

 the town. 



Roitock, capital of the circle of Rostock, a trading port, and the 

 largest town in the grand-duchy, is situated in 54° 5' N. lat., 12° 20' 

 E. long., on an eminence on the left bank of the river Wamow, 131 miles 

 by railway from Hamburg, 187 miles by railway from Berlin, and has 

 about 22,000 inhabitants. It is surrounded by old walls, and consists 

 of the old, the middle, and the new towns. On the whole the old 

 town is most irregular, the middle town the handsomest, and the new 

 town the most regularly built. The principal buildings are the arch- 

 ducal palace, the university, the court of justice, the town-hall, and 

 the churches of St. Mary and St. Peter — the former contains the tomb 

 of Grotius, and possesses one of the finest organs in northern Germany ; 

 the latter, built in the 12th century, is remarkable for its fine steeole, 

 420 feet in height. The university, founded in 1419, has 23 professors, 

 and possesses a library of 120,000 volumes rich in Oriental and Spanish 

 literature. Rostock is the principal trading port of Mecklenburg, and 

 possesses about 150 ships. The chief exports are com, wool, oil-cake, 

 rags, bones, flax, horses, cattle, provisions, &c. : the imports, colonial 

 produce, wine, manufactured goods, and bay-salt. The manufactures 

 comprise woollen-cloth, chicory, soap, beer, spirits, refined sugar, 

 vinegar, chemical products, 4c. Between 200 and 300 vessels belong 

 to the port, which admits only those of 8 or 9 feet draught ; larger 

 vessels load and discharge at Warnemiinde, at the mouth of the War- 

 now, 9 miles N. from Rostock : 435 vessels cleared from Warnemiinde 

 in 1849. 



Schwerin, capital of the grand-duchy and of Mecklenburg district, 

 is situated in 53" 45' N. lat, 11" 30' E. long., on the western shore of 

 the lake Schwerin, 55 miles by railway S.\V. from Rostock, and has 

 about 18,000 inhabitants. The town has a striking and important 

 appearance when viewed from a distance. It is inclosed by walls 

 pierced by seven gates. On a nearer view however it is a long, 

 irregular, and plain town, containing a few fine buildings : among 

 iisem are the grand-ducal palace, which is built on an island in the 

 lake, and is an old fortified structure, containing a good picture-gallery 

 and a museum ; a modern building appropriated to state business ; 

 and an old gothie cathedral, 305 feet in length and 135 feet in breadth. 

 There are also Lutheran and Catholic churches, a synagogue, and a 

 mint. The manufactures, of vinegar, doth, pottery, and tobacco, are 

 not of much importance. 



Witmar, a fortified sea-port on Wallfisch Bay, at the mouth of the 

 Stuhr, in 53° 53' N. lat., 1 1" 35' E. long., 22 miles N. from Schwerin, lias 

 about 1 2,000 inhabitants. The harbour is not deep, but it is considered 

 one of the safest in the Baltic. Wismar possesses from 60 to 70 vessels ; 

 the entries into the harbour in 1849 numbered, exclusive of steamers, 

 388 ships, carrying 16,473 tons; the departures were 343 vessels, 

 carrying 17,631 tons. The harbour is admirably sheltered on all siiles; 

 the islands of Poel and Wallfisch lie across the entrance, and screen it 

 from the northerly winds. The town is tolerably well built, the 

 streets are broad and well paved. The principal buildings are 

 three gothie churches, a handsome modern towu-liall, and a line lofty 

 school-house. Tlie exports consist chiefly of com ; the imports are 

 mostly Swedish productions. Fishing, agriculture, and the manu- 

 facture of tobacco, sail-cloth, playing-cards, beer, spirits, and linen 

 employ a large portion of the population. Wismar was bought by 

 SAwerin in 1803 of the Swedish government for 1,200,000 dollars. 

 Wismar was a member of the Hanseatic League. 



Among the other towns of Schwerin are the following : — Parchim 

 situated on the Elbe, 20 miles S.E. from Schwerin, is a walled town 

 with about 7000 inhabitants, who manufacture woollen-cloth, tobacco 

 leather, chicory, &c. LudtcUjilust, a market-town, and station on the 

 Berlin-Hamburg railway, 20 miles S. by E. from Schwerin, has a fine 

 palace, in which the grand-duke resided till 1837, a tobacco factory, 

 and about 6000 inhabitants. Boitzenliurg, IS miles by railway W. 

 from Hagenow, stands on the right bank of the Elbe, the Mecklen- 

 burg tolls on which river are paid here. The town has ship-building 

 docks, a considerable transit trade, and 3300 inhabitants. Dobberan 

 a bathing village near the Baltic coast, with a population of 3200. 



II. Mecklenburg-Strelitz lies east of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and 

 has an area of 764 square miles, with a population in 1851 of 99 628. 



Neu-Brandenbury, a pretty circular town, with broad straight streets 

 is built near the Tollen-see; manufactures of wooUon-cloth cards' 

 paper, and tobacco are carried on. The grand-duke has a palace in 

 the town and a country-house in the neighbourhood. There is an 

 annual wool-fair; and horse-races are held in the vicinity: pomdation 

 6000. ' « J I 



Slargard (called Old Stargard), is a small town with about 1400 

 inhabitants, a few miles S. from Neu-Brandenburg. 



Strelitz, capital of the grand-duchy, situated in 53° 21' N. lat., 

 13' 10' E. long., consists of the old and new towns, which though a 

 mile apart form one city. Old Strelitz is the seat of leather, tobacco, 

 and pipe manufactures; and four annual fairs are held there. New 

 Strelitz, founded in 1783, is built in the form of a star, with eight 



