Waren (Müritz) (also Waren an der Müritz) is a town and climatic spa in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It was the capital of the former district of Müritz (Kreis Müritz) until the district reform of 2011. It is situated at the northern end of Lake Müritz, approximately 40 kilometres west of Neubrandenburg. Waren is home to the offices of the sub-district (Amt) of Seenlandschaft Waren, although the town itself is independent of any Amt. Its borough is the second largest in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern by area.
Geography
Waren lies on Lake Müritz, the largest inland lake lying entirely within Germany, which has an area of . It also lies on the shores of several smaller lakes: the Kölpinsee, the Tiefwarensee, the Feisnecksee, the Melzer See and the Waupacksee. In the middle of the town is the Herrensee.
Subdivisions
The town's borough includes the town of Waren (Müritz) itself, as well as the villages of Warenshof, Alt Falkenhagen, Neu Falkenhagen, Jägerhof, Rügeband, Schwenzin, Eldenholz and Eldenburg.
The town is divided into the following quarters:
Papenberg
Altstadt
Waren-Ost
Waren-Nord
Waren-West
Nesselberg
Ecktannen
Kamerun
Werdersiedlung
History
First records and name
Waren (along with Gnoien, Bützow and several other settlements that cannot be placed) was mentioned as early as 150 A.D. by the Alexandrine geographer, Claudius Ptolemy, (as Virunum) and is thus one of the first places on the territory of the modern-day state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania to be recorded.
The name of the town could be derived from the Slavic language and mean place of crows or ravens.
Its name may also come from the Germanic tribe of Warini. The name was formerly spelt Wahren, Warne or, in Latin, Warnae. In 1914 the place was given the official name Waren (Müritz) (Müritz, the name of the lake, comes from the Wend word Morcze = German: Meer = "sea").
Middle Ages
The medieval town was founded around 1260 on the trade route from Stargard Land to Wismar near a castle and a Slavic village by settlers from Westphalia. The original town sprang up around St. George's Church, on the Old Market (Alter Markt) in the Old Town (Altstadt). St. George's was first mentioned in 1273. On Alter Markt (today: Alter Markt 14) was the first town hall. A little later the New Town (Neustadt) was founded around St. Mary's Church, which was merged in 1325 with the Old Town. Its new centre was New Market (Neue Markt), which joined the Old and New Towns. A town wall ran around the town.
In 1292 Waren was described for the first time as civitas (which meant it now had town rights) and from 1331 as oppidum (small town). In 1306 the town was given fishing rights on Lake Müritz.
From 1347 to 1425 Waren was the Residenz of a branch of the House of Werle who were part of the Obodrites family. The Werle castle probably stood south of St. Mary's on Burgstraße.
Early modern period
As a result of major fires in 1568, 1637, 1671, 1673 and 1699 and the Thirty Years' War the town was frequently devastated.
The first town hall stood on the Alter Markt and then in the middle on the Neuer Markt. The present town hall on Neuer Markt was built from 1791 to 1797 and extended in 1857.
19th century
In 1806 there was fighting in the town and surrounding area between Blücher and the French.
The canalisation of the River Elde (1798–1803 and 1831–1837) and the construction of the Bolter Canal (1831–1837) resulted in an economic boom in the town. In 1839 a vocational school was founded. In 1845 the first public baths opened on the Müritz. In 1862 the Birkenstädt Brewery was founded in present-day Müritzstraße by the town harbour; the brewery closed again in 1920. In 1869 the grammar school (Gymnasium) opened, initially as a progymnasium, (today it is the Richard Wossidlo Grammar School). In 1848–49 the country road (Chaussee) from Malchow via Waren to Neubrandenburg was built and, with its connexion to the Waren–Malchin railway in 1879, Waren developed into a transport hub. In 1885 the Mecklenburg Southern Railway from Parchim via Waren to Neubrandenburg was opened and, in 1886, the Lloyd Railway from Neustrelitz via Waren to Rostock followed suit.