Ducherow | |
|---|---|
 | |
 Flag  Coat of arms | |
Location of Ducherow
within Vorpommern-Greifswald district
| |
 Location of Ducherow | |
  Ducherow  Ducherow | |
| Coordinates: 53°46′N 13°47′E / 53.767°N 13.783°E | |
| Country | Germany |
| State | Mecklenburg-Vorpommern |
| District | Vorpommern-Greifswald |
| Municipal assoc. | Anklam-Land |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Martin Weitmann (Ind.) |
| Area | |
• Total | 77.53 km2 (29.93 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 4 m (13 ft) |
| Population (2023-12-31)[1] | |
• Total | 2,329 |
| • Density | 30.04/km2 (77.80/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+01:00 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (CEST) |
| Postal codes | 17398 |
| Dialling codes | 039726 |
| Vehicle registration | VG |
| Website | www.amt-anklam-land.de |
Ducherow (German pronunciation: [ˈduːxəʁoː]) is a municipality in the Vorpommern-Greifswald district, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. The municipality consists of 10 officially recognized villages (Ortsteile), three of which used to constitute separate municipalities until 2009 and 2012 respectively. The municipal core and main settlement is Ducherow, which has a railway station that is designated as a cultural heritage monument.
Geography
The Ducherow lies to the west of the Ueckermünde Heath within the historical region of Pomerania. The main settlement lies around 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) south-east of Anklam and 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) west of Ueckermünde, as well as 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) south-west of the Szczecin Lagoon.
Ducherow as a municipality consists of Ducherow itself and three other former municipalities that were annexed into Ducherow. These are: Neuendorf A, Löwitz, and Rathebur. These former municipalities and Ducherow are officially subdivided into villages (Ortsteile), officially recognized are the following: Ducherow, Busow, Kurtshagen, Löwitz, Marienthal, Neuendorf A, Rathebur, Sophienhof, Schmuggerow und Schwerinsburg.[2] The municipality further includes the two non-recognized settlements Schmuggerow-Ausbau and Ducherow-Ausbau.
Transport
Ducherow is connected by road via the Bundesstraße 109, which bisects the municipality from south-east to north-west, and runs though the main settlement. Ducherow lies on the Angermünde–Stralsund railway to which the municipality is connected through the Ducherow railway station. This station is serviced by the RE3 and RE10 regional express trains which connect the municipality to cities like Berlin, Angermünde, Eberswalde and Stralsund.
History
From 1648 to 1720, Ducherow was part of Swedish Pomerania. From 1720 to 1945, it was part of the Prussian Province of Pomerania, from 1945 to 1952 of the State of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, from 1952 to 1990 of the Bezirk Neubrandenburg of East Germany and since 1990 again of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.
The municipalities of Löwitz and Rathebur were annexed into Ducherow on 1 June 2009.[3] Another municipality, Neuendorf A, was annexed into Ducherow on 1 January 2012.[4]
Politics
Municipal council
Officially, the municipal council of Ducherow has 12 seats, in the last election however, independent Martin Weitmann won three seats, leaving two seats vacant, de facto shrinking the actual size of the council to 10 seats. The most recent elections were the 2024 Mecklenburg-Vorpommern municipal elections, held on 9 June 2024, with the following result:[5]
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | +/- | Seats | +/- | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michael Scharff | Wählergruppe Bündnis Ducherow | 1,171 | 34.21 | New | 4 |  4
| |
| Robert Hoffmann | Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) | 1,037 | 30.30 |  12,30
|
3 | 2
| |
| Martin Weitmann | Independent | 755 | 22.06 | 13,66
|
3 (1) | 2
| |
| Kai Mosler | Vorwärts Ducherow (VD) | 261 | 7.62 | New | 1 | 1
| |
| Ramona Behm | Independent | 199 | 5.81 | 0.19
|
1 | 1
| |
| Valid votes | 3,423 | 92.99 | 4.94
|
||||
| Invalid votes | 250 | 6.79 | 0.60
|
||||
| Electorate/voter turnout | 1,227 | 60.74 | 12.47
|
||||
| Source: Gemeindevertretungswahl Ducherow 09.06.2024 | |||||||
Mayor
The current mayor of Ducherow is Martin Weitmann, an independent, who was elected with 71.32% (848 votes) during the 2024 Mecklenburg-Vorpommern municipal elections. His only opponent was Robert Hoffmann of the CDU, who received 26.68% (341 votes).[6]
List of mayors (incomplete):[7]
- 1994–2007: Bernd Schubert (CDU)
- 2007–2014: Karsten Naumann (Ind.)
- 2014–2024: Bernd Schubert (CDU)
- since 2024: Martin Weitmann (Ind.)[8]
Notable people
- Kurt Christoph Graf von Schwerin (1684–1757), Prussian general, born in Löwitz
- Otto Magnus von Schwerin (1701–1777), Prussian general, lived in Busow
- Otto Heyden (1820–1897), painter, born in Ducherow
- Elfi Zinn (born 1953), middle distance runner, born in Rathebur
References
- ^ "Alle politisch selbständigen Gemeinden mit ausgewählten Merkmalen am 31.12.2023" (in German). Federal Statistical Office of Germany. 28 October 2024. Retrieved 16 November 2024.
- ^ "Hauptsatzung der Gemeinde Ducherow" (PDF). amt-anklam-land.info. 2015. Retrieved 2025-07-19.
- ^ "Länder & Regionen - Gemeindeverzeichnis - Gebietsänderungen vom 02. Januar bis 31. Dezember 2009 - Statistisches Bundesamt (Destatis)". www.destatis.de (in German). Archived from the original on 2012-11-15. Retrieved 2025-07-19.
- ^ "Länder & Regionen - Gemeindeverzeichnis - Gebietsänderungen vom 01.01. bis 31.03.2012 - Statistisches Bundesamt (Destatis)". www.destatis.de (in German). Archived from the original on 2012-11-15. Retrieved 2025-07-19.
- ^ "Ergebnis". votemanager.kdo.de. Retrieved 2025-07-19.
- ^ "Ergebnis". votemanager.kdo.de. Retrieved 2025-07-19.
- ^ Foetzke, Jörg (2014-07-08). "Gemeinderat gönnt sich erst einmal mehr Geld". www.nordkurier.de (in German). Retrieved 2025-07-19.
- ^ Pankratz, Anne-Marie (2024-07-19). "Ducherows neuer Bürgermeister setzt auf frischen Wind in der Politik". www.nordkurier.de (in German). Retrieved 2025-07-19.
