DEMMIN

'Demmin' () is a town in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany. It is the capital of the district Demmin.

Contents

History

Middle Ages

World War II

Coat of arms

Famous residents

Literature

References

External links

History

Middle Ages

Demmin was a stronghold of the Liutizi during the Middle Ages. A Saxon army unsuccessfully besieged the settlement during the 1147 Wendish Crusade.

World War II

German troops destroyed the bridges over the Peene while retreating from Demmin during World War II. This way, the advance of the Soviet Red Army was slowed down when they arrived in Demmin on April 30, 1945. During that night and the following morning, Demmin was handed over to the Red Army largely without fighting, similar to other cities like Greifswald.
Although there were only a few pockets of resistance, nearly 900 people committed mass suicides in fear of the Red Army. Coroner lists show that most drowned in the nearby River Tollense and River Peene, where others poisoned themselves.^[1] This was fueled by atrocities and rapes committed by Red Army soldiers until the city commander had the access to the rivers blocked on May 3.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms of Demmin displays:

★ a red fortress with three open gates

★ the two towers are topped by a silver lily

★ a leaned to the right silver shield displaying a

★ red griffin is the heraldic animal of Pomerania

★ On top of the shield there is a crowned, blue helmet with green peacock feathers

★ The red fortress symbolizes the city's history as the residency of Pomeranian princes

★ The lily crowning both towers symbolizes the city flower used in the 18th century.

Famous residents

★ Joachim Lütkemann (1608-1655), preacher and author

★ Heinrich Carl von Schimmelmann (1724-1782), merchant and politician

★ Julius Friedrich Cohnheim (1839-1884), pathologist

★ Willy Schulz-Demmin (1892-1974), painter

★ Hans-Adolf Asbach (1904-1976), politician

★ Willi Laatsch (1905-1997), pedologist

★ Paul von Maltzahn (born 1945), diplomat

★ Andy Glandt, banjo player

Literature

★ Das Kriegsende in Demmin 1945 (German) - The End of the War in Demmin 1945

References

1. MDR ''Fakt'' of September 22, 2003 (mostly German, English in parts)

External links

★ Official website

★ Blog on the suicide which followed after April 30, 1945