Grabow

For other uses, see Grabow (disambiguation).

Grabow (German pronunciation: [ˈɡʁaːboː] ^ⓘ) is a town in the Ludwigslust-Parchim district of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. The town lies 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) southeast of Ludwigslust, the next city, and has the river Elde passing through its old town which is characterized by 16th century timber-framed architecture. Additionally, Grabow is a member and the seat of the Amt Grabow collective municipality as well as being a part of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region. Historically, Grabow was home to a royal residence where some monarchs of the Mecklenburg line were born.

Grabow
Town
Town hall and marketplace with St. Georgs church in the background
Flag Coat of arms
Location of Grabow within Ludwigslust-Parchim district
Grabow Show map of Germany Grabow Show map of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
Coordinates: 53°16′N 11°34′E
Country	Germany
State	Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
District	Ludwigslust-Parchim
Municipal assoc.	Grabow
Government
• Mayor	Kathleen Bartels (SPD)
Area
• Total	72.08 km2 (27.83 sq mi)
Elevation	26 m (85 ft)
Population  (2023-12-31)[1]
• Total	5,573
• Density	77/km2 (200/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes	19300
Dialling codes	038756
Vehicle registration	LWL
Website	www.grabow.de

Geography

Grabow is situated on the river Elde in the Griese Gegend region of southern Mecklenburg, close to the border of the state of Brandenburg (Prignitz district). It is surrounded by a scenic landscape of primarily forests, with the city forest inside Grabow's territory covering an area of 1,658 hectares (4,100 acres) or 16.58 square kilometres (6.40 sq mi).^[2]

The town lies 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) southeast of Ludwigslust, 40 kilometres (25 mi) southeast of the state capital Schwerin, and 34 kilometres (21 mi) northwest of Wittenberge in Brandenburg. Clockwise, starting from the north, Grabow's core territory is bordered by the following municipalities: Groß Laasch, Muchow, Zierzow, Prislich, Kremmin, Gorlosen, Eldena, Karstädt, and Ludwigslust. The exclave Steesow is bordered by Milow to the north and Lenzen (Elbe) to the south.

Besides the main town itself, the municipality of Grabow includes several outlying villages in its hinterland. These include: Bochin, Fresenbrügge, Heidehof, Steesow, Wanzlitz, Winkelmoor und Zuggelrade.^[3]

The former municipality of Steesow, which also included the villages of Bochin of Zuggelrade, was annexed into Grabow on 1 January 2016^[4] despite being separated by 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) and two other municipalities, Gorlosen and Milow, thus forming an exclave.^[5] This exclave is the only part of Grabow that directly borders the state of Brandenburg as the core territory of the town is separated from the border by at minimum 2.5 kilometres (1.6 mi) and the municipality of Kremmin.

Grabow lies on the Berlin–Hamburg railway and is serviced by the RE8 via the Grabow (Meckl) station. The A14 highway bypasses Grabow to the west.

History

Historical affiliations

• County of Dannenberg (1186–1319/20)
• Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1320–1471)
• Duchy of Mecklenburg (1471–1520)
• Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1520–1695)
• Duchy of Mecklenburg (1695–1701)
• Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1701–1815)
• Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1815–1866)
•  North German Confederation (1866–1871)
•  German Empire (1871–1918)
•  Weimar Republic (1918–1933)
•  Nazi Germany (1933–1945)
• Soviet Occupation Zone (1945–1949)
•  East Germany (1949–1990)
•  Germany (1990–present)

The name Grabow is of Slavic Polabian origin, with grab meaning "hornbeam". Names of the same root are common in the area. Its name only slightly changed over time as with the town being known as Grabowe (1186, 1252, 1275) and Grabow (1189, 1298).

In a letter from 23 February 1186, Pope Urban III.^[6] mentioned a castle in Grabow and that the settlement belongs to the County of Dannenberg.^[7][8] Grabow received town privileges in 1252 from the Count of Dannenberg.^[6] A church in Grabow was first mentioned in 1285.^[9]

Since 1319/20, Grabow has been a part of Mecklenburg under first the Duchy and then the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, under which it was incorporated into the German Empire.

Date on the town's oldest building.

The old town hall was built in 1687/88. On 3 June 1725, the vast majority of the town was destroyed by a great fire, this included the old town hall, which was rebuilt in 1728, remaining in use to this day; and the ducal palace, which was never rebuilt.^[10] After the fire, the incumbent first mayors, Hans Scheffer and Franz Heinrich Accidalius, commenced the rebuilding of the town in its now iconic style of close core timber-framed houses which still characterize the old town.^[7] The oldest house in Grabow dates to 23 May 1702, meaning that it survived the great fire.

The first known Jews in Grabow showed up in records starting in 1749. They were two men: Moses Wulff and Siemon Moses, that earned their privilege of Schutzjude on 20 November 1753. By 1767, at least four Jews lived in Grabow and a small community of Jews had formed in the town by 1780 at the latest who maintained a small burial ground.^[11] A small synagogue may have also existed at the time, but was superseded by a new one, located at the intersection of Schulstraße and Wasserstraße, in 1798, which fell out of use before the 1930s, and was demolished in 1975.^[12] Grabow's Jewish population peaked in 1819 with 44 (8 families).^[13] Since the 18th century, Grabow has had a small Jewish cemetery, which the city maintains to this day.^[14]

In 1805, the painter Wilhelm Langschmidt was born in Grabow and later settled in the Elgin valley in South Africa. The town which grew around his trading store there still bears the name Grabouw, after his hometown.^[15]

During 1843, Grabow had a population of 3,781, thereof 32 Jews and 259 cavalrymen.^[10]

World War II

The 1930 city council election was the last in Grabow before Nazi takeover had the following result: 8 Bürgerliche Liste, 5 SPD, 2 KPD. After the takeover, the city council was dissolved in November 1932 and reinstated in April 1933 with the following composition: 7 NSDAP, 5 SPD, 3 Kampffront Schwarz-Weiß-Rot. It was again dissolved in October 1935 and replaced by a council of 8 advisors to the mayor. The mayor at the time, Dr. Walter Bötcher, who had been in office since 1931, originally came from the DVP and only joined the NSDAP 1937. He was assisted by four 'temporary' vice-mayors and stayed in office until 1945.^[16]

After Hitler's rise to power, Jews faced increased discrimination which culminated in the Kristallnacht, although it is unknown if the already out-of-use synagogue, which was sold 1932, and the Jewish cemetery were affected during this time. Most Jews in Grabow were deported to concentration camps and murdered during the Holocaust. They are remembered by several Stolpersteine in the city, the first of which being laid in 2014. The last known Jew in Grabow was Betty Londe, née Rosenthal, who was recorded to be in a Mischehe (mixed marriage) in 1942, which ensured that she survived World War II, albeit her family facing repercussions.^[11]

Willi Fründt, a communist from Grabow, was deported to Neuengamme concentration camp and executed on 24 December 1944 as a result of Aktion Gitter.^[17]

Grabow was nearly untouched by World War II.^[6]

Since reunification

In 2005, the Amt Grabow-Land [de], which annexed the Amt Malliß [de] in 2004,^[18] and the town of Grabow were merged into the administrative unit Amt Grabow, which persists to this day.^[8][19] The district of Ludwigslust, of which Grabow was a part, was merged with the district of Parchim on 4 September 2011, forming the new district of Ludwigslust-Parchim.^[20]

On 1 January 2016, Grabow annexed the former municipality Steesow, which became an exclave separated by 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) from the core municipal territory.^[4][5]

In 2024 Grabow participated in the Summer of Pioneers, a project attempting to help revive smaller towns.^[21][22][23]

Demographics

As of the 2022 census, Grabow had a population of 5,436 (2023 estimate: 5,416), of which 2,781 (51.2%) are female and 2,655 (48.8%) are male. The median age in the municipality is 49.8, with 757 (13.9%) being under 18 and 1,653 (30.4%) being 65 or older.^[24][25]

Historical population

Year Pop. ±% 1843 3,781 —     1875 4,207 +11.3% 1877 4,200 −0.2% 1900 5,296 +26.1% 1910 5,500 +3.9% 1933 5,860 +6.5% 1936 6,138 +4.7% 1937 6,170 +0.5% 1939 6,081 −1.4% 1942 6,385 +5.0%	Year Pop. ±% 1947 8,838 +38.4% 1946 8,950 +1.3% 1970 8,500 −5.0% 1980 8,700 +2.4% 1984 8,600 −1.1% 1989 8,200 −4.7% 1990 8,098 −1.2% 1995 7,240 −10.6% 1997 6,934 −4.2% 2000 6,741 −2.8%	Year Pop. ±% 2005 6,231 −7.6% 2009 5,846 −6.2% 2010 5,859 +0.2% 2011 5,807 −0.9% 2015 5,556 −4.3% 2020 5,559 +0.1% 2021 5,500 −1.1% 2022 5,436 −1.2% 2023 5,416 −0.4%
Data may be affected by territorial fluctuation. Sources: 1843, 1875/1900/1933-1947/2009, 1877/1910/1946/1970/1980/1989, 1990-2020, 2011, 2022, 2023

In 1947 the population consisted of 5,323 residents and 3,515 expellees, thus explaining the population jump to 8,838.^[16]

Citizenship

As of the 2022 census, 5,257 (96.7%) of the population have German citizenship and 176 (3.2%) do not. Broken down, the residents in Grabow by citizenship are as follows:^[24]

Citizenship	2022
	Nr.	%
Germany	5,257	96.7
Ukraine	41	0.8
Poland	34	0.6
Syria	20	0.4
Croatia	14	0.3
Serbia	7	0.1
Bosnia	5	0.1
Bulgaria	5	0.1
Turkey	5	0.1
Afghanistan	5	0.1

Religion

St. Georgs church

As of the 2022 census, most of the population in Grabow does not belong to either of the two state-recognized churches.^[24]

Confession or Church	2022		2011[26]
	Nr.	%	Nr.	%
Evangelical Church in Germany	885	16.3	1,153	19.9
Catholic Church in Germany	125	2.3	130	2.2
Other or irreligious	4,427	81.4	4,522	77.9

Catholic church

The town church is the evangelical-lutheran St. Georgs church which lies in the centre of the old town, just behind the town hall. It is the highest building in the town^[27] and was built in 1781 with the pulpit dating back to 1555, making it the second oldest in all of Germany.^[28] Two other churches lie within the town's core: the catholic Maria Magdalena church located in an old horse stable since 1958,^[29] and a small Seventh-day Adventist Church.^[30] Grabow has no known Jews, the last one being Betty Londe née Rosenthal, who was recorded to be in a Mischehe (mixed marriage) in 1942, which saved her from the Holocaust.^[31] Despite this, Grabow maintains a Jewish cemetery^[13] and used to have a synagogue.^[12]

The hinterland village of Bochin has its own, unnamed, evangelical-lutheran church built in 1894.^[32]

Politics

Grabow town hall

Due to being the seat of the Amt Grabow, the town's administration extends some of its jurisdiction over the other member municipalities.

The municipal council as well as the Amt and city administration are located in the town hall at Am Marktplatz 1.^[33]

City council

4

4

2

4

3

Total 17 seats

• SPD: 4
• Strong Grabow: 4
• FW: 2
• CDU: 4
• AfD: 3

As of the last election, Grabow's city council consist of 17 members. The most recent elections were the 2024 Mecklenburg-Vorpommern municipal elections, held on 9 June 2024, with the following result:^[34]

Candidate		Party	Votes	%	+/-	Seats	+/-
	Markus Rohst	Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU)	2,184	25.20	0.56	4	0
	Dirk Dobbertin	Strong Grabow	2,026	23.38	4.87	4	1
	Carina Stopsack-Sternberg	Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD)	1,942	22.41	12.61	4	2
	Thomas Binder	Alternative for Germany (AfD)	1,711	19.74	New	3	3
	Karl Kessner	Free Voters (FW)	804	9.28	New	2	2
Valid votes			8,667	95.76	1.95
Invalid votes			192	2.12	4.07
Electorate/voter turnout			3,017	63.57	8.15
Source: Stadtvertretungswahl Grabow 09.06.2024

Previous elections had the following results:

Year Party		2024[34]			2019[35]			2014			2009[36]			2004[36][37]			1999[38]			1994[39]
		%	Seats		%	Seats		%	Seats		%	Seats		%	Seats		%	Seats		%	Seats
	CDU	25.20	4		24.64	4		15.4	3		34.0	6		45.7	9		45.7	9		28.3	6
	Strong Grabow[a]	23.38	4		18.51	3		12.8	2		did not exist			did not exist			did not exist			did not exist
	SPD	22.41	4		35.02	6		30.7	5		31.2	6		29.5	6		29.5	6		39.4	9
	AfD	19.74	3		did not run			did not run			did not exist			did not exist			did not exist			did not exist
	FW	9.28	2								did not run			did not run			did not run			did not run
	AfG	did not run			12.0	2		10,9	2		did not exist			did not exist			did not exist			did not exist
	The Left[b]				9.83	2		17.5	3		19.1	4		18.6	3		18.7	3		25.9	6
	FDP				did not run			12.7	2		did not run			did not run			0.9	0		2.6	0[c]
	Greens							did not run									did not run			3.9	0[c]
	Independents													5.2	1[d]		5.2	1[e]		did not run

Strong Grabow (German: Starkes Grabow) and Alternative for Grabow (German: Alternative für Grabow, AfG) are voter groups.

Mayor

The current mayor is Kathleen Bartels (SPD) who was elected on 21 October 2018 with 54.82% of the vote for a term of seven years.^[41] She was reelected on 11 May 2025, winning 52% of the vote.^[42][43] Despite her having four opponents in the 2025 election, she won reelection in the first round, one of the few people elected in the first round that day. The other candidates were Markus Rohst (CDU) with 20.98%, Thomas Binder (AfD) with 18.74%, and Karl Kessner (FW) with 8.36% of the vote.^[42]

List of mayors (incomplete):^[7]

• 1839–1888: Franz Floerke
• 1888–1912: Carl Calsow
• 1919–1930: Werner Siegismund
• 1931–1945: Walter Bötcher (DVP, 1937: NSDAP)^[44]
• 1950: Meta Malinowski
• 1951–1953: Fritz Flint [de] (CDU)
• 1960–1976: Hans Hummel
• 1994–2013: Ulrich Schult (SPD)
• 2013–2018: Stefan Sternberg [de] (SPD)
• since 2018: Kathleen Bartels (SPD)

Coat of arms

The town's first identifying symbol was a city seal from the 1371 which depicted the local patron saint, St. George, standing above a lying crowned male while holding a shield, charged with a fitchy cross, and sword. From 1667 onwards, the seal depicted a big star above a crescent recumbent. The town was first granted a coat of arms, resembling the current pattern and based off of the previous seal design, on 10 April 1858 by Grand Duke Franz II of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Since this initial adoption in 1858 the design of the coat of arms only changed marginally with the exception of a six year period from 1940 to 1946, under Nazi Germany, where the coat of arms was replaced with a version based off of the first recorded city seal, depicting St. George in clad armour, fighting a dragon with a lance to which a pennant, charged with a golden swastika, was attached. In 1946 this change was reverted, changing the city's arms back to a crescent with three stars, this time however replacing the golden colour of the crescent and stars with silver. In 1991 the colour of the crescent and stars was again changed to changed to gold.^[45][46]

The modern version of the town's coat of arms was officially granted on 20 June 1991 by the Minister of the Interior of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Only marginally different than previous iterations, it now included a mural crown.

Blazon: "Shield Azure, a waning crescent Or accompanied at sinister by three 6-point stars of the same in triangle. The shield is crested by a mural crown Gules with three visible towers and port Or."^[45]

Flag

Flag of Grabow

The flag of Grabow is a blue-yellow-blue triband with a stripe ratio of 1:2:1. The flag's central yellow band is charged with the city's coat of arms.^[45] The ratio of the flag is 5:3.^[47] It was designed by Heinz Kippnick [de] from Schwerin and it was approved by the Minister of the Interior of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern on 17 March 1999.

Culture

Former factory building, now museum

Grabow well known^[48] for its "Grabower Küßchen" chocolate-coated marshmallow treats. They are produced by the Grabower Süsswaren GmbH which was originally founded by Johann Bollhagen in 1835 as the Bollhagenschen Pfeffernuß- und Bisquitfabrik that primarily produced pretzels, waffles, and Pfeffernüsse.^[49] After Wolrd War II, it was transformed into the VEB Grabower Dauerbackwaren under East German rule and started producing the now-iconic treat.^[50] The company was re-privatized in 1991 and has been owned by the Dutch Continental Bakeries [de] since 2010,^[51] which itself was acquired by Biscuit International in 2022.^[52]

Fritz-Reuter-Haus

The town museum is located at Marktstraße 19, in the same building that served as the Grabower Süsswaren factory from foundation until as late as GDR-times.^[53] A community center "Generationenhaus" and youth center "Blue Sun"^[54] are all located in the Fritz-Reuter-Haus at Kießerdamm 19a. A city library, which was located in the same building, was closed in 2023.^[55][56]

Since 30 March 2007, Grabow held an annual light festival where some of the town's buildings are lit up with colorful lights and music is played. Its been described as a mix of a Volksfest and light show.^[57] Other regular festivals include the Stadtfest (city festival) and the Martinimarkt, the latter of which taking place annually on the second weekend (Friday and Saturday) of November since 1577.^[58]

The motto of Grabow is "Colorful city on the Elde" (German: Bunte Stadt an der Elde) due to its colorful timber-framed architecture.^[59]

A pro-AfD online newspaper, run by AfD city councilor Thomas Binder, named Stadtkieker Grabow is located in the town.^[60]

The German punk-rock band Debil [de] partially originates from Grabow.^[61]

Gallery

• 
  Grabow from the other side of the Elde
• 
  Bolbrueggsche Mühle viewed from the water
• 
  Pferdemarkt 5, the "Zwerchhaus"
• 
  Pferdemarkt 2
• 
  Building on the Große Straße
• 
  Kichenplatz

Twin towns

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Germany

Grabow is twinned with:^[62]

• Albertslund, Denmark
• Borken, Germany
• Whitstable, United Kingdom
• Říčany, Czech Republic
• Mölndal, Sweden

Notable people

Karl Leopold, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin

Duke Louis of Mecklenburg-Schwerin

• Frederick, Duke of Mecklenburg-Grabow (1638-1688), resided in Grabow from 1669 until his death
• Adolphus Frederick II, Duke of the Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1658–1708), reigning duke of the Mecklenburg-Strelitz
• Karl Leopold, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1678–1747), reigning duke in Mecklenburg-Schwerin
• Christian Ludwig II, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1683–1756), reigning duke in Mecklenburg-Schwerin
• Sophia Louise of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1685–1735), Queen of Prussia
• Ludwig, Hereditary Prince of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1725–1778), hereditary Prince of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
• The Mann family, a Hanseatic family is partially connected to Grabow
• Wilhelm Langschmidt (1805–1866), German-South African painter
• Franz Floerke (1811–1889), jurist and former mayor of Grabow (1839–1889)
• Gustav Hinrichs (1850–1942), German-American conductor and composer
• Gustav Ritter [de] (1867–1945), factory owner and author
• Otto Plath (1885–1940), German-American biologist
• Willi Fründt (1909–1944), communist executed by the Nazis
• Bernhard Leverenz [de] (1909–1987), politician (FDP)
• Katharina Brauren (1910–1998), actress
• Volkwin Marg [de] (born 1936), architect who partially lived in Grabow
• Bastian Reinhardt (born 1975), footballer, played at Empor Grabow, now sports director of Hamburger SV
• Marco Küntzel (born 1976), footballer, played from 1981 to 1990 at Empor Grabow
• Stefan Sternberg [de] (born 1984), Landrat of Ludwigslust-Parchim since 2018 and former mayor of Grabow (2013–2018)

Notes

1. 2014 as ABG
2. until 2007 as PDS
3. Mecklenburg-Vorpommern enforced a 5%-threshold for municipal elections until 2004^[40]
4. Hartmut Linow
5. Norbert Alff