Plau am See

Plau am See (German: [plaʊ̯ am ˈzeː] ^ⓘ) is a town in the Ludwigslust-Parchim district, in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, in north-eastern Germany. It is situated 28 kilometres (17 mi) east of Parchim, and 29 kilometres (18 mi) west of Waren.

Plau am See
Town
Lock and former mill
Coat of arms
Location of Plau am See within Ludwigslust-Parchim district
Plau am See Show map of Germany Plau am See Show map of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
Coordinates: 53°27′29″N 12°15′45″E
Country	Germany
State	Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
District	Ludwigslust-Parchim
Municipal assoc.	Plau am See
Subdivisions	9
Government
• Mayor	Norbert Reier (Left)
Area
• Total	115.99 km2 (44.78 sq mi)
Elevation	70 m (230 ft)
Population  (2023-12-31)[1]
• Total	5,953
• Density	51/km2 (130/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes	19395
Dialling codes	038735
Vehicle registration	PCH
Website	www.stadt-plau-am-see.de

Etymology

Around 1235 the town was called Plawe, that being the Polabian field name for the place where rafting is practiced. The name lasted until the 16th century and was then written according to its German phonetic form Plau. On 11 January 1994, the name of the city was modified by the addition of am See (on Lake) to remove confusion with the similarly named towns of Plaue, Plauen and Plaue.

History

During World War II, in February 1945, a German-perpetrated death march of Allied prisoners-of-war from the Stalag XX-B POW camp passed through the town.^[2]

Sights

At the edge of town, there is a protected forest habitat named Plauer Stadtwald (literally: Plau city forest). Among the sights in town are a historic church building, the ruins of the Burg Plau castle and a bridge that may be vertically lifted to allow boats on the channel below to pass through.^[3]

Notable people

• Anna of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1484-1525), Landgravine of Hesse by marriage.
• Friedrich Lange (1834-1875), history painter and member of the Nazarene movement
• Friedrich Bohndorff (1848-after 1894), German researcher and ornithologist
• Alfred Brunswig (1877-1927), German philosopher
• Rudolf Elvers (1924–2011), musicologist and librarian, particularly of the work of Felix Mendelssohn
• Peter Paetzold (born 1935), German chemist
• Horst-Ulrich Hänel (born 1957), field hockey player. team silver medallist at the 1984 & 1988 Summer Olympics

Gallery

• 
  Town hall
• 
  Tower of former castle
• 
  Lift bridge