page_title: Putbus
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Putbus / History
caption_attribution_description: Beschreibung: Der Markt mit dem Kriegerdenkmal / Putbus / Germany Fotograf: Darkone, 12. Oktober 2005
context_page_description: Putbus is a town on the southeastern coast of the island of Rügen, in the county of Vorpommern-Rügen in the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, close to the Baltic Sea. The town has 4,741 inhabitants and is a significant tourist destination with numerous seaside resorts. It is the oldest resort on the island and has been formally recognised by the state as a resort town since 1997.
  Putbus was founded in 1810 by Prince Wilhelm Malte zu Putbus as his town of residence and had it built in the Classicist style, so that the town formed a harmonious union with the park and palace. Malte also introduced sea bathing to Germany at Lauterbach which is about 2 km from Putbus. The nickname of the place as the "White Town" comes from its white-painted houses, but it is also referred to as Rosenstadt due to the many rose bushes in front of individual buildings. The name Putbus is derived from the Slavic epod boz and means "behind the elder bush".
context_section_description: Until 1326, the area around Putbus was part of the Principality of Rügen. Mentioned for the first time in 1286 as Putbus, it was the seat of a noble family of Slavic origin. The lords of Putbus had the same status in terms of land ownership as the princes of Rügen and were regarded as a collateral line. Later a feudal dependency arose. Following the extinction of the Rügen princes in the 14th century, Putbus went into the Duchy of Pomerania. Under the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648, Rügen came under Swedish rule. In 1815 the place and New Western Pomerania went into the Prussian province of Pomerania.
  From 1808 to 1823, Prince Malte of Putbus built his residence and a bathing area in Lauterbach along the lines of Bad Doberan. As a result, in 1816, the first seaside resort on Rügen was opened. In 1817/18 Prince Malte had the Goor Swimming Baths built. From 1819 to 1821, the residence theatre was built and modified in 1826. The royal stables, built from 1821–1824, were home to Prince Malte's horses. Finally, from 1824 to 1853, he built the orangery. The conversion of the palace began in 1825, and it was joined in 1844–1846 by the Putbus Palace Church. The transformation of the castle park began in 1804; the monkey house was completed in 1830 and the pheasant house five years later.
  The first civic house was built in 1810 as a small brewery. The residential houses on the Circus were built between 1815 and 1860. In 1836 the old royal Pädagogium was opened as an educational establishment. Today it houses the Putbus IT College (IT-College Putbus).
  In 1889 Putbus was given a railway link from Bergen. In 1895 the first section of the narrow gauge light railway, Rasender Roland, to Binz was completed.
  In 1823 Putbus was given town rights for trade and business; it was not granted full rights however until 2 July 1960.
  In 1962 the former Putbus Palace (Schloss Putbus) was destroyed by the East German communist régime, which considered it a symbol of Prussian imperialism. However, its orangery and stables survive in the park.
  In 1818 Putbus became part of the county of Vorpommern-Rügen (for a time known as Kreis Rügen). From 1952 to 1955 the county was divided and Putbus was the centre of the county of Putbus. From 1952 to 1990 Putbus belonged to the district (Bezirk) of Rostock and, after that, to the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.
  After the political Wende in 1991 the historic town centre with its Circus, market place (Marktplatz) and town hall, orangery and royal stables, now a theatre, were thoroughly renovated as part of the urban development and heritage conservation projects in the town. Today, Putbus presents an unusual, uniform white appearance.
  In 2010, the Upside-Down House (Haus-Kopf-über) was erected on the road to Lauterbach as a tourist attraction.
  The town is also notable for the small theatre and the Crown Prince's residence (now a tourist office and museum). The town is connected to the rest of Rügen by the narrow gauge steam railway known as Rasender Roland and by good roads and cycle tracks.
caption: Neoclassical ensemble around the market square
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