page_title: Mecklenburg
section_title: Early history
hierarchical_section_title: Mecklenburg / History / Early history
caption_attribution_description: Escudo Ducado de Mecklemburgo Siebenfeldriges mecklenburgisches Wappen besteht aus sechs Feldern und einem Mittelschilde. Jedes Feld symbolisiert einen der sieben Hauptherrschaftsteile des mecklenburgischen Staates: Herzogtum Mecklenburg: Auf goldenem Grunde ein schwarzer Stierkopf mit aufgerissenem roten Maule und ausgestreckter roter Zunge; auf dem Kopfe silberne Hörner und eine goldene Lilienkrone. Herrschaft Rostock: Auf blauem Grunde schreitend ein goldener Greif mit ausgestreckter Zunge und aufgehobener rechter Vorderklaue. Fürstentum Schwerin/Bistum Schwerin: Ein quer geteiltes Feld; in der oberen blauen Hälfte ein goldener Greif, in der unteren silbernen Hälfte ein grünes Viereck. Fürstentum Ratzeburg/Bistum Ratzeburg: Auf rotem Grunde stehend ein silbernes Kreuz mit goldener Krone. Herrschaft Stargard: Auf rotem Grunde ein silberner weiblicher Arm mit goldenem Ringe zwischen Daumen und Zeigefinger. Fürstentum Wenden/Herrschaft Werle: Auf goldenem Grunde ein schrägliegender Stierkopf mit silbernen Hörnern und goldener Lilienkrone, aber mit geschlossenem Maule. Grafschaft Schwerin: Der quer geteilte Mittelschild; die obere Hälfte rot, die untere golden. Das Wappen wird von einem Stier und einem Greif gehalten und ist mit der Königskrone geschmückt. Der Großherzog von Mecklenburg-Strelitz führt Wappen und Titel mit dem Großherzog von Mecklenburg-Schwerin gemeinschaftlich.
context_page_description: Mecklenburg is a historical region in northern Germany comprising the western and larger part of the federal-state Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The largest cities of the region are Rostock, Schwerin, Neubrandenburg, Wismar and Güstrow.
  The name Mecklenburg derives from a castle named "Mikilenburg", located between the cities of Schwerin and Wismar. In Slavic language it was known as Veligrad, which also means "big castle". It was the ancestral seat of the House of Mecklenburg; for a time the area was divided into Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Mecklenburg-Strelitz among the same dynasty.
  Linguistically Mecklenburgers retain and use many features of Low German vocabulary or phonology.
  The adjective for the region is Mecklenburgian; inhabitants are called Mecklenburgians.
context_section_description: Mecklenburg is the site of many prehistoric dolmen tombs. Its earliest organised inhabitants may have had Celtic origins. By no later than 100 BC the area had been populated by pre-Christian Germanic peoples.
  The traditional symbol of Mecklenburg, the grinning steer's head (Low German: Ossenkopp, lit.: 'oxen's head', with osse being a synonym for steer and bull in Middle Low German), with an attached hide, and a crown above, may have originated from this period. It represents what early peoples would have worn, i.e. a steers's head as a helmet, with the hide hanging down the back to protect the neck from the sun, and overall as a way to instill fear in the enemy.
  From the 7th through the 12th centuries, Germanic Mecklenburg was ruled by Western Slavic overlords, newly arrived from the steppes. Among them were the Obotrites and other tribes that Frankish sources referred to as "Wends". The 11th-century founder of the Mecklenburger dynasty of Dukes and later Grand Dukes, which lasted until 1918, was Nyklot of the Obotrites.
  In the late 12th century, Henry the Lion, Duke of the Saxons, reconquered the region, took oaths from its local lords, and Christianized its people, in a precursor to the Northern Crusades. From the 12th to 14th centuries, large numbers of Germans and Flemings settled the area (Ostsiedlung), importing German law and improved agricultural techniques. The Wends who survived all warfare and devastation of the centuries before, including invasions of and expeditions into Saxony, Denmark and Liutizic areas as well as internal conflicts, were assimilated in the centuries thereafter. However, elements of certain names and words used in Mecklenburg speak to the lingering Slavic influence.  An example would be the city of Schwerin, which was originally called Zuarin in Slavic. Another example is the town of Bresegard, the 'gard' portion of the town name deriving from the Slavic word 'grad', meaning city or town.
  Since the 12th century, the territory remained stable and relatively independent of its neighbours; one of the few German territories for which this is true. During the reformation the Duke in Schwerin would convert to Protestantism and so would follow the Duchy of Mecklenburg in 1549.
caption: Historical 7-field coat of arms, symbolizing the seven lordships of Mecklenburg: The duchy of Mecklenburg, the princedoms (former dioceses) of Schwerin and Ratzeburg, the county of Schwerin and the Herrschafts (lordships) of Rostock, Werle and Stargard.
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