Demmin

Demmin () is a town in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany. It was the capital of the former Demmin Rural District.

 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.MDR Fakt from September 22, 2003 (mostly German, English in parts) This was fuelled by atrocities and rapes committed by Red Army soldiers until the city commander had the access to the rivers blocked on May 3.

 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 
 Norbert Buske, Das Kriegsende in Demmin 1945 (German) - The End of the War in Demmin 1945

References

Other websites

 Official website 

Category:Demmin Rural District