Barth, Germany
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 Barth
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Location of Barth within Vorpommern-Rügen district
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| Coordinates: 54°22′N 12°43′E / 54.367°N 12.717°ECoordinates: 54°22′N 12°43′E / 54.367°N 12.717°E | ||
| Country | Germany | |
| State | Mecklenburg-Vorpommern | |
| District | Vorpommern-Rügen | |
| Municipal assoc. | Barth | |
| Government | ||
| • Mayor | Stefan Kerth (SPD) | |
| Area | ||
| • Total | 40.83 km2 (15.76 sq mi) | |
| Population (2015-12-31) | ||
| • Total | 8,696 | |
| • Density | 210/km2 (550/sq mi) | |
| Time zone | CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2) | |
| Postal codes | 18356 | |
| Dialling codes | 038231 | |
| Vehicle registration | NVP | |
| Website | www.stadt-Barth.de | |
Barth is a town in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is situated at a lagoon (Bodden) of the Baltic Sea facing the Fischland-Darss-Zingst peninsula. Barth belongs to the district of Vorpommern-Rügen. It is close to the Western Pomerania Lagoon Area National Park. In 2011, it held a population of 8,706.
Barth dates back to the medieval German Ostsiedlung, before the area was settled by Wends of the Liuticians or Rani tribe. Jaromar II, Danish prince of Rügen, granted the town Lübeck law in 1255. In the same document, he agreed to remove his burgh, Borgwall or Neue Burg, then on the northwestern edge of the town's projected limits. Another Wendish burgh, Alte Burg near today's train station, was not used anymore. The German town was set up on empty space between the burghs. Not a member of the Hanseatic League, the town never grew to the importance and size of neighboring Hanseatic towns like Stralsund. The last prince of Rügen, Witzlaw III, erected a court at the site of former Neue Burg in 1315. He often resided in Barth.
After Witzlaw's death without an issue in 1325, his principality was inherited by Wartislaw IV of the Duchy of Pomerania, who however had to enforce his claims by two subsequent wars with Mecklenburg. During these wars, Barth was fortified with a stone and brick wall. The wars as well as contemporary and subsequent Black Death epidemics (1349, 1405 and 1451) and floods hindered Barth's growth. In 1452, Barth was besieged by Mecklenburgian troops when Wartislaw IX did not pay his debts. Hostilities between the Pomeranian dukes Eric II and Wartislaw X on one side and the Hanseatic towns of Stralsund and Greifswald, Mecklenburg and the Margraviate of Brandenburg on the other side had an additional negative impact on the town.
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