Schwedt

Old town

Coat of arms

Schwedt

Location of Schwedt within Uckermark district

Coordinates: 53°03′N 14°16′E / 53.050°N 14.267°ECoordinates: 53°03′N 14°16′E / 53.050°N 14.267°E

Country

Government

• Mayor

Jürgen Polzehl (SPD)

Area

• Total

200.12 km² (77.27 sq mi)

Population (2015-12-31)

• Total

30,262

• Density

150/km² (390/sq mi)

CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)

16303

03332, 033336

Website

Schwedt (or Schwedt/Oder; German pronunciation: [ˈʃveːt]) is a town in northeastern Brandenburg, Germany. With the official status of a Große kreisangehörige Stadt (major district town), it is the largest town of the Uckermark district, located near the Oder River close to the border with Poland.

The formerly agrarian town today has one of the largest oil refineries (PCK Raffinerie GmbH) in Germany, established in 1958 and connected to the Russian Druzhba pipeline network, and is the largest location of paper industry (UPM) in Europe. Most industries were located in the remote area during socialist rule in the 1960s and 1970s.

Large residential areas were built for the workers moving to Schwedt. About 9% of the town's flats are in prefab concrete buildings (Plattenbau) dating from the era. As many jobs were lost after German reunification and the return to market economy, Schwedt has lost a quarter of its population since 1990. In recent decades, Schwedt became a model town for the demolition of Plattenbau housing to combat urban decay.

Schwedt is situated in the east of the historic Uckermark region stretching from the Oder to the Havel River. It is situated on an sandur at the western edge of the Oder floodplain running along the German-Polish border, which in 1995 was declared as the Lower Oder Valley National Park nature reserve. Across the river and the border, about 10 km (6.2 mi) to the southeast, is the Polish town of Chojna (formerly Königsberg in der Neumark). The nearest German towns are Angermünde (about 18 km (11 mi) to the west) and Gartz (18 km (11 mi) down the Oder).

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Wikipedia