Zirkow

Zirkow
Church of Zirkow
Zirkow
Location of Zirkow within Vorpommern-Rügen district
Coordinates: 54°23′N 13°32′E / 54.383°N 13.533°E / 54.383; 13.533Coordinates: 54°23′N 13°32′E / 54.383°N 13.533°E / 54.383; 13.533
Country	Germany
State	Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
District	Vorpommern-Rügen
Municipal assoc.	Mönchgut-Granitz
Area
• Total	25.62 km2 (9.89 sq mi)
Elevation	25 m (82 ft)
Population (2015-12-31)
• Total	665
• Density	26/km2 (67/sq mi)
Time zone	CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes	18528
Dialling codes	038301, 038393
Vehicle registration	RÜG
Website	www.amt-moenchgut.de

Zirkow is a municipality on the German Baltic Sea island of Rügen in the county of Vorpommern-Rügen in the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.

Zirkow lies in the Southeast Rügen Biosphere Reserve between the small town of Putbus and the Baltic Sea resort of Binz. In the northeast it borders on the lake of Schmachter See near Binz.

Within the municipality of Zirkow are the following villages: Alt Süllitz, Dalkvitz, Nistelitz, Pantow, Schmacht, Serams and Viervitz.

The village of Zirkow was first documented in 1495. The place name comes from the Slavic Sirakov and means "place of Sirak".

To 1326 the area was part of the Principality of Rügen and, thereafter, the Duchy of Pomerania.

Under the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648 Rügen, and thus Zirkow, came under Swedish rule, having previously belonged to the Duchy of Pomerania. In 1815 the parish, along with West Pomerania, went into the Prussian Province of Pomerania.

In 1818, Zirkow became part of the county of Landkreis Rügen, apart from a short spell from 1952 to 1955 when it was in the County of Putbus. It remained until 1990 in Kreis Rügen in the district of and became, in the same year, part of the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. From 1990, the county was renamed Landkreis Rügen until 2011 when it became part of the new county of Vorpommern-Rügen.