Kyritz

Sister cities

• Werne
• Wałcz
• Svalöv Municipality

History

The oldest document mentioning the area around Kyritz as "Chorizi" was written in 948. The region was called "Prignitz". The name is derived from the Slavic word "pregynica" meaning "inaccessible woods". A castle was built here in 1148, and little by little a town developed close to the castle. In the year 1225 a Franciscan friary was established here (dissolved in 1552). The first document in which the name "Kyritz" was mentioned dates from 1232. It obtained municipal status in 1237 and got the privilege to produce its own coins. A wall around the town was built in the 14th century. Kyritz became a member of the Hanseatic League in 1359. The merchants living in Kyritz sold wheat, clothes, wood, wool, linnen and hop to other member towns of the Hanseatic League and they bought metals, spices, wine and fish from other places. Goods from Lübeck, the headquarters of the Hanseatic League, were sold duty-free in Kyritz. In 1488 the first brewery was founded in Kyritz. The beer was named "Mord und Totschlag" (Murder and Manslaughter) and it is still brewed in Neuzelle. In 1600 Count Hans Christoff von Königsmarck was born in Kötzlin, a leading Swedish general in the Thirty Years' War who is most famous for attempting to conquer Prague in 1648. In 1626, 800 citizens of Kyritz died from the bubonic plague. From 1806 to 1814 Kyritz was occupied by French soldiers. After Napoleon's defeat n 1814 the "Peace Oak" was planted in the Market Place. From 1815 to 1945, Kyritz was part of the Prussian Province of Brandenburg. From 1952 to 1990, it was part of the Bezirk Potsdam of East Germany.

Most-observed species

• Eurasian Blackbird

  Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  174
• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  171
• Great Tit

  Parus major Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  171
• Common Crane

  Grus grus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  166
• Eurasian Blue Tit

  Cyanistes caeruleus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  166
• Eurasian Magpie

  Pica pica (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  149
• European Robin

  Erithacus rubecula (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  135
• Red Kite

  Milvus milvus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  127