The Bay of Mecklenburg (German: Mecklenburger Bucht or Mecklenburgische Bucht; Danish: Mecklenburg Bugt), also known as the Mecklenburg Bay or Mecklenburg Bight, is a long narrow basin making up the southwestern finger-like arm of the Baltic Sea, between the shores of Germany to the south and the Danish islands of Lolland, Falster, and Møn to the north, the shores of Jutland to the west, and joining the largest part of the Baltic to the east.

The Bay of Mecklenburg, which includes the Bay of Wismar and the Bay of Lübeck, connects to the Bay of Kiel in the northwest. Notable ports in the bay are Lübeck, Rostock and Wismar.

See also

Coordinates: 54°20′N 11°40′E / 54.333°N 11.667°E / 54.333; 11.667

Mecklenburg (German pronunciation: [ˈmeːklənbʊʁk], Low German: Mękelborg) is a historical region in northern Germany comprising the western and larger part of the federal-state Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The largest cities of the region are Rostock, Schwerin, Neubrandenburg, Wismar and Güstrow.

The name Mecklenburg derives from a castle named "Mikilenburg" (Old Saxon: "big castle", hence the scientific translation used in New Latin Megalopolis), located between the cities of Schwerin and Wismar. In Slavic language it was known as Veligrad which also means "big castle". It was the ancestral seat of the House of Mecklenburg and for a time divided into Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Mecklenburg-Strelitz among the same dynasty.

Linguistically Mecklenburgers retain and use many features of Low German vocabulary or phonology.

The adjective for the region is Mecklenburgian (German: mecklenburgisch), inhabitants are called Mecklenburgians (German: Mecklenburger).

Geography

Mecklenburg is known for its mostly flat countryside. Much of the terrain forms a morass, with ponds, marshes and fields as common features, with small forests interspersed. The terrain changes as one moves north towards the Baltic Sea.

The name Mecklenburg (English formerly spelled Mecklenburgh) derives from a castle in northern Germany named "Mikilenburg" (Old German: "big castle"), located between the cities of Schwerin and Wismar. Mecklenburg may refer to:

Geography

Germany

Historical

USA

Canada

People

Mecklenburg, Mechlenborg, and Mikkelborg is a patrician and historically a prominent family living in Denmark and Norway. They descend from Flensburg in today's Germany. Members include Willum Mecklenburg, Feudal Lord of Eiker, as well as several regional bailiffs, militaries, and privileged merchants. The family is closely related to families of the Danish and the Norwegian nobility, and among cognatic descendants of the family are the Counts of Wedel-Jarlsberg.

Name and coat of arms

The name has appeared with various orthography and pronunciation, the most important being Mecklenburg, Mechlenborg, and (in Northern Norway) Mikkelborg.

The arms are a wild dog running out of a forest [three trees]. The crest is the same dog rampant. The arms have natural colours.

General history

As a young man Oluf Jensen (b. ca. 1487 in Flensburg) came to the town of Haderslev, where he became a merchant and within short time very wealthy. He married Margrethe Meckelburg, the sister of Henrick Meckelburg, Mayor of Flensburg. Also Jensen himself became this town's mayor. Jensen adopted the name of his first wife, calling himself Oluf Meckelburg. This name was also given to or taken by his children of both marriages.