MECKLENBURG-VORPOMMERN - Geography and history
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern was formed after World War II from the former Land of Mecklenburg and the western part of the former Prussian province of Pomerania. It was divided into the GDR Bezirke of Schwerin, Rostock and Neubrandenburg as part of the administrative reforms of 1952, and was recreated in 1990 when the Federal Länder structure was introduced in the eastern part of Germany. It comprises six kreisfreie Städte and 12 Landkreise with a total of 979 Gemeinden. The capital is Schwerin. Mecklenburg-Vorpommern covers an area of 23 173 km2, nearly 7% of the total surface area of Germany. It shares a border with Poland and with three other Länder, namely Brandenburg, Niedersachsen and Schleswig-Holstein. To the north lies the Baltic Sea. Mecklenburg-Vorpommern's sea coast stretches 354 km.
The landscape, which was formed in the Ice Age, displays many types of soil and vegetation. The countryside ranges from large tracts of woodland through the extensive Mecklenburg Lake District to the fertile soils on the gently undulating ground moraines and less fertile ones in the sandy areas. Agriculture accounts for nearly 64% of the Land area. 21% of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern is covered by forests and other wooded areas, and 5% by water. Much of the population lives dispersed among a large number of villages and small and medium-sized towns in the Landkreise.
Modern agriculture, significant tourism, little industry
Up until the last century, Mecklenburg and Vorpommern were regarded by the rest of Germany as poor and backward. Despite the structural changes which were made after 1945 and which transformed the region's economy from an almost exclusively agricultural one to an industrial-agricultural one, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern was still structurally weak when the GDR was dissolved.
The transition from a socialist planned economy to a social market economy exposed the lack of competitiveness of many enterprises, especially in industry. The adoption of a different system has created an economic structure based on private enterprise. It is characterised by a modern, competitive agricultural sector dominated by large holdings, a disproportionately large building sector, a much depleted industrial sector largely made up of small enterprises, a considerably expanded services sector in which tourism has acquired special importance, and an overstaffed public sector. Mecklenburg-Vorpommern's industrial concentration is only one-third that of western Germany, making it structurally the weakest of all the Länder. As a result of the major job losses which structural changes have caused in many sectors, nearly one in five of the working population is unemployed.
The infrastructure has been improved considerably, thanks mainly to the extension of the road network. The growth recorded in industry and the main service sectors has, however, been largely offset by the decline in construction and by overdue reductions in staffing levels in the public sector, which have reduced wealth creation in the region. The net result has been that the economy as a whole has stagnated. A 41% increase in GDP between 1991 and 1996 was followed by an increase of just 4.1% in the period to 2002. In 2001, per capita gross domestic product was 71% of the EU average (66% in terms of purchasing power standards). As in the other new Länder, the state "Aufbau Ost" reconstruction programme has not yet led to self-sustaining economic growth. In 2002, overall labour productivity was still only 72% of that in western Germany. Output of goods and services is still more than one-quarter less than consumption, the difference being made up by transfers.
Regional differences in economic potential and in areas of unspoilt nature
Although there is a high degree of concentration in the six urban districts of Rostock, Schwerin, Neubrandenburg, Stralsund, Greifswald and Wismar, and in the neighbouring rural districts and those bordering the Baltic, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern has the lowest population density of all the German Länder (75 inhabitants per km2 in 2002).
More than half of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern's economic potential is concentrated in the coastal districts. In Vorpommern, economic output per inhabitant is well below the average (2001: -13%) for the entire Land. Agriculture is spread fairly evenly throughout Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Industrial locations are very much concentrated along the coast (in Wismar, Rostock, Stralsund, Sassnitz, Greifswald and Wolgast) and on the former Bezirk towns (Schwerin and Neubrandenburg), some Kreisstädte (Ludwigslust, Güstrow, Parchim, Waren and Grimmen) and other small and medium-sized towns (e.g. Boizenburg, Hagenow and Wittenburg). The fact that the economy of many Kreise and other areas was heavily dependent on agriculture meant that the drive to bring the economy up to the productivity levels of western Germany has led to very high unemployment, especially in Vorpommern. In many places, unemployment is between one-quarter and one-half above the national average, as it has not proved possible to diversify the economy.
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern's beautiful countryside and largely unspoilt environment make it an excellent holiday destination, although the tourist sector is very much concentrated along the Baltic coast (about 80% of overnight stays in 2002). The Mecklenburgische Schweiz and the Lake District accounted for one-seventh of overnight stays.
The transport network was over-reliant on north-south routes. The A20 motorway, or Baltic Motorway, (linking Lübeck and Szczecin) is currently under construction, and 70% of it had been completed by the end of 2003. It will improve east-west transport links between commercial, production and tourist centres.
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