MORE WATERSTRADT HISTORY

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Famous Waterstraat Building - still used today! Das Ballhaus in Gnoien/ M-V ist wahrscheinlich eines der ältesten Gebäude in Deutschland, in dem noch heute getanzt und gefeiert wird. Wie lang das ehrwürdige Haus schon in der Teichstraße steht, kann heute nicht mehr genau nachvollzogen werden. Fakt ist jedoch, daß das zunächst als "Chilcotts Restaurant" bekannt war und dann, nach der Übernahme anno 1905 durch die Familie Waterstrat,"Ballhaus Waterstraat"genannt wurde. Mit wenig Kleingeld, aber viel Unternehmergeist begannen die Waterstraats, das neu erworbene Eigentum um- und anzubauen. Der große Saal wurde um gut die Hälfte vergrößert, so daß dort zum Anfang der Zwanziger Jahreeinem großen Publikum ie ersten Kinofilmegeboten werden konnten. Da es in Gnoien zu dieser Zeit noch kein elektrisches Licht gab, wurde mit Kalk-Licht gearbeitet; die Filmrollen wurden per Hand gedreht. Natürlich gab es auchgroße Tanzbälle, zu denen die Reichen und Mächtigen dieser Zeit (Großgrundbesitzer, Industrielle, Landwirte usw.) es sich gut gehen ließen. Vorgefahren wurde standesgemäß mit der Kutsche. Zu Kriegszeiten wurde das Ballhaus notgedrungen zum Lazarettumfunktioniert. Sowohl nach Kriegszeiten als auch nach Gründung der ehemaligen DDR wurde die alte Tradition des Ballhaus fortgesetzt; es wurden wieder Filme vorgeführt und Tanzveranstaltungen durchgeführt. Einzige Veränderung zuDDR-Zeitenwar die Umbenennung des Ballhaus inKulturhaus. Heute ist der kleine Saal, der nach Kriegzeiten von den Waterstrats angebaut wurde - ohne seinen besonderen Stil verloren zu haben - komplett modernisiert und wird als HOUSE-Clubgenutzt. Das Ballhaus war ein beliebter Ausflugsort, um eine flotte Sohle auf' s Parkett zu legen.Auch heute noch kennen viele ältere Menschen das Ballhaus und schwärmen noch heute von den schönen Festen. Wir setzen die Tradition fort, jedoch gehen wir mit der Zeit. Im großen Saal werden Tanzwütigen Musikrichtungen im Stil von Charts, Dance, Schlagern und Oldies sowie 80er- und 90erJahre-Musikgeboten; soll heißen, jeder kommt auf seine Kosten !!! Der kleine Saal (HOUSE-Club) zieht eine immer größere werdende Gästezahl (u. a. aus Stralsund, Greifswald, Güstrow, Rostock) an. Stimmung garantiert !!! Mit der Zeit gehen heißt auch, einen eigenen Weg zu gehen: Mit DJ's aus Berlin, Hamburg, Rostock ... wird für jeden Tanzwütigen House vom Feinsten geboten. Ob man den Stil deep-, Disco, Funky oder progressive House nennt, bleibt dabei völlig unwesentlich, denn wichtig ist das Gefühl und der Spaß dabei. Mecklenburg-Vorpommern ist von der ersten Stunde an mit dieser Art des Zelebrierens verbunden. Es bleibt unwesentlich, ob die illegale Party-Zone in einer ungenutzten Ruine aufersteht oder ob ein funktionierender Club (wie es das Ballhaus ist) mit Schönheit und Leckerbissen musikalischer Natur glänzt - das Ergebnis wird immer sein: House ist das wahre Herz, der wahre Soul.
Note to non-Waterstraats: Those of you that are not Waterstraats, and cannot read German, please email me for what this means.
Pomerania Pomerania Polish POMORZE, German POMMERN (from Slavic po, "along"; morze, "sea"), historic region of northeastern Europe lying along the Baltic coastal plain between the Oder and the Vistula rivers. Politically, the name also came to include the area west of the Oder as far as Stralsund, including the island of Rügen (Rugia). Most of Pomerania is now part of Poland, but its westernmost section is in eastern Germany, as reflected in the name of Mecklenburg-West Pomerania Land (state). The region is generally flat, and there are numerous small rivers and, along the east coast, many lakes. Pomerania was inhabited successively by Celts, Germanic tribes, and, by the 5th century AD, the Slavic Pomeranians (Pomorzanie) and Polabs. Mieszko I, prince of Poland (d. 992), mastered it, and in 1000 his successor, Boleslaw I the Brave, organized a diocese in Pomerania with its seat at Kolobrzeg. A local dynasty then ruled Pomerania and also the region to the west, later called Mecklenburg. On the death of Duke Swiatobor in 1107, his three sons each inherited a district: Boguslaw I received the eastern area, later called Hinterpommern (Pomerania Ulterior, or Eastern Pomerania), including Gdansk (Danzig); Warcislaw I received the western area, Vorpommern ( West Pomerania) including Wologoszcz (Wolgast); and Ratibor obtained the central area including Szczecin (Stettin). German immigration into the western and central regions of Pomerania began in the late 12th century. This resulted in the Germanization of the towns and later of the nobility and the countryside. Until the 17th century, Polish dukes ruled western and central Pomerania (the duchies of Wolgast and Stettin) under the suzerainty of the Holy Roman Empire. The elector of Brandenburg acquired these duchies in 1637, when the last Polish duke, Boguslaw XIV, who had united them, died without issue. Sweden received Western Pomerania by the Peace of Westphalia (1648); part of it was returned to Brandenburg-Prussia in 1720, and the remainder (Stralsund and Rügen) was recovered by Prussia in 1815. Prussia united western and central Pomerania into one province called Pommern. Eastern Pomerania was held by the Teutonic Knights from 1308 to 1454, when it was reconquered by Poland. In 1772 it was annexed by Prussia and made into the province of West Prussia. Part of it was restored to Poland after World War I; and the remainder, together with central Pomerania, became Polish in 1945. The German population of eastern and central Pomerania was expelled westward and replaced by Poles. Western Pomerania was incorporated into the German Democratic Republic. West Pomerania (Vorpommern) German MECKLENBURG-VORPOMMERN, Land (state), northeastern Germany. It extends about 100 miles (160 km) along the Baltic Sea coastal plain, from the Bight of Lübeck on the west to the Darss Peninsula on the east, with a hinterland that stretches southward to the lower Elbe River in the west and beyond the sources of the Havel River in the east. Mecklenburg-West Pomerania Land is coterminous with the historic region of Mecklenburg (q.v.). The Land was re-created just before the unification of East and West Germany in 1990 from the East German Bezirke (districts) of Rostock and most of Schwerin and Neubrandenburg. It covers the northernmost one-fifth of what was formerly East Germany. The capital is Schwerin. Most of Mecklenburg-West Pomerania drains into the Baltic. The central part of the Land is traversed from west to east by a plateau of hilly country covered by fertile soil and beech forests and having more than 600 lakes, the largest being Lake Müritz in the south. The southwest, between the plateau and the Elbe, has poor sandy soils, pine forests, and marshy valleys. In the north the plateau has good clay soils. Along the coast, steep cliffs alternate with beaches and dunes. The Land lies wholly within the North European Plain. Agriculture is the most important economic activity in Mecklenburg-West Pomerania. The chief crops are rye, wheat, sugar beets, potatoes, and hay. Smaller areas are devoted to corn (maize), peas, rape, hemp, and flax. The region's pastures support herds of sheep, cattle, and horses, and fishing is carried on in the inland lakes. Mecklenburg is relatively sparsely populated, and its only significant urban centres are Rostock, Schwerin, and Neubrandenburg. Area 9,202 square miles (23,835 square km). Pop. (1991 est.) 1,924,000. Mecklenburg, historic region of northeastern Germany, located along the Baltic Sea coastal plain, from the Bight of Lübeck about 100 miles (160 km) eastward. It is now included in the German Land (state) of Mecklenburg-West Pomerania (q.v.). By the 7th century AD the Slavic Obodrites and the Lutycy (Lyutichi) in the west and east, respectively, had replaced the area's earlier Germanic inhabitants. In 1160, under Henry the Lion, duke of Saxony, Christianity and German domination were introduced. Przybyslaw (Pribislav), son of the vanquished Obodrite ruler Niklot, became Henry's vassal and founded the Mecklenburg dynasty. In a series of partitions, four separate lines were established by Przybyslaw's great-grandsons in the 13th century: Mecklenburg (named from the family castle, Mikilinborg, south of Wismar), Rostock, Güstrow (or Werle), and Parchim. In 1436 the Mecklenburg line reabsorbed the whole inheritance. Meanwhile, it had acquired the lordship of Stargard in 1292 and the countship of Schwerin in 1358. The German king Charles IV in 1348 made the Mecklenburgs dukes and princes of the empire. Mecklenburg became Lutheran during the Protestant Reformation, and in the 16th and early 17th centuries the region was recurrently divided into two duchies, Mecklenburg-Schwerin (the west) and Mecklenburg-Güstrow (the east). During the Thirty Years' War, Albrecht von Wallenstein in 1627-31 ousted the dukes who had sided with Christian IV of Denmark, but the dukes were restored by the Swedes. By the Peace of Westphalia (1648) Sweden acquired Wismar and its environs, which it held until 1803. With the extinction of the Güstrow line in 1695, Mecklenburg was again reunited but then was permanently divided by the Treaty of Hamburg (1701). Most of the territory went to Mecklenburg-Schwerin, while Mecklenburg-Strelitz comprised the principality of Ratzeburg in the northwest and the lordship of Stargard in the southeast. In 1808 both duchies joined the Confederation of the Rhine set up by Napoleon I; the Congress of Vienna in 1814-15 recognized them as grand duchies and members of the German Confederation. They sided with Prussia in the Seven Weeks' War (1866) and joined the North German Confederation in 1867 and the German Reich in 1871. After World War I, under the Weimar Constitution, the grand ducal regimes were abolished in favour of elected governments. The Nazi government in 1934 merged the two states into one Land (state) of Mecklenburg, which, after World War II, with some territorial adjustments, was briefly (1949-52) a Land of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) before it was dissolved into the Bezirke (districts) of Rostock, Schwerin, and Neubrandenburg. Before the unification of East and West Germany in 1990, the former Land was reconstituted from these districts as Mecklenburg-West Pomerania. If you look at a map of present-day Germany, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern appears as a state in northeastern Germany, bounded on the north by the Baltic Sea (Ostsee), on the west by Schleswig-Holstein, on the southwest by Lower Saxony, on the south by Brandenburg, and on the east by Poland. The state lies in a fertile plain containing many forests and lakes and is crossed by the Elde, Warnow, and several other rivers. Prior to 1934, Mecklenburg borders were not the same as they are today. Territories which were once the Grand Duchies of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Mecklenburg-Strelitz were united into one State of Mecklenburg in 1934. Then, in 1945, Pomerania, another Prussian province, was split into two sections. The part west of the Oder River was added to Mecklenburg, making what is, today, the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Political Divisions Throughout the 1800's, Mecklenburg was divided into the two grand duchies, Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Mecklenburg-Strelitz was further divided into two parts, one on either side of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. The government was a limited monarchy, ruled by grand dukes. Each duchy was a separate state, but both bodies met annually to make common laws and impose common taxes for the whole of Mecklenburg. Both duchies used the same flag and coat of arms. Mecklenburg-Schwerin consisted of: The Duchy of Schwerin, The Principality of Schwerin, The Wenden District of the Duchy of Güstrow, The Lordship of Wismar (Wismar and the surrounding area were under the rule of Sweden from 1648 to 1803), Rostock District, and The Domain of Scattered Convents. Mecklenburg-Strelitz consisted of: Stargard District of the Duchy of Güstrow on the eastern side of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, and The Principality of Ratzeburg on the western side of Mecklenburg-Schwerin.
Isle of Rugan For centuries, after the Waterstraats had their land taken away from them by the lords, they had to live as wondering day laborers and field hands, they slowly migrated northeast to Rugen Island. The north is characterized by vast expanses of water, a sweeping landscape and a broad horizon. The North Sea coast is dotted with the North Frisian Islands. The Halligen, little islands in the shallow "Wattenmeer" are also found here. The Baltic Sea coast is fringed with inlets, called "Forde", "Hafr' or "Bodden" that reach like fingers into the land. 358 sq mi (927 sq km), Mecklenburg–West Pomerania, NE Germany, in the Baltic Sea, separated from the mainland by the Strelasund. The chief towns are Bergen and Sassnitz, the largest port and the terminus of a train ferry to Trelleborg, Sweden. The island is also connected by a 1.5-mile road and rail bridge to the German mainland. Agriculture and herring fishing are the main occupations on Rügen. There are many popular seaside resorts; tourism has become a popular industry. The famous chalk cliffs rise on the eastern shore. Rügen was conquered by Denmark in 1168, passed to Pomerania in 1325, and shared the history of Swedish Pomerania from 1648 to 1815, when the island was taken by Prussia. It is the largest island of Germany. A wonder of nature are the chalk cliffs on Rugen, Germany's largest island (926 sq km). Caspar David Friedrich (1774-1840)featured them in his paintings. This romantic from Greifswald inimitably captured the mystery of seascapes on canvas. The writer Fritz Reuter (1810-1874) vividly described the area and its people and in so doing made low German a language of literature. The sculptor and writer Ernst Barlach (1870-1938) spent his productive period in Gustrow. And Uwe Johnson (1934-1984) erected with his novels a literary monument to his native region and its people.
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