Nature and landscape

Englisch

Morphology

Harvest time; Photo: 28. Kreisfotowettbewerb 2013 [(c): Andrea Hoffmann]
Harvest time; Photo: 28. Kreisfotowettbewerb 2013 [(c): Andrea Hoffmann]

There is scarcely another landscape in Germany on which the influence of the ice age is as immediately obvious as it is in Mecklenburg. This district's natural surface structure vividly reflects the processes connected with the icing-up of the European mainland: ranges of terminal moraines, rather flat-waved plateaux of ground moraines, sections of steep coast and flat coast, channels carved by melting and out-flowing processes, as well as outwash plains - all this has left an unmistakable mark on this area's landscape. The northern section of our district is shaped by hilly land and by the bay of Wismar; its larger, southern area forms part of the "West Mecklenburg lake landscape" that includes Lake Schwerin.

back
Englisch

The cultivated landscape in our times

Practice makes perfect; Photo: 28. Kreisfotowettbewerb 2013 [(c): Karsten Böhnke]
Practice makes perfect; Photo: 28. Kreisfotowettbewerb 2013 [(c): Karsten Böhnke]

The cultivated landscape of our times started to emerge in the early 8th century. Graves made from large stones still bear witness to this. These constructions, part of the history of human communities in this region, provide the first evidence of the shaping of this landscape by humankind. The oldest examples were erected between 4000 and 5000 BCE. Arable and pasture land give the area its modern-day appearance. Our forebears felled the forests and converted the large expanses of arable and pasture landscape. The fields are punctuated by bends and by hedges that are more dense in one area and less so in another. Through all the processes, the forests' proportion of all land was reduced.

back
Englisch

Landscape development in the industrial era

View of the Hanseatic Town of Wismar [(c): LK NWM]
View of the Hanseatic Town of Wismar [(c): LK NWM]

Major changes in the make-up of this landscape began when landscape development mirrored industrial processes, commencing in the mid-19th century. More rational methods of land-use were introduced: the draining of large areas of marshland, mineral-based fertilisation processes, and the merging of small-scale arable lands to form large-scale agricultural operations. Hedge structures were eliminated and the quantity of species of plants and animals declined. This development was further intensified at the end of World War Two, by the use of modern technology to cultivate the land and the increasing use of mineral-based fertilisers and biocides.

back
Englisch

Landscape development nowadays

Daisies near Boltenhagen; Photo: 28. Kreisfotowettbewerb 2013 [(c): Peggy Franke]
Daisies near Boltenhagen; Photo: 28. Kreisfotowettbewerb 2013 [(c): Peggy Franke]

The aim of landscape development nowadays is to secure, on an enduring basis, the forms of cultivated landscape that have evolved through history and that still exist, and to develop the remaining elements of the natural landscape sustainably. In that way, these landscapes should be able to continue to fulfil their function in the future, as habitats for animals and plants as well as for human beings.

back