Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania in the context of "Schwerin"

The new states of Germany (German: die neuen Länder / die neuen Bundesländer) are the five re-established states of the former German Democratic Republic (GDR) that unified with the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) with its 10 "old states" upon German reunification on 3 October 1990.

The new states, which were dissolved by the GDR government in 1952 and re-established in 1990, are Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia. The state of Berlin, the result of a merger between East and West Berlin, is usually not considered one of the new states although a number of its residents are former East Germans and some of its areas were in the former East Berlin. There have been 16 states in Germany since reunification.

Rerik (German pronunciation: [ˈʁeːʁɪk] ; formerly Alt-Gaarz) is a town in the Rostock district, in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany. It is situated on the Baltic Sea coast, 19 km west of Bad Doberan, and 27 km northeast of Wismar. In 1938, Rerik was named after the old Slavic-Scandinavian settlement Reric, that was believed to have been situated near present Rerik.

It is the setting for Alfred Andersch's debut novel, Flight to Afar (1957).

Pomerania (Polish: Pomorze [pɔˈmɔʐɛ] ; German: Pommern [ˈpɔmɐn] ; Kashubian: Pòmòrskô; Swedish: Pommern) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The central and eastern part belongs to the West Pomeranian, Pomeranian and Kuyavian-Pomeranian voivodeships of Poland, while the western part belongs to the German states of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Brandenburg.

Pomerania's historical border in the west is the Mecklenburg-Western Pomeranian border Urstromtal, which now constitutes the border between the Mecklenburgian and Pomeranian part of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, while it is bounded by the Vistula River in the east. The easternmost part of Pomerania is alternatively known as Pomerelia, consisting of four sub-regions: Kashubia inhabited by ethnic Kashubians, Kociewie, Tuchola Forest and Chełmno Land.

Rostock (German: [ˈʁɔstɔk] ), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (German: Hanse- und Universitätsstadt Rostock), is the largest city in the German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the state, close to the border with Pomerania. With around 210,000 inhabitants, it is the third-largest city on the German Baltic coast after Kiel and Lübeck, the eighth-largest city in the area of former East Germany, as well as the 39th-largest city of Germany. Rostock was the largest coastal and most important port city in East Germany.

Rostock stands on the estuary of the River Warnow into the Bay of Mecklenburg of the Baltic Sea. The city stretches for about 16 km (10 mi) along the river. The river flows into the sea in the very north of the city, between the boroughs of Warnemünde and Hohe Düne. The city center lies further upstream, in the very south of the city. Most of Rostock's inhabitants live on the western side of the Warnow; the area east of the river is dominated by the port, industrial estates, and the forested Rostock Heath. The city's coastline east and west of the river mouth is relatively undeveloped, with long sandy beaches prevailing. The name of the city is of Slavic origin.

Prignitz (German: [ˈpʁiːɡnɪts] ) is a Kreis (district) in northwestern Brandenburg, in northeastern Germany. Neighboring districts, clockwise from the north, are Ludwigslust-Parchim (in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania), Ostprignitz-Ruppin (Brandenburg), Stendal (Saxony-Anhalt), and Lüchow-Dannenberg (Lower Saxony).

Szczecin (UK: /ˈʃtʃɛtʃɪn/ SHCHETCH-in, US: /-tʃiːn/ -⁠een, Polish: [ˈʂt͡ʂɛt͡ɕin] ; German: Stettin [ʃtɛˈtiːn] ; Swedish: Stettin [stɛˈtiːn]) is the capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the German border, it is a major seaport, the largest city of northwestern Poland, and seventh-largest city of Poland. As of 31 December 2022, the population was 391,566.

Szczecin is located on the Oder River, south of the Szczecin Lagoon and the Bay of Pomerania. The city is situated along the southwestern shore of Dąbie Lake, on both sides of the Oder and on several large islands between the western and eastern branches of the river. It is also surrounded by dense forests, shrubland and heaths, chiefly the Wkrzańska Heath shared with Germany (Ueckermünde) and the Szczecin Landscape Park. Szczecin is adjacent to the town of Police and is the urban centre of the Szczecin agglomeration, an extended metropolitan area that includes communities in the German states of Brandenburg and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.

Stralsund (German pronunciation: [ˈʃtʁaːlzʊnt] ; Swedish: Strålsund), officially the Hanseatic City of Stralsund (German: Hansestadt Stralsund), is the fifth-largest city in the northeastern German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania after Rostock, Schwerin, Neubrandenburg and Greifswald, and the second-largest city in the Pomeranian part of the state. It is located on the southern coast of the Strelasund, a sound of the Baltic Sea separating the island of Rügen from the Pomeranian mainland.

The Strelasund Crossing with its two bridges and several ferry services connects Stralsund with Rügen, the largest island of Germany and Pomerania. The Western Pomeranian city is the seat of the Vorpommern-Rügen district and, together with Greifswald, Stralsund forms one of four high-level urban centres of the region.