Bresegard bei Picher

Infobox German Location
Wappen = Wappen_Bresegard_bei_Picher.pnglat_deg = 53 |lat_min = 21
lon_deg = 11 |lon_min = 17
Lageplan = Bresegard_bei_Picher_in_LWL.pngBundesland = Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
Landkreis = Ludwigslust
Amt = Hagenow-Land
Höhe = 37
Fläche = 16.57
Einwohner = 354
Stand = 2006-12-31
PLZ = 19230
Vorwahl = 038751
Kfz = LWL
Gemeindeschlüssel = 13 0 54 016
Adresse-Verband = Bahnhofstr. 25
in 19230 Hagenow
Website = [http://www.amt-hagenow-land.de/ www.amt-hagenow-land.de]
Bürgermeister = Klaus Weinreich

Bresegard bei Picher is a small municipality in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Often it is simply referred to simply as Bresegard. It should be noted that there is another municipality within Mecklenburg also called Bresegard. To differentiate between the two 'bei Picher' is added, signifying a close proximity to the town of Picher. The other Bresegard is near the town of Eldena and is called Bresegard bei Eldena. Bresegard bei Picher, part of the "Amt" of Hagenow-Land and the district (Landkreis) of Ludwigslust, is near the main highway between Berlin and Hamburg.

History

It is worth noting that this area of Germany (Mecklenburg) had once been occupied by Slavic peoples, and the suffix 'gard' in the name Bresegard reflects this. [Slavic towns may often have the suffix 'grad', which means town or city. Although the suffix 'gard' may be spelled differently the root link to the Slavic languages can be discerned] . A similar example of lingering slavic language influence is the city of Schwerin, which used to be called "Zuarin" before the complete 'germanization' of the area. However, the German language Wikipedia article on Bresegard says that the place name, originally from the slavic, later as 'birkenbirge', and finally as Bresegard, had the root meaning of something like "birch tree mountain". The Bresegard crest depicts a birch tree on a mound, the seed pods represent the number of roads leading into the village.

The first known mention of Bresegard come from 1421 by Albrecht V. of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, in his compilation of land ownership, and was known then as "Brezegure". There are some indications that in the 15th and 16th centuries there may have been windmills in place. During the thirty-years war much of the area surrounding Bresegard was devastated. By the 17th and 18th centuries small farmers began to populate the area.

Bresegard bei Picher was part of the area initially captured or occupied by American troops at the end of World War Two. In other words Bresegard was on the American side of the line of contact between American and Soviet forces. Due to previous agreements by the Allied powers, this part of Germany was transferred to Soviet control some several weeks after American occupation. As a small remote village Bresegard did not suffer war time destruction. Click on the following link to the German language Wikipedia article on Bresegard bei Picher for more detailed information: [http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bresegard_bei_Picher | Bresegard bei Picher]