The City of Ploen's History Places of Interest Picture Gallery
- The Ice Age and Slavonian Settlement
- 17th Rule of the Counts of Lauenburg – 12th – Century
- Residence of the Counts of Ploen – 17th – 18th Century
- Times under Danish Rule - 18th – 19th Century
- Ploen during the Empire, the Weimar Republic and the Nazi Rule
- Ploen after 1945
The Ice Age and Slavonian Settlement
The relief of today’s urban area of Ploen with its hilltops and lakes
was formed by the last ice age. Findings deriving from the medium stone
age document a first settlement soon after the retraeat of the
glaciers.
The islands and marshes offered the first settlers shelter;
the waters provided ample food. In the course of the migration of
peoples during the 7th century Slavonian tribes settled in the Ploen
area. The erected a widespread fortification on the offshore island of
“Olsborg”. The fortress was calle d “plune2 which means “ice free
water”.
In 1139 the Holstein Count , Adolf II of Schwanenberg destroyed the
fortress and thus ended the Slavonian rule over the region of Ploen.
17th Rule of the Counts of Lauenburg – 12th – Century
20 years after its destruction Count Adolf II had the fortress rebuilt.
It was soon moved to today’s Schlossberg (Castle Hill). In the course
of the centuries the Castle of Ploen was altered and extended, but also
destroyed by hostile armies.
In the shelter of the castle and close to
the route for commerce leading from the City of Lübeck to the North a
market settlement developed which received its town charter as “Plone”
in 1236 by Lübeck – more than 750 years ago.
Situated on a narrow isthmus in a favourable strategic location between
the lakes and the small River Schwentine, Ploen remained the centre of
the County of Holsten until this fell to the Danish Crown in the 15th
century.
Residence of the Counts of Ploen – 17th – 18th Century
By succession the sovereign Duchy of Schleswig-Holsten-Sonderburg-Ploen
including estates around Ahrensbök and Reinfeld emanated in 1622 from
the Royal House of Denmark.
Ploen thus became the residence of a small
state. In 1633, right during the Thirty Years´ War, Count Joachim Ernst
had the fortified castle torn down which had meanwhile become
inhabitable. In exactly the same location the new, now residential
castle was erected within only 3 years building time – coming very
close to the structural condition of today.
With the construction of
the castle Ploen moved up to become the residence of a small, yet
independent principality. As residential town Ploen advanced
considerably. Due to the intensive construction activities of the Dukes
Joachim Ernst, Johann Adolf and Friedrich Carl the characteristic
townscape, as it can still be admired today, was formed.
For example
Duke Johann Adolf (“Hans Adolf”) founded in the Northwest of the city
the Neustadt (New Town) in order to foster the local trades and to
improve the economic power of the principality, whereas Friedrich Carl
enhanced the quarter around the castle by several baroque buildings and
the generous park. At that time the town comprised about 1000
inhabitants and stretched from the bridge over the River Schwentine in
the East to today’s pedestrian zone in the West. The access was on both
sides secured by city gates – the Lübecker Tor (“Lübsche”) and the
Wentorfer Tor.
Times under Danish Rule - 18th – 19th Century
In 1761 the principality fell back to the Danish Crown under the rule of King Christian VIII. Thus Ploen belonged to Denmark up to the German–Danish War in 1864. During that time Ploen temporarily became the summer residence of the Danish king, who had the summer gardens newly constructed. But otherwise Ploen remained a remote “one-horse” town with some 2000 souls.
Ploen during the Empire, the Weimar Republic and the Nazi Rule
In 1867 Ploen became the Prussian county seat of the newly founded
administrative county of Ploen. One year later a Prussian cadet school
was established on the premises of the castle.
Due to its scenic
surroundings Ploen gained importance as a holiday resort at the end of
the 19th century. Excursion restaurants opened up and public swimming
baths as well as look-out towers were built.
Ploen after 1945
Ploen grew quickly after the war. Major residential areas had already
been built between the two World Wars. Those were enlarged when the
town took in many refugees after World War II. Not only the urban area
of Ploen sprawled through the years – the city also became the base of
two military institutions- the Naval Sergeants School and a pioneer
battalion.
The infrastructure also underwent changes. The former main
traffic road, the Lange Straße, was converted into a pedestrian zone.
From then on the main traffic was re-routed away from the Eutiner
Straße and Johannisstraße over the in 1985 newly erected bridges
overstretching the lakes in the inner city. At the beginning of the
nineties the federal government decided to dismantle the pioneer
battalion which had been stationed in the barracks at the Eastern city
limits.
Today the new quarter Stadtheide is situated there along a
through road to Niederkleevez. This is a new residential area with
supermarkets and a nursery home for senior citizens. The new finance
office is also located there since its former building was acquired by
the Fielmann Akademie along with the castle. A training institute for
opticians is now being set up in the building.
Today the Town of Ploen has grown to a fully scaled modern county town
whose infrastructure is dominated by small and medium-sized business
enterprises.
But the predominant factor remains the local tourism.
The town’s most important asset still is its beautiful location on the
shores of the Big Ploen Lake to the South - with 36km² being
the largest lake in Schleswig-Holstein. In the North of the town we
find a lake district situated right in the middle of the Natural Park
“Holsteinische Schweiz”.
The wide-open landscape, characterized by its waters, bright forests
and healthy meadows, invites every visitor to spend an active vacation,
to relax and rejoice, to discover and absorb the beautiful scenery.
The twinning towns of Ploen are PLAU in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and
KSOUR ESSAF in Tunisia.