Bad Wilsnack

Bad Wilsnack

Town hall and church

Coat of arms
Bad Wilsnack

Coordinates: 52°57′00″N 11°56′59″E / 52.95000°N 11.94972°E / 52.95000; 11.94972Coordinates: 52°57′00″N 11°56′59″E / 52.95000°N 11.94972°E / 52.95000; 11.94972
Country Germany
State Brandenburg
District Prignitz
Municipal assoc. Bad Wilsnack/Weisen
Government
 • Mayor Dietrich Gappa (CDU)
Area
 • Total 79.21 km2 (30.58 sq mi)
Population (2015-12-31)[1]
 • Total 2,558
 • Density 32/km2 (84/sq mi)
Time zone CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes 19336
Dialling codes 038791
Vehicle registration PR
Website www.bad-wilsnack.de

Bad Wilsnack is a small town in the Prignitz district, in Brandenburg, Germany. The former pilgrimage site of the Holy Blood of Wilsnack has been officially recognised as a spa town (Bad) since 1929. It is the administrative seat of the Amt ("municipal federation") Bad Wilsnack/Weisen.

Geography

St Nicholas Church

The town is situated within the Prignitz historical region in the northwest of Brandenburg, roughly halfway between Berlin and Hamburg. It is located on the Karthane river, which flows into the Elbe at nearby Wittenberge. A few kilometers to the south is the confluence of the Havel and Elbe rivers. The neighbouring municipality of Rühstädt is famous for its high number of resident white storks.

Bad Wilsnack station is a stop on the Berlin–Hamburg Railway. The townscape is marked by the large St Nicholas Church of the Holy Blood and several timber framed houses.

History

Wilsnack in the Margraviate of Brandenburg was first mentioned in 1384. The town became a pilgrimage destination after being burned down on 15 August 1383 during a raid by the Mecklenburg captain and robber baron Heinrich von Bülow against the Bishopric of Havelberg. It was believed that aft the fire some hosts were found to have survived, but had the appearance of being bloodied. The Holy Blood of Wilsnack was authenticated when the Havelberg bishop Dietrich Man went to consecrate the hosts as a precaution, and the central one overflowed with blood, according to later accounts. Reformers like Jan Hus and Nicholas of Cusa later discouraged pilgrimage to Wilsnack, questioning the nature of these wonder hosts and suspecting fraud.

The pilgrimage led from St. Mary's Church in Berlin to Wilsnack. Numerous pilgrims, among them Elector Frederick II of Brandenburg went to the rebuilt town to see the miraculous hosts; their revenues enabled the citizens to construct the large St Nicholas Church for their worship, a larger building than otherwise needed in the parish. The pilgrims who went to Wilsnack bought pewter trinkets to indicate that they had reached the site. These emblems were often in the form of three hosts connected together. Seen in numerous medieval paintings, the tokens have turned up in archaeological digs from the area. The numbers of pilgrims were said to rival those to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. Despite controversy, the pilgrimages continued until 1552, when the hosts were destroyed during the Protestant Reformation.

The story of the bleeding hosts was depicted in a series of woodcuts made during the Middle Ages. The town used the image on emergency money which it printed and issued during the hyperinflation crisis of the 1920s (Notgeld).

Demography

Development of Population since 1875 within the Current Boundaries (Blue Line: Population; Dotted Line: Comparison to Population Development of Brandenburg state; Grey Background: Time of Nazi rule; Red Background: Time of Communist rule)
Bad Wilsnack:
Population development within the current boundaries (2013)[2]
Year Population
1875 3 496
1890 3 445
1910 3 375
1925 3 659
1933 3 518
1939 3 469
1946 5 661
1950 4 955
1964 4 055
1971 3 950
Year Population
1981 3 494
1985 3 421
1989 3 243
1990 3 136
1991 3 082
1992 3 025
1993 2 948
1994 2 900
1995 2 871
1996 2 855
Year Population
1997 2 926
1998 3 055
1999 3 130
2000 3 085
2001 3 039
2002 2 982
2003 2 962
2004 2 923
2005 2 837
2006 2 803
Year Population
2007 2 740
2008 2 702
2009 2 671
2010 2 635
2011 2 637
2012 2 612
2013 2 611

Personality

Sons and daughters of the town

Individuals connected to the city

References

  1. ↑ "Bevölkerung im Land Brandenburg nach amtsfreien Gemeinden, Ämtern und Gemeinden 31. Dezember 2015 (Fortgeschriebene amtliche Einwohnerzahlen auf Grundlage des Zensus 2011)". Amt für Statistik Berlin-Brandenburg (in German). 2016.
  2. ↑ Detailed data sources are to be found in the Wikimedia Commons.Population Projection Brandenburg at Wikimedia Commons

External links

Media related to Bad Wilsnack at Wikimedia Commons

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