Bresegard bei Picher
Encyclopedia
Bresegard bei Picher is a small municipality
Municipalities of Germany
Municipalities are the lowest level of territorial division in Germany. This may be the fourth level of territorial division in Germany, apart from those states which include Regierungsbezirke , where municipalities then become the fifth level.-Overview:With more than 3,400,000 inhabitants, the...

 in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Often it is simply referred to simply as Bresegard. There is another municipality within Mecklenburg also called Bresegard and to differentiate the two 'bei Picher' is added, signifying a close proximity to the town of Picher. The other Bresegard is near the town of Eldena
Eldena
Eldena is a municipality in the Ludwigslust-Parchim district, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany....

 and is called Bresegard bei Eldena
Bresegard bei Eldena
Bresegard bei Eldena is a municipality in the Ludwigslust-Parchim district, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany....

. Bresegard bei Picher, part of the Amt of Hagenow-Land and the district (Landkreis) of Ludwigslust
Ludwigslust
Ludwigslust is a town in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany, 40 km south of Schwerin. It was the capital of the former district of Ludwigslust, and is part of the district Ludwigslust-Parchim since September 2011.-History:...

, is near the main highway between Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

 and Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...

.

History

This area of Germany (Mecklenburg) had once been occupied by Slavic peoples, and the suffix 'gard' in the name Bresegard reflects this. The place name, originally from the Slavic, later as 'Birkenbirge', and finally as Bresegard, had the root meaning of "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 was in 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 II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. Bresegard was on the American side of the line of contact
Line of contact
The Line of Contact marked the farthest advance of American, British and Soviet Armies into Germany at the end of World War II. This contact began with the first meeting between Soviet and American forces at Torgau, near the Elbe river on Elbe Day, April 25, 1945...

between American and Soviet forces. Due to previous agreements by the Allied powers, this part of Germany was transferred to Soviet control several weeks after American occupation. As a small remote village, Bresegard did not suffer wartime destruction.
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