City (pop., 2002 est.: 71,723), northeastern Germany, near the northern end of Tollense Lake.
It was founded in 1248 as a fortified outpost, became part of Mecklenburg in 1292, and prospered from its weaving industry and as a market centre. In the 17th–18th centuries it was plundered during the Thirty Years' War , devastated by fire, and battered by the Napoleonic Wars . Its medieval fortifications are well preserved, but most of its buildings were destroyed by bombing in World War II. Much rebuilt after 1952, it has engineering, food-processing, and chemical industries.