Plauer See

In Alt Schwerin, near the northern shore of the Plauer See, can be found a Farming Museum, with a variety of old buildings and exhibits illustrating the history of farming in Mecklenburg from the Middle Ages to the present day.

The Plauer See is linked by the long narrow Petersdorfer See and the Malchower See with the Fleesensee (area 11 sq. km/4.25 sq. mi). On the Malchower See is the old island town of Malchow (pop. 8,000; textiles, carpets, clothing manufacture), which received its municipal charter in 1235. This is a good base from which to explore the beautiful lake district of central Mecklenburg, up the Elde valley. Downstream the Elde is linked by the river Stör with the Schweriner See.

On the west side of the Plauer See, at the point where the river Elde leaves the lake, is the little town of Plau (pop. 6,500). The town was laid out on a regular plan in 1225-26, surrounded by walls and a moat in 1288, and protected by a fortress (of which there remains a 12m/40ft high tower with walls 3m/10ft thick). Plau long remained a typical Mecklenburg farming town, enjoying a brief period of prosperity as an industrial town (engineering, textiles) only in the 19th C.