Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
After this guide, you will know where Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania is, which city is its capital, what its coat of arms and flag look like, and how the state is elected, governed and informed about politics.
Location and capital
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania is a federal state (Bundesland) in the north-east of Germany, on the Baltic Sea coast. Germany has 16 states, and each state has its own government.
The city that is the state capital (Landeshauptstadt) is where the state government has its seat. The capital of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania is Schwerin.
In a question with a map of Germany, look for the state in the north-east, next to the Baltic Sea. That is Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.
Coat of arms and flag
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania has its own coat of arms (Wappen) and its own state flag (Landesflagge). The correct coat of arms in the question is the third picture. It shows a shield divided into four fields, with two bull heads and a mythical animal called a griffin.
The state flag has four colours: blue, white, yellow and red.
Districts, municipalities and elections
The state is divided into districts (Landkreis) and some large cities that stand on their own. Each district contains several municipalities (Gemeinde), the smallest units of local government.
For example, Mecklenburgische Seenplatte is a district of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The name means the Mecklenburg lake district.
The state parliament, called the Landtag, is elected for a term of five years. So the state parliament election (Landtagswahl) takes place every five years.
In local elections (Kommunalwahl), people aged 16 and over may vote. Local elections choose representatives at the level of the municipality and the district.
State government and where to find information
Each state has a state parliament (Landtag) elected by the people, and it makes the laws for the state. The state government is led by the minister-president (Ministerpräsident).
The state parliament elects the minister-president. A minister-president is not a mayor, because a mayor leads only one city or municipality.
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania has several ministries, for example:
- Minister of Justice (Justizminister): responsible for the courts and the state's legal system.
- Minister of Finance (Finanzminister): responsible for the state budget.
- Minister of the Interior (Innenminister): responsible for the police and public safety in the state.
To learn about political topics, you can go to the State Agency for Civic Education (Landeszentrale für politische Bildung). It is a state agency that gives neutral information.