Uckermark

The Uckermark (German pronunciation: [ˈʊkɐˌmaʁk] ) is a historical region in northeastern Germany, which currently straddles the Uckermark District of Brandenburg and the Vorpommern-Greifswald District of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Its traditional capital is Prenzlau. The region is named after the Uecker River, which is a tributary of the Oder; the name Uckermark means "March of the Uecker". The river's source is close to Angermünde, from where it runs northward to Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The Oder River, forming the German-Polish border, bounds the region in the east. The western parts of the Lower Oder Valley National Park are located in the Uckermark. In the Ice Age, glaciers shaped the landscape of the region. A climate change left a hilly area with several lakes formed by the melting ice, and humans started to settle the area. Megalithic-cultures arose, followed by Germanic cultures. From the 6th–12th centuries Polabian Slavs migrating from Eastern Europe moved westward into the later Uckermark.