Güstrow is a town in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in north-eastern Germany. It is capital of the Rostock district; Rostock itself is a district-free city and regiopolis.
The Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin was a duchy in northern Germany created in 1701, when Frederick William and Adolphus Frederick II divided the Duchy of Mecklenburg between Schwerin and Strelitz. Ruled by the successors of the Nikloting House of Mecklenburg, Mecklenburg-Schwerin remained a state of the Holy Roman Empire along the Baltic Sea littoral between Holstein-Glückstadt and the Duchy of Pomerania.
Adolphus Frederick II, Duke of Mecklenburg, was the first Duke of the Mecklenburg-Strelitz, reigning from 1701 until his death. Mecklenburg-Strelitz was a part of the Holy Roman Empire.
Albert II, Duke of Mecklenburg was a feudal lord in Northern Germany on the shores of the Baltic Sea. He reigned as the head of the House of Mecklenburg. His princely seat was located in Schwerin beginning in the 1350s.
John VII, sometimes called John V, was a duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin.
Mecklenburg-Güstrow was a state of the Holy Roman Empire in Northern Germany, that existed on three occasions ruled by the House of Mecklenburg at Güstrow.
Magnus II, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Güstrow was duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin from 1477 until his death.
Adolf Frederick I was the reigning Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin from his father's death in 1592 until 1628 and again from 1631 to 1658. Between 1634 and 1648 Adolf Frederick also ruled the Prince-Bishopric of Schwerin as its administrator.
The Duchy of Mecklenburg-Stargard, also simply known as Mecklenburg-Stargard, and also as the Duchy of Stargard was a feudal district duchy in Mecklenburg within the Holy Roman Empire. Its capital was Burg Stargard. It was ruled by the House of Mecklenburg. The state was formed in 1352 from part of the Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, and existed until 1471, when it was incorporated into the Duchy of Mecklenburg.
Frederick William was the reigning Duke of Mecklenburg in the Mecklenburg-Schwerin portion of the Duchy of Mecklenburg from 1692 until 1713.
Henry V, Duke of Mecklenburg, nicknamed the Peaceful, was the reigning Duke of Mecklenburg in the region Mecklenburg-Schwerin, the son of Duke Magnus II and Sophie of Pomerania-Stettin.
Henry IV, Duke of Mecklenburg was from 1422 to 1477 Duke of Mecklenburg.
Albert VI, Duke of Mecklenburg was a Duke of Mecklenburg.
John Albert I, in older literature known as John or Johann, was the reigning duke of Mecklenburg-Güstrow from 1547 to 1556 and of Mecklenburg-Schwerin from 1556 to 1576. In 1549 John Albert I saw to it that the parliament of Mecklenburg carried through the Reformation for the entire duchy.
Nicholas II, Lord of Werle was Lord of Werle-Parchim from 1283 until his death, and from 1292 Lord of Werle.
The Principality of Ratzeburg is a former state, existing from 1648 to 1918. It belonged to the imperially immediate territory of the Duchy of Mecklenburg within the Holy Roman Empire. It was formed from the territory of the former Prince-Bishopric of Ratzeburg, which was secularised to Mecklenburg-Güstrow in the 1648 Peace of Westphalia. Following the death of the last duke in 1695, the territories of Mecklenburg-Güstrow were split up in the 1701 Treaty of Hamburg, which created the semi-ducal states of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Mecklenburg-Strelitz, with the latter made up of the Principality of Ratzeburg and the Lordship of Stargard. Its territories remained exclaves of Mecklenburg-Strelitz through its later iterations – the Grand Duchy from 1815 and Free State from 1918 – before the bulk of it was finally incorporated into the unified state of Mecklenburg in 1934 as part of Landkreis Schönberg; its small exclaves were incorporated into Kreis Herzogtum Lauenburg of Schleswig-Holstein. Most of the Principality is now within the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.
During its history, the state of Mecklenburg has been repeatedly partitioned into various successor states. Modern historians distinguish three main Partitions of Mecklenburg:
