Lychen

Not to be confused with Lichen.

Lychen
Town
Church of Saint John
Coat of arms
Location of Lychen within Uckermark district
Lychen Lychen
Coordinates: 53°12′12″N 13°19′11″E
Country	Germany
State	Brandenburg
District	Uckermark
Subdivisions	4 Ortsteile
Government
• Mayor (2024–32)	Karola Gundlach
Area
• Total	110.51 km2 (42.67 sq mi)
Elevation	60 m (200 ft)
Population  (2022-12-31)
• Total	3,140
• Density	28/km2 (74/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes	17279
Dialling codes	039888
Vehicle registration	UM
Website	www.lychen.de

Lychen (German pronunciation: [ˈlyːçən]), also known as Flößerstadt (raftsman city), is a town in the Uckermark district, in Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated 24 kilometres (15 mi) southeast of Neustrelitz, and 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) east of Fürstenberg/Havel. This is the town where the thumbtack was created.

History

Historically, timber rafting was one of the most important sectors of the economy. The timber was built into rafts and used for building projects, and was also used to transport other goods. Lychen has a timber rafting museum, and tourists can travel by raft on the lake.

Flat-headed thumbtacks were invented in Lychen in 1903 by Johann Kirsten. His invention is celebrated in a memorial. At the beginning of the 20th century there were a number of small factories here manufacturing thumbtacks.

The Hohenlychen Sanatorium used by the Schutzstaffel during World War II, is located in the town.

Demography

• 
  Development of population since 1875 within the current Boundaries (Blue Line: Population; Dotted Line: Comparison to Population development in Brandenburg state; Grey Background: Time of Nazi Germany; Red Background: Time of communist East Germany)
• 
  Recent Population Development and Projections (Population Development before Census 2011 (blue line); Recent Population Development according to the Census in Germany in 2011 (blue bordered line); Official projections for 2005-2030 (yellow line); for 2017-2030 (scarlet line); for 2020-2030 (green line)

Lychen: Population development
within the current boundaries (2020)

Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1875 3,184 —     1890 3,359 +0.36% 1910 3,919 +0.77% 1925 4,828 +1.40% 1939 5,261 +0.62% 1950 5,053 −0.37% 1964 4,452 −0.90%

Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1971 4,490 +0.12% 1981 4,205 −0.65% 1985 4,209 +0.02% 1990 4,114 −0.46% 1995 4,122 +0.04% 2000 3,966 −0.77% 2005 3,905 −0.31%

Year Pop. ±% p.a. 2010 3,527 −2.02% 2015 3,135 −2.33% 2016 3,222 +2.78% 2017 3,207 −0.47% 2018 3,178 −0.90% 2019 3,178 +0.00% 2020 3,154 −0.76%

Gallery

• 
  City wall
• 
  Lake Oberpfuhl
• 
  Stream Wurlflut
• 
  Timber Rafting Museum
• 
  Raft carrying tourists to lake Oberpfuhl

See also

• Nesselpfuhl
• Oberpfuhl
• Wurlsee
• Zenssee