Grabow

Grabow lies on the river Elde in western Mecklenburg. Its name is of Slavic origin, derived from the word for a hornbeam. A castle here was mentioned in a papal letter of 1186, when the settlement belonged to the counts of Dannenberg. The counts granted Grabow town privileges in 1252, and a church was recorded in 1285. In 1319–1320 the town became part of Mecklenburg, where it remained under the rulers of Mecklenburg-Schwerin.