MECKLENBURG:(Redirected from STRELITZ.) Territory in North
Germany; bounded on the north by the Baltic Sea. Formerly it
constituted one duchy, but since 1701 it has been divided into
Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Mecklenburg-Strelitz, forming two
separate grand duchies of the German empire. However, their
governments are still intimately connected. Mecklenburg-Schwerin
has (1900) 607,770 inhabitants, among whom are 1,763 Jews,
divided into 36 congregations; Mecklenburg-Strelitz has 102,602
inhabitants, including 331 Jews, divided into 6 congregations.
It is possible that the settlement of Jews in Mecklenburg dates
from 1243, when Brandenburg expelled its Jews; but it is equally
probable that the first Jewish settlers arrived from western
Germany,where the Jews were frequently persecuted. It is
certain, however, that Jews lived in Mecklenburg as early as
1266, for in a document dated April 14, 1266, in which Henry I.
(the Pilgrim) conferred upon Wismar the Lübeck rights, Jews are
mentioned together with the private