Bad Doberan (German pronunciation: [baːt dobəˈʁaːn]) is a former district in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It was named after its largest town, Bad Doberan, the German Bad meaning spa. The district surrounded the City of Rostock, bordering the Baltic Sea in the north as well as the former districts of Nordvorpommern, Güstrow and Nordwestmecklenburg. The district was disbanded at the district reform of September 2011. Its territory has been part of the district of Rostock since.
Before 500 AD East Germanic tribes dominated the area, who later on emigrated to the west. The then very rural region was thereafter scarcely populated by Slavic peoples until the 12th century. Remains of a Slavic castle can be found in the town of Rerik (which still bears a Slavic name). In 1160 Henry the Lion conquered the region; afterwards German monks, peasants and traders arrived to settle here. In the Middle Ages the region profited from the vicinity of the wealthy Hanseatic city of Rostock. The worst time in regional history was the Thirty Years' War, which depopulated the area almost completely.
Bad Doberan (German pronunciation: [baːt dobəˈʁaːn]) is a town in the district of Rostock, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It was the capital of the former district of Bad Doberan. As of 2012 its population was 11,427.
Bad Doberan is situated just 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) west of Rostock's city centre and is therefore part of one of the most developed regions in the north-eastern part of Germany. The town nestles between beautiful beech tree forests just 6 km from the Baltic Sea and is one of the earliest German settlements in Mecklenburg. Today the town is a very popular bathing resort, thanks to Heiligendamm, a district of Bad Doberan situated directly at the cliff line of the Baltic. Historically, Doberan used to be the summer residence for the Mecklenburg Dukes who resided in Schwerin, and for their entourage.
The name Doberan, originally Dobran, is a place name that probably derives from a Slavic Old Polabian personal name, meaning "good" (dobry).
According to legend, the name Doberan originated when the monastery was being built. It is said that a passing deer startled several swans, who shrieked with terror "dobre dobre". Whereupon the monks called the place Doberan. Even today, a deer and swan adorn the arms of the town.