Editing Bad Doberan (district) (section)

== History ==
Before 500 [[AD]] [[Germanic peoples|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 League|Hanseatic]] city of [[Rostock]]. The worst time in regional history was the [[Thirty Years' War]], which depopulated the area almost completely.

In 1793 the bathing resort of Heiligendamm (today a borough of Bad Doberan) was established, and the region became a summer residence for the dukes of [[Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin|Mecklenburg-Schwerin]].

In 1952 the districts of Bad Doberan and Rostock-Land were established. They were merged in 1994 to form the enlarged district of Bad Doberan. This district was merged with the [[Güstrow (district)|district of Güstrow]] at the district reform of September 2011, forming the new [[Rostock (district)|district of Rostock]].