The oldest document mentioning the area around Kyritz as "Chorizi" was written in 948. The region was called "Prignitz". The name is derived from the Slavic word "pregynica" meaning "inaccessible woods". A castle was built here in 1148, and little by little a town developed close to the castle. In the year 1225 a
Franciscan friary was established here (dissolved in 1552). The first document in which the name "Kyritz" was mentioned dates from 1232. It obtained municipal status in 1237 and got the privilege to produce its own coins. A wall around the town was built in the 14th century. Kyritz became a member of the
Hanseatic League in 1359. The merchants living in Kyritz sold wheat, clothes, wood, wool, linnen and hop to other member towns of the Hanseatic League and they bought metals, spices, wine and fish from other places. Goods from
Lübeck, the headquarters of the Hanseatic League, were sold duty-free in Kyritz. In 1488 the first brewery was founded in Kyritz. The beer was named "Mord und Totschlag" (Murder and Manslaughter) and it is still brewed in
Neuzelle. In 1600
Count Hans Christoff von Königsmarck was born in Kötzlin, a leading Swedish general in the
Thirty Years' War who is most famous for attempting to conquer
Prague in 1648. In 1626, 800 citizens of Kyritz died from the
bubonic plague. From 1806 to 1814 Kyritz was occupied by French soldiers. After Napoleon's defeat n 1814 the "Peace Oak" was planted in the Market Place. From 1815 to 1945, Kyritz was part of the
Prussian Province of Brandenburg. From 1952 to 1990, it was part of the
Bezirk Potsdam of
East Germany. ==Sights==