Mayor Hendrik Sommer: Farewell after 16 formative years!

Mayor Hendrik Sommer: Farewell after 16 formative years!

Thursday evening, December 6th, 2025, was a significant day in the history of the city of Prenzlau. The city council (SVV) said goodbye to Mayor Hendrik Sommer after 16 years in office, and the emotions were palpable. City council leader Ludger Melters described summer as a “stroke of luck for our city” and praised his balancing leadership style. Under Sommer's leadership, numerous projects were realized that increased the quality of life of the citizens - these include the redesign of the Marktberg, developments on the north bank of the Uckersee as well as the Slavic exhibition and the expansion of the campsite. As nordkurier.de reports, Sommer contributed a responsible part to these milestones.

An emotional highlight of the meeting was Sommer's entry in the city's Golden Book. The text praised not only his leadership qualities, but also his personal care in implementing projects. Finally, the outgoing mayor received a box with three bottles of red wine as a thank you for his many years of work.

A look back at important projects

To commemorate his term of office, Sommer also received humorous farewell gifts, including garden tools for the second alderman, Dr. Andreas Heinrich and camping cutlery for Marek Wöller-Beetz. In his acceptance speech, he emphasized the fruitful cooperation between the administration and city council and paid respect to his colleagues and his wife. A special gift was the tree planting at the municipal campsite, which was also discussed during the meeting.

But what will happen to the city of Prenzlau without Hendrik Sommer? Urban development will continue to be of great importance. Sommer, who has been in office since 2010 and previously worked as a shareholder representative for Wohnbau, particularly pushed forward the renovation of prefabricated buildings and the development of a wide range of residential projects. In the past there have been challenges such as financial bottlenecks and increasing vacancies, but these have been mitigated through targeted measures and collaboration with experienced managing directors. LinkedIn emphasizes that Sommer placed particular emphasis on the importance of the state horticultural show for investments and the cityscape.

New requirements in urban planning

In times of change, long-term concepts for urban development are essential. As städtetag.de describes, cities must harmonize their settlement structures, transport systems and environmental concerns. Sustainability, climate protection and quality of life are the focus. It is noted that cooperative participation processes and citizen engagement are becoming increasingly important in order to take residents' needs into account.

During his time as mayor, Sommer also addressed many of these issues and made concrete progress. Now it is up to his successor to continue these ideas and tackle new challenges. With over 20 million euros in reserves for the city, the signs point to further growth and positive development if the right course is set for the future.