PARCHIM (PARCHEM)  , a town of Germany, in the grand duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, on the Elde, which flows through it in two arms, 23 M . S.E. of Schwerin, on the railway from Ludwigslust to Neubrandenburg . Pop . (1905), 10,397 . It was the birthplace of Moltke, to whom a monument was erected in 1876 . It is an ancient place surrounded with walls, and contains a Gothic town hall and two interesting churches . Founded about 1210, Parchim was during part of the 14th century the residence of one branch of the family of the dukes of Mecklenburg; It became a prosperous industrial town duringthe 16th century, but this prosperity was destroyed by the Thirty Years' War . A revival, however, set in during the 19th century . See Habbe, Zur topographischen Entwickelung der Stadt Parchim (Parchim, 1899) ; and Weltzien, Zur Geschichte Parchims (Parchim, 1903) .