In the 17th century Strelitz was a part of the duchy of Mecklenburg-Güstrow, which ceased to exist after the death of the last duke in 1695.

This small duchy contained the present-day district and an exclave around Ratzeburg, which is today situated in Schleswig-Holstein.

The ancient town of Strelitz continued to exist after the fire of 1712; it was a small village, which was suburbanised by Neustrelitz in 1931.

When the Red Army troops of the 2nd Belorussian Front entered the town on 30 April 1945, 681 people committed suicide.

Worth seeing are the 18th-century Orangerie (from orange), initially used as a summerhouse, the Schloßkirche (Palace Church) built in 1855–1859 in English Neo-Gothic style, the Neoclassic Hebe temple (with a replica of a statue of the goddess Hebe), and the Louise Temple, built in 1891 in the shape of a Greek temple to house the tomb of Queen Louise of Prussia, born Princess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.

A review (in German) of a 2017 opera performance of Offenbach's The Tales of Hoffmann is to be found here.