Wismar (; ), officially the Hanseatic City of Wismar () is, with around 43,000 inhabitants, the sixth-largest city of the northeastern German state of

Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (MV; ; ), also known by its Anglicisation, anglicized name Mecklenburg–Western Pomerania, is a Federated state, state in the north-east of Germany. Of the country's States of Germany, sixteen states, Mecklenburg-Vorpom ...

, and the fourth-largest city of Mecklenburg after

Rostock Rostock (; Polabian language, Polabian: ''Roztoc''), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (), is the largest city in the German States of Germany, state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the sta ...

Schwerin Schwerin (; Mecklenburgisch-Vorpommersch dialect, Mecklenburgisch-Vorpommersch Low German: ''Swerin''; Polabian language, Polabian: ''Zwierzyn''; Latin: ''Suerina'', ''Suerinum'') is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Germ ...

and

Neubrandenburg Neubrandenburg (, Low German ''Niegenbramborg'', both lit. ''New Brandenburg an der Havel, Brandenburg'') is a city in the southeast of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is located on the shore of a lake called Tollensesee and forms the urban c ...

. The city was the third-largest port city in former

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

after Rostock and

Stralsund Stralsund (; Swedish language, Swedish: ''Strålsund''), officially the Hanseatic League, Hanseatic City of Stralsund (German language, German: ''Hansestadt Stralsund''), is the fifth-largest city in the northeastern German federal state of Mecklen ...

. Wismar is located on the Bay of Wismar of the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

, directly opposite the island of Poel, that separates the Bay of Wismar from the larger Bay of Mecklenburg. The city lies in the middle between the two larger port cities of

Lübeck Lübeck (; or ; Latin: ), officially the Hanseatic League, Hanseatic City of Lübeck (), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 220,000 inhabitants, it is the second-largest city on the German Baltic Sea, Baltic coast and the second-larg ...

in the west, and

in the east, and the state capital of

is located south of the city on Lake Schwerin. Wismar lies in the northeastern corner of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region, and is the capital of the district of Northwestern Mecklenburg. The city's natural harbour is protected by a

promontory A promontory is a raised mass of land that projects into a lowland or a body of water (in which case it is a peninsula). Most promontories either are formed from a hard ridge of rock that has resisted the erosive forces that have removed the s ...

. The uninhabited island of Walfisch, lying between Wismar and the island of Poel, administratively belongs to the borough of Wismar-Wendorf. It is estimated that Wismar was founded in 1226 under Henry Borwin I, Lord of Mecklenburg from the

House of Mecklenburg The House of Mecklenburg, also known as Nikloting, is a North German dynasty of Polabian Slavs, Polabian origin that ruled German revolution, until 1918 in the Mecklenburg region, being among the longest-ruling families of Europe. Queen Juliana o ...

, a German dynasty of Slavic origin also known as the Obotrites or Niklotides. In 1259, the city became part of the

Hanseatic League The Hanseatic League was a Middle Ages, medieval commercial and defensive network of merchant guilds and market towns in Central Europe, Central and Northern Europe, Northern Europe. Growing from a few Northern Germany, North German towns in the ...

. Throughout its history, the city has been under control of various German states as well as the

Swedish Empire The Swedish Empire or the Great Power era () was the period in Swedish history spanning much of the 17th and early 18th centuries during which Sweden became a European great power that exercised territorial control over much of the Baltic regi ...

. It was part of Sweden from 1648 until 1803 ( until 1903, when Sweden officially renounced its claims to the city), and this Swedish chapter of the city is celebrated annually with a large "Sweden Celebration". From 1815 until 1918, Wismar lay in the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and later in the Free State of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Wismar is a typical representative of the

with its city-wide

Brick Gothic Brick Gothic (, , ) is a specific style of Gothic architecture common in Baltic region, Northeast and Central Europe especially in the regions in and around the Baltic Sea, which do not have resources of standing rock (though Glacial erratic, ...

structures and iconic gabled patrician houses and was inscribed on the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

World Heritage List World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural heritag ...

alongside the historical old town of

in 2002.< Wismar is the seat of , a university of

applied science Applied science is the application of the scientific method and scientific knowledge to attain practical goals. It includes a broad range of disciplines, such as engineering and medicine. Applied science is often contrasted with basic science, ...

s, one of nine institutions of higher education in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. With MV Werften Wismar, the city is one of three cruise ship-producing locations of MV Werften (along with Rostock and

), and the shipyard with its tall white-blue hall is one of the city's largest employers. St. George's, St. Nicholas' and St. Mary's, of which only the tower is left standing, are the three iconic sacred buildings dominating the skyline of Wismar.

History

The name of the settlement was first recorded in the 12th century as Visemer, Wismar (1147, 1167), Wyssemaria (122

' ''and is probably of Slavic origin although finally disputed. Wismar could have the same

Old Saxon Old Saxon (), also known as Old Low German (), was a Germanic language and the earliest recorded form of Low German (spoken nowadays in Northern Germany, the northeastern Netherlands, southern Denmark, the Americas and parts of Eastern Eur ...

origin like the German city Weimar.'' ''Wismar was part of the Western Slavic Obotrites' territory. The exact date of the city's foundation is not clear. In the oldest existing document of Wismar of 1229 its civic rights are already established. In 1301 Wismar came under the rule of the

. In 1259 Wismar joined a defensive agreement with Lübeck and

, in order to effectively counter the numerous Baltic pirates. Subsequently more cities of the northern

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

would agree to cooperate as commerce and trade was increasingly coordinated and regulated. These policies would provide the basis for the development of the

. By the 13th and 14th centuries Wismar had grown into a flourishing Hanseatic trading hub and an important center of wool processing. Although around 2,000 of its inhabitants perished during the plague of 1376, the town remained reasonably prosperous until the 16th century.

Under Swedish rule

Atlas Van der Hagen-KW1049B10 065-De Belegeringh van Wismar

With the

Peace of Westphalia The Peace of Westphalia (, ) is the collective name for two peace treaties signed in October 1648 in the Westphalian cities of Osnabrück and Münster. They ended the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) and brought peace to the Holy Roman Empire ...

of 1648 Wismar came under the territorial control of

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. Through the acquisition of Wismar and other dominions in the

, the Kings of Sweden in their role as imperial princes were entitled to a seat in the Imperial Diet. Wismar became administrative center of Wismar town and the districts of Pod and Neukloster, and after 1653 the ''Fürstenhof'' (prince's court) served as the seat of the supreme court for all Swedish dominions in the Holy Roman Empire. Wismar's fortifications were extended into an effective all-round defence system under the supervision of Field Marshal Erik Dahlbergh. Remains of these fortifications have been preserved, among other places, in the ‘Lindengarten' to the east of the wall of the old city. During the

Scanian War The Scanian War (; ; ; ) was a part of the Northern Wars involving the union of Denmark–Norway, Electorate of Brandenburg, Brandenburg and Swedish Empire, Sweden. It was fought from 1675 to 1679 mainly on Scanian soil, in the former Danish ...

, the town was besieged and captured by Danish forces in 1675. In 1803, Sweden ceded both the town and lordship to the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin for 1,258,000 Riksdalers, but reserved the right of redemption after 100 years. In view of this contingent right of Sweden, Wismar was not represented at the diet of

Mecklenburg-Schwerin The Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin () was a duchy in northern Germany created in 1701, when Frederick William, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Frederick William and Adolphus Frederick II, Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Adolphus Frederick II divided ...

until 1897. In 1903, Sweden finally renounced its claims to the town. Wismar still retains a few relics of its old privileges, including the right to fly its own flag.

20th century

By the end of the 19th century Wismar's most important manufacturing branches were the production of iron and steel, roofing-felt, asphalt, paper and machine industry. International sea trade took place at the local harbour, which was deep enough to admit vessels of up to draught at its quays. Exports included grains, oil-seeds and butter as coal, timber and iron were imported. Wismar was production site for several railroad rolling stock manufacturers and since 1933 home to ''Norddeutsche Dornier-Werke'' of aircraft manufacturer Dornier. On 14 May 1881 Rudolph Karstadt opened his first shop (''Tuch-, Manufaktur- und Konfektionsgeschäft'') of the now well established department store chain

Karstadt Karstadt Warenhaus GmbH was a German department store chain whose headquarters were in Essen. Until 30 September 2010 the company was a subsidiary of Arcandor, Arcandor AG (which was known until 30 June 2007 as KarstadtQuelle AG) and was respo ...

in Wismar. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, it was the location of a forced labour subcamp of the Nazi prison in Bützow-Dreibergen. Wismar was heavily bombed and destroyed by Allied air raids. As the line of contact between Soviet and other Allied armies formed in Europe at the end of the war, Wismar was captured by the British 6th Airborne Division's 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion on 2 May 1945, James Hill commanding, in accordance with Operation Eclipse. On 7 May 1945 British Field Marshal Montgomery and Soviet Marshal Konstantin Rokossovsky met in Wismar. In accord with the ''Occupation Zone Agreements'' of the Yalta Conference Wismar became a part of the Soviet Occupation Zone of Germany on 1 July 1945, as British troops retreated and Soviet troops took control over the area. During the 1949 to 1990 era of the

German Democratic Republic East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

, Wismar became East Germany's second-largest port, after

and developed a shipbuilding industry. Although the GDR government had pledged to restore the local churches and historic sites that had been heavily bombed during the war, this commitment was for the most part not fulfilled. After German reunification in 1990, churches and all historic buildings in the city's town center were restored, and the old towns of Wismar and

( to the east), were listed as UNESCO

World Heritage Sites World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural heritag ...

. In 2011, Wismar became the capital of the

district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

of Nordwestmecklenburg.

Mayors and Lord Mayors

* 1919–1929: Lawyer Hans Rasp (1877–1957, SPD) * 1929–1933: Heinrich Brechling (1897–1959, SPD) * 1933–1945: Alfred Pleuger (NSDAP) * May 1945June 1945: Heinrich von Biel (independent) * June 1945August 1945: Heinz Adolf Janert (1897–1973) (independent) * August 19451945: Karl Keuscher (KPD) * September 19451945: August Wilke (KPD) * December 1945December 1950: Herbert Säverin (1906–1987) (SPD/SED) * January 1951June 1952 Erhard Holweger (1911–1976) (SED) * August 1953June 1957: Herbert Kolm (SED) * July 1957April 1969: Herbert Fiegert (SED) * April 1969November 1989: Günter Lunow (born 1926) (SED) * November 1989May 1990: Wolfram Flemming (SED), temporary * 1990–2010: Rosemarie Wilcken (born 1947) (SPD) * Since July 2010: Thomas Beyer (born 1960) (SPD)

Sights and architecture

The historic old town, centered on the huge marketplace (one of the largest in northern Germany at ), is characterized by town houses, manufacture and trading structures of the Hanseatic League, built in

style during the 13th to 15th centuries, 19th-century Romanesque Revival architecture and

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau ( ; ; ), Jugendstil and Sezessionstil in German, is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. It was often inspired by natural forms such as the sinuous curves of plants and ...

houses. Distinctive buildings and military works, built during the period of Swedish control during the 17th and the 18th centuries provide another layer of cultural influence. The market square's focal point is the ''Wasserkunst'', an elaborate wrought-iron fountain imported from Holland in 1602. The northern side of the square is occupied by the Town Hall, built in Neoclassical style from 1817 to 1819. Another notable building on the square is a

patrician's home (''Bürgerhaus'') called ''Alter Schwede'' (Old Swede), erected around 1380. St. George's Church, the third so-named edifice on the site, dates from 1404. It had escaped major damage during most of World War II, but on 14 April 1945, three weeks before the end of the war it was badly damaged by " Blockbuster bombs" dropped by the British Royal Air Force. Reconstruction after German reunification, costing some 40 million Euros, was completed in 2010. The tower church of St. Mary's Church (''Marienkirche'') is the only remainder of the original

edifice, built during the first half of the 13th century. It suffered heavy damage in World War II and was partially razed in 1960 during the East German era. St. Mary's Church and the church of St. Nicholas (''Nikolaikirche'') with its very lofty vaulting, built from 1381 to 1460, serve as prime examples of

's St. Mary's Churches architectural influence on the entire region. The ''Fürstenhof'', a richly decorated specimen of early Italian

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

style was once a ducal residence and served later as the seat of the

municipal A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the gov ...

authorities. Built from 1552 to 1565, it was restored from 1877 to 1879. The ''Old School'', dating from about 1300, has not been restored yet. The town hall, rebuilt in 1829, houses a gallery of paintings. The Fine Arts Municipal Gallery ''Baumhaus'' is located in the old harbour area.

Education

* Hochschule Wismar – University of Technology, Business and Design

Economy

Nordic Yards Wismar is a shipbuilder located in Wismar and shipbuilding has existed since 1946 at the site. Friedrich christoph dahlmann

Notable people

* Klaus Störtebeker (c. 1360–1401), privateer * Sophie of Mecklenburg-Güstrow (1557–1631), queen of

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

and

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

* Daniel Georg Morhof (1639–1691), writer, scholar and historian * Johan Henrik Scheffel (1690–1781), Swedish painter * Johan Carl Wilcke (1732–1796), physicist * Henricus Christophorus Christianus Wegener (1757–1799), lawyer * Friedrich Christoph Dahlmann (1785–1860), historian, statesman. * Heinrich Keil (1822–1894), philologist * Theodor Martens (1822–1884), architectural and landscape painter * Friedrich Bernhard Christian Maassen (1823–1900), law professor *

Gottlob Frege Friedrich Ludwig Gottlob Frege (; ; 8 November 1848 – 26 July 1925) was a German philosopher, logician, and mathematician. He was a mathematics professor at the University of Jena, and is understood by many to be the father of analytic philos ...

(1848–1925), mathematician, logician and philosopher * Hermann Ritter (1849–1926), viola player, composer and music historian *

Guglielmo Plüschow Guglielmo Plüschow (born Wilhelm Plüschow; August 18, 1852 – January 3, 1930) was a German photographer who moved to Italy and became known for his nude photos of local youths, predominantly males. Plüschow was a cousin of Wilhelm von Gl ...

(1852–1930), a German photographer of male nudes in Italy * Marie Musaeus Higgins (1855–1926), founder of Musaeus College,

Colombo Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...

* Franz Ziehl (1857–1926), bacteriologist * Elisabeth Krämer-Bannow (1874–1945), ethnologist, explored the islands of the South Pacific. * Gustav Neckel (1878–1940), Germanist and Scandinavist * Anton von Hohberg und Buchwald (1885–1934), Reichswehr and SS officer * Helmuth Wohlthat (1893–1982), civil servant and diplomat *

Harald Weinrich Harald Weinrich (24 September 1927 – 26 February 2022) was a German classical scholar, scholar of Romance philology and philosopher, known for the breadth of his writings. Biography He was emeritus professor of the Collège de France, and he ...

(born 1927), classical scholar; scholar of Romance philology and philosopher * Uwe Holmer (1929–2023), pastor, author and theologian; housed

Erich Honecker Erich Ernst Paul Honecker (; 25 August 1912 – 29 May 1994) was a German communist politician who led the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) from 1971 until shortly before the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989. He held the post ...

and his

wife A wife (: wives) is a woman in a marital relationship. A woman who has separated from her partner continues to be a wife until their marriage is legally dissolved with a divorce judgment; or until death, depending on the kind of marriage. On t ...

* Gunter Pleuger (born 1941), diplomat and politician * Klaus Grünberg (born 1941), actor * Simone Oldenburg (born 1969), politician, local Deputy Minister-President since 2021 * Thomas Wiegand (born 1970), electrical engineer; substantially contributed to

video coding format A video coding format (or sometimes video compression format) is a content representation format of digital video content, such as in a data file or bitstream. It typically uses a standardized video compression algorithm, most commonly based on ...

Sport

* Heino Kleiminger (1939–2015), footballer * Peter Sykora (born 1946), footballer, played over 270 pro games * Joachim Streich (1951–2022), football player and coach, played 378 games and 98 for

Marita Koch Marita Koch (later Meier-Koch; born 18 February 1957) is a German former Sprint (running), sprint track and field athlete. During her career she set 16 List of world records in athletics, world records in outdoor sprints as well as 14 world re ...

(born 1957), track and field athlete of the GDR and

1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad () and officially branded as Moscow 1980 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1980 in Moscow, Soviet Union, in present-day Russ ...

champion * Roswitha Eberl (born 1958), canoeist * Kerstin Brandt (born 1961), high jumper * Andreas Zachhuber (born 1962), football player and coach * Kathrin Haacker (born 1967),

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and officially branded as Seoul 1988 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. 159 nations were represe ...

champion in rowing * Fiete Sykora (born 1982), footballer, played over 430 pro games * Robert Tesche (born 1987), footballer, played over 400 pro games

Wismar in art and literature

* Wismar (renamed "Wisborg") was the setting of the 1922 silent film ' (''Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror''). This German Expressionist

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit physical or psychological fear in its viewers. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with Transgressive art, transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements of the genre include Mo ...

, directed by F. W. Murnau and starring Max Schreck as the

vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead humanoid creatures that often visited loved ones and c ...

Count Orlok, was partly shot in Wismar. Filming began in July 1921, with exterior shots in Wismar. A

take A take is a single continuous recorded performance. The term is used in film and music to denote and track the stages of production. Film In cinematography, a take refers to each filmed "version" of a particular shot or "setup". Takes of each ...

from the Marienkirche's (Saint Mary's Church) tower over Wismar marketplace with the Wasserkunst Wismar (waterworks fountain) served as the

establishing shot An establishing shot in filmmaking and television production sets up, or establishes, the context for a scene by showing the relationship between its important figures and objects. It is generally a long or extreme-long shot at the beginning of ...

for the Wisborg scene. Other locations included the ''Wassertor'' (Water Gate), the southside of St. Nicholas, the ''Heilig-Geist-Kirche'' (Holy-Spirit-Church) and the harbour area. * Wismar was also the setting of

Werner Herzog Werner Herzog (; né Stipetić; born 5 September 1942) is a German filmmaker, actor, opera director, and author. Regarded as a pioneer of New German Cinema, his films often feature ambitious protagonists with impossible dreams, people with unusu ...

's 1979 remake '' Nosferatu, Phantom der Nacht''. However, Herzog unable to film in Wismar, relocated his production to the cities of Delft and Schiedam in the Netherlands. The 2000

metafiction Metafiction is a form of fiction that emphasizes its own narrative structure in a way that inherently reminds the audience that they are reading or viewing a fictional work. Metafiction is self-conscious about language, literary form, and story ...

horror film '' Shadow of the Vampire'', directed by E. Elias Merhige which depicts the filming of the 1922 silent movie also takes place in Wismar.

Twin towns – sister cities

Wismar is twinned with: *

Kemi Kemi (; ; ; ) is a cities of Finland, town and municipalities of Finland, municipality of Finland. It is located approximately from the city of Tornio and the Finland–Sweden border, Swedish border. The distance to Oulu is to the south and t ...

, Finland (1959) *

Aalborg Aalborg or Ålborg ( , , ) is Denmark's List of cities and towns in Denmark, fourth largest urban settlement (behind Copenhagen, Aarhus, and Odense) with a population of 119,862 (1 July 2022) in the town proper and an Urban area, urban populati ...

, Denmark (1963) *

Calais Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a French port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Calais is the largest city in Pas-de-Calais. The population of the city proper is 67,544; that of the urban area is 144,6 ...

, France (1971) *

, Germany (1987) * Kalmar, Sweden (2002) * Pogradec, Albania (2019) In addition, since 1991 there is a friendship with

Halden Halden (), between 1665 and 1928 known as Fredrikshald, is both a List of cities in Norway, town and a Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Østfold Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The municipality borders Sarpsborg to the northwest, R ...

in Norway.

References

External links

Centres of Stralsund and Wismar: UNESCO Official Website

Official site

Hochschule Wismar, University of Technology, Business and Design

UNESCO World Heritage Site Wismar

Evangelische Kirchengemeinden in Wismar

Website mit historischen Bildern von Wismar

17th-century account on the City
{{Authority control Landmarks in Germany Members of the Hanseatic League Port cities and towns in Germany Port cities and towns of the Baltic Sea World Heritage Sites in Germany Populated coastal places in Germany (Baltic Sea) Nordwestmecklenburg Populated places established in the 13th century 1229 establishments in Europe