Germany is an underrated destination! For those who take the time to visit this country, there is much to experience in the form of cultural experiences but also magnificent nature experiences, fine beaches in the north, beautiful wine districts and high mountains in the south.
In October, I made my second visit to Germany in 2017 with a focus on visiting cities with World Heritage-listed city centers. During the first trip I visited the cities of Quedlinburg and Goslar as well as the mines in Rammelsberg. During the second trip, I visited the two former Hanseatic and Swedish cities Wismar and Stralsund. Both times I drove to the destinations.
During the second trip I drove from Gothenburg to Trelleborg from where I took the ferry to Rostock. In Rostock I spent the night before driving to Wismar. From Wismar I drove to Stralsund and from here I drove to Sassnitz to take the ferry to Trelleborg.
The week offered wonderful autumn weather and could have been really good if I had not been forced to cancel the trip. A German doctor recommended that I return home to treat a bicycle injury I had at the beginning of the month. The visit to Stralsund was therefore shorter than planned and the trip was a bit “butt-chopped”. However, I managed to visit some of the cities’ sights as below.
Until the 12th century, the area was inhabited by slaves who had their main stronghold, Wyszomierz, in the present Dorf Mecklenburg, near Wismar
1147
Wismar was first mentioned by the Danish king Svend Grade
1229
Wismar is founded
1280
Wismar, together with Rostock, Lübeck and Hamburg, formed the so-called Wendish city union. During the Middle Ages, the city was an important member of the Hanseatic League
1632 – 1803
city was occupied by Swedish troops and after the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, Wismar had the Swedish king as lord under the German-Roman emperor
1803
, Wismar was pledged to the Grand Duke, Friedrich Franz I of Mecklenburg-Schwerin until 1903, and all sovereignty rights were transferred to the duke and his heirs. The reason Wismar was pledged was that Gustav IV Adolf was engaged to the Grand Duke’s daughter, Luise Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Schwerin but refused to marry her, which triggered a diplomatic crisis that was resolved by the Treaty of Malmö in 1803.
1903
Sweden chose not to settle the pledge and the city thus passed into the possession of the Grand Duchy. With this, the Swedish period was over
1945
On July 1, Wismar was handed over to the Soviet occupation zone and later to East Germany (GDR). During the GDR era, Wismar was the state’s largest export port and seat of the Border Police School
