Greifswald

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Greifswald
Town Hall (red) and Cathedral
Town Hall (red) and Cathedral
Coat of arms Location
Coat of arms of Greifswald
Greifswald (Germany)
Greifswald
Administration
Country Flag of Germany Germany
State Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
District Urban district
Town subdivisions 16 boroughs
Lord Mayor Dr. Arthur König (CDU)
Basic statistics
Area 50.50 km² (19.5 sq mi)
Elevation 5 m  (16 ft)
Population  53,434  (31/12/2006)[1]
 - Density 1,058 /km² (2,740 /sq mi)
Other information
Time zone CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Licence plate HGW
Postal codes 17489-17493
Area code 03834
Website www.greifswald.de

Coordinates: 54°5′0″N 13°23′0″E / 54.08333, 13.38333

Greifswald (from German Greif, "griffin", and Wald, "forest") is a town in northeastern Germany. The town is situated approximately 200 km to the north of Berlin in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, borders the Baltic Sea and is crossed by a small river called Ryck. The population is roughly 55,000, including about 11,500 students and some 5,000 employees of the University of Greifswald.

The city is officially known as Universitäts- und Hansestadt Greifswald, which means University and Hanseatic Town of Greifswald.

Contents

[edit] Geography

Ryck river
Ryck river

Greifswald is located near the Bay of Greifswald, which is the part of the Baltic Sea between the islands of Rügen and Usedom, in north German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.

The small river Ryck passes through the old town which is about 5 km away from the Dänische Wieck ("Danish Bay", on the Southern end of the Bay of Greifswald). The small nearby islands of Koos and Riems also are administered by the City of Greifswald. The area is fairly plain, the highest point reaching only as high as 36 metres.

The seaside part of Greifswald at the mouth of the Ryck river, named Greifswald-Wieck, evolved from a fishing village and today provides a small beach, a marina and the main port of Greifswald.

[edit] History

Greifswald Cathedral
Greifswald Cathedral
Ruins of Eldena monastery (founded in 1199)
Ruins of Eldena monastery (founded in 1199)

In medieval times, the Greifswald site was an unsettled woodland which marked the border between the Danish duchy of Rügen and the Pomeranian duchy of Gützkow, which at that time was also under Danish control. In 1199, Rugian duke Jaromar I allowed Danish Cistercian monks to build Hilda (now Eldena) abbey at the mouth of the Ryck River. Among the lands granted to the monks by Jaromar I, there was a saline a short way up the river, a site also crossed by the important via regia trade route. This site was named Gryp(he)swold(e), which is the Low German precursor of the city's modern name. A legend tells that the monks were shown the best site for the settlement by a mighty griffin, living in a tree that was supposed to have grown in Greifswald's oldest street Schuhagen. The town's erection followed a scheme of rectangular streets, with church and market sites reserved in central positions. It was settled primarily with Germans in the course of the Ostsiedlung, but settlers from other nations and Wends from nearby were attracted, too.

The salt trade helped Eldena abbey to grow to a monumental religious centre and Greifswald to become a known market. When the Danes had to surrender the Pomeranian lands south of the Ryck River after the 1227 Bornhöved battle, the town became of particular interest to Pomeranian dukes. In 1241, Rugian duke Wizlaw I and Pomeranian duke Wartislaw III both granted her market rights. In 1250, the latter granted Lübeck law to her, after he was admitted to take the town site as a fief from Eldena abbey in 1248. Gützkow's Jazco of Salzwedel had a Franciscan abbey founded within Greifswald's walls; Eldena lost much of her influence on the city's further fate. Just beyond Greifswald's western limits, a town-like suburb (Neustadt) arose, just separated from Greifswald by a ditch. In 1264, Neustadt was incorporated and the ditch was filled up.

Eldena abbey as well as Greifswald's major buildings were erected in Brick Gothic style.

Enjoying a steady increase in population, Greifswald also became one of the earliest members of the Hanseatic League at the end of the 13th century, which further increased trade and wealth. After 1296, Greifswald's citizens did not need to serve in the Pomeranian army, and Pomeranian dukes would not reside in the city.

In 1456, Greifswald's mayor Heinrich Rubenow laid the foundations of one of the oldest universities in the world, the University of Greifswald, which was one of the first in Germany, and was, periodically, the single oldest in Sweden and Prussia respectively.

the lively market square (Marktplatz)
the lively market square (Marktplatz)

In the course of Reformation, Eldena abbey ceased to function as a monastery. Her possessions fell to the Pomeranian dukes, the bricks of her Gothic buildings were used by locals as a quarry. Eldena lost its status and later became enclosed by Greifswald's city limits. Also, the monasteries within the town walls, the "Black abbey" of the Dominican Order in the Northwest and the "Grey abbey" of the Franciscan order in the Southeast, were secularized. The Black abbey was turned over to the university, the site is still used as part of her medical campus. The Grey abbey and its succeeding buildings now are the Pomeranian State Museum.

As a result of the Thirty Years' War Greifswald became part of the Kingdom of Sweden in 1631 and remained in Swedish Pomerania until 1815, when it became part of Prussia's Province of Pomerania.

Around the 1900s, the city for the first time since the Middle Ages expanded significantly beyond the old city walls. Also, a major railway connected Greifswald to Stralsund and Berlin, a local railway further connected Greifswald to Wolgast.

The city survived World War II without much destruction although it housed a larger army garrison. In April 1945, Oberst Rudolf Petershagen surrendered the city to the Red Army without combat. From 1949 to 1989, Greifswald was part of the German Democratic Republic. During this time, most historical buildings in the city's medieval parts where neglected and a number of buildings were torn down. The population rose significantly, because of the construction of a power plant in Lubmin, which was closed down in the early 1990s. New suburbs were erected in uniform, industrial socialist style (see Plattenbau), that until now house most of the city's population. These new suburbs were all placed east and southeast of downtown Greifswald, shifting the former town center to the northwest edge of the today's city.

historic buildings
historic buildings

Reconstruction of the old town began in the late 1980s and at present nearly all of it has been restored. However, in the 1980s almost all of the old northern town adjactend to the former port was torn down and thereafter build up completely new. The historic marketplace is especially worth mentioning which is considered one of the most beautiful in northern Germany. The city attracts many tourists, also due to its proximity to the Baltic Sea.

The highest number of inhabitants was reached in 1988 with about 68,000 inhabitants, but the population decreased to roughly 55,000 where it has now stabilised. The reasons included migration to western states as well as suburbanisation. However, the number of students quadrupled from 3,000 in 1990 to more than 11,000 in 2007 and the university employs 5,000 people - so that nearly one in three people is linked to higher education.

one of the courts
one of the courts

Despite its rather small population, Greifswald retains a certain supraregional relevance which can be linked to its intellectual role as a university town and to the take-over of central functions of the former Prussian Province of Pomerania after World War II, for instance the Bishop's see of the Pomeranian Protestant Church, the state archives (Landesarchiv) and the Pomeranian Museum (Pommersches Landesmuseum). Three courts of the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern are also based at Greifswald:

  • Supreme Administrative Court (Oberverwaltungsgericht)
  • Supreme Constitutional Court (Landesverfassungsgericht)
  • Financial Court (Finanzgericht)

[edit] Economy

old town
old town

Greifswald and Stralsund are the largest cities in the Vorpommern part of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Of great importance to the city's economy is the local university with its 11,000 students and nearly 5,000 employees in addition to many people employed at research facilities. Greifswald is also the seat of the bishop of the Pomeranian Evangelical Church as well as the seat of the state's constitutional and financial court.

Tourism plays a vital role as Greifswald is situated between the islands of Rügen and Usedom at the popular German Baltic coast, which brings in many tourists.

Maritime industry and the energy sector are rapidly growing. The fifth largest producer of yachts worldwide, Hanse Yachts, is based in Greifswald as well as Solon AG fuer Solartechnik which produces solar panels. In the engery sector, a transnational gas pipeline from Russia to Germany will stop in Lubmin near Greifswald and Danish company DONG Energy intends to build a power station there. Riemser Arzeimittel is a pharmaceutical company based on the isle of Riems, which is part of the city of Greifswald. Siemens Communications F & E produces here as well.

In a recent survey [2], Greifswald was declared Germany's most dynamic city.

[edit] Politics

Wieck (the seaside part of the town)
Wieck (the seaside part of the town)
Painting by Caspar David Friedrich
Painting by Caspar David Friedrich

Politics is traditionally, as in most of Pomerania, dominated by the conservative CDU.

[edit] City Council

The city council is elected for five year terms. Since the last election on 13 June 2004, the 42 city council seats are allocated as follows:

  • CDU (conservatives) - 16 seats
  • Left Party (socialists) - 9 seats
  • SPD (social democrats) - 8 seats
  • Greens - 3 seats
  • FDP (liberals) - 2 seats
  • others - 4 seats

[edit] Twinning

[edit] Education

[edit] University

University of Greifswald
University of Greifswald

Founded in 1456, the University of Greifswald is one of the oldest universities in both Germany and Europe. Currently, about 11,000 students study at with five faculties: theology, law/economics, medicine, philosophy, and mathematics/natural sciences.

The university co-operates with many research facilities, such as:

[edit] Secondary Schools

[edit] Cultural events

Museumshafen
Museumshafen

Compared to the size of the city, Greifswald there is a wide range of events, for instance:

  • theatre and opera
  • Pommersches Landesmuseum (state museum)
  • Greifswald is one of the sites of a musical festival (Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern)
  • music festival "Nordic Sound" (Nordischer Klang)
  • Bach week
  • Eldena Jazz Evenings
  • Fishermen Festival "Gaffelrigg" every summer
  • old ships in the Museumshafen ("museum port")
  • regular events at Literaturzentrum Vorpommern (literary centre) and St. Spiritus (cultural centre)
  • Greifswald International Students Festival (GrIStuF e. V.)
  • Radio 98eins (open radio)
  • Greifswald Night of Music (Greifswalder Musiknacht)
  • Greifswalder Drachenbootfest

[edit] Infrastructure

Greifswald has a port to the Baltic Sea, a train connection to Hamburg (via Stralsund and Rostock), Germany's capital city Berlin as well as the islands of Usedom and Rügen.

By car, it can be reached by Autobahn 20 and Bundesstraße 105 and 109.

[edit] Notable people from Greifswald

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

[edit] References

  1. ^ Population source
  2. ^ Siehe Handelsblatt: http://www.handelsblatt.com/news/Default.aspx?_p=302919&_t=ft&_b=1245899
v • d • e
Flag of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania    Urban and rural districts in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in Germany    Flag of Germany
Urban districts
Greifswald · Neubrandenburg · Rostock · Schwerin · Stralsund · Wismar
Rural districts