• Church of the year 2013: St. Nicholas' Cathedral in Greifswald, © Sven Fischer
    Church of the year 2013: St. Nicholas' Cathedral in Greifswald
  • Symbol of Greifswald and elevated to world fame by the Romantic Caspar David Friedrich: The ruins of Eldena Abbey, © TMV/Grundner
    Symbol of Greifswald and elevated to world fame by the Romantic Caspar David Friedrich: The ruins of Eldena Abbey
  • The merry hustle and bustle in the marketplace by the historic Town Hall of the Hanseatic town of Greifswald, © TMV/Eisele-Hein
    The merry hustle and bustle in the marketplace by the historic Town Hall of the Hanseatic town of Greifswald
  • Quite different architectural trends can be discovered in Greifwald's city centre, © TMV
    Quite different architectural trends can be discovered in Greifwald's city centre

Hanseatic Town of Greifswald

Inspired by the beauty of the town's scenery, the romantic painter Caspar David Friedrich - Greifswald's most famous son - chose the brick buildings as motives for many of his works.

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A university town with historic charm

Situated in the Greifswald Bodden halfway between the islands of Usedom and Rügen lies the Hanseatic town of Greifswald. Gothic brickwork and baroque, Art Nouveau and classicism – all the different stylistic periods are represented here. One of the most splendid and prestigious houses is the university's baroque main building, built by the Swedes in 1750 during their nearly 200-year reign. The university was founded as far back as 1456 and is the second oldest institution of higher learning in northern Europe.

Romantic abbey ruins before the gates of the city

Nowadays, all that remains of Eldena Abbey outside the city are its ruins. One of its greatest admirers was the romantic painter and most famous son of Greifswald: Caspar David Friedrich. He transformed the overgrown Gothic brickwork into a symbol of German romanticism. The prominent Greifswald citizen also immortalised the harbours and marketplaces of the region, perpetual themes were the sea and the ships, the chalk cliffs of Rügen and the old oaks and megalithic tombs in the area. Several now hang in the new Pommersche Landesmuseum (Pomeranian State Museum).

 

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Rakower Straße – 17489 Greifswald

Pomeranian State Museum

Pomeranian State Museum, © Pommersches Landesmuseum

Built between 1998 and 2005 and using the edifices of the former monastery from the 15th century, the prize-winning ensemble of buildings belonging to the Pomeranian State Museum displays numerous pieces from prehistoric and early history, the age of Hanseatic towns, the emergence of the Imperial Resorts.

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Hafenstraße – 17489 Greifswald

Greifswald Museum Harbour

Some of the ships and boats in the museum harbour are more than 100 years old, © Sven Fischer

Gaff ketch and schooner, sea cutter and ram ship, cruiser and holly boat - the museum harbour in Greifswald (which was founded in 1991 in the style of the museum harbours in Flensburg and Hamburg) showcases around 45 old ships. The museum is a response to the rising interest in historic ships and traditional seamanship.

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Wolgaster Landstraße – 17493 Greifswald

Monastery ruin Eldena

© tmv/kraus

The monastery ruin and its park are a popular excursion destination of the people of Greifswald and the city’s visitors. The monastery ruin is both the start and destination of the themed cycle route “Northern German romantic period route”, which documents the lives of the Northern German romantics of Western Pomerania

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Lange Straße – 17489 Greifswald

Caspar David Friedrich Centre

In the sales room of the Caspar David Friedrich Centre you can find books and much more about the life of the great artist

The Caspar David Friedrich Centre was opened in 2004 in the old soap factory in remembrance of the great artist and the most famous son of the city of Greifswald. It was extended in 2011 to include the entire former residential and business premises of the Friedrich family. The centre is an exhibition and document space as well as a research centre.

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