Caspar Dechmann

2.50 Switzerland - 18-Mar-24 -

I visited Wismar and Stralsund during a two-week trip around northeastern Germany in October 2023. In both cities I stayed one and a half or two days to see its sights but also to soak in the atmosphere.
They are good cities for a world heritage traveler insofar as they have enough to offer to keep you entertained for a couple of days but they are also small enough that after those days you feel you have seen them decently enough.
Beside the highlights in both towns, it is a great pleasure to walk around the streets and watch out for remarkable buildings of which I generally like the old gabled merchants houses the best and both cities have a lot of those to offer. But when you walk the streets it is also rather painful how many wounds there are. How much was destroyed, mainly in WW2, but also how much was lost by neglect and lack of money and how much is still endangered despite the great renovation efforts since the reunification of Germany.
Wismar has several highlights that are not to miss:
Brick gothic was probably the biggest thrill on this trip and the St Nikolai church in Wismar may be the best of the churches in both towns. It is an impressive building and the second tallest brick gothic after the Marienkirche in Lübeck (the latter could easily a WHS site by itself). In addition, it features several remarkable art works: a medieval baptismal font made from bronze decorated by wonderful biblical scenes and surrounded by a mysterious grid, called the devils grid. In addition, there is a very large crucifixion groupe with a cross over and over decorated with big wine leaves, turning the cross in a tree of life and glory. This seems to be a local specialty since you find it also, and even larger, in the famous cathedral in Bad Doberan and in other churches as well. There is also a lovely Mary triptych in the Riemenschneider tradition, several (small) works by the great sculptor Ernst Barlach and wonderful gothic wall frescoes that recall Art Nouveau. The church of St. George is from the outside similarly impressive but very empty inside. There is a lot of work to be done here. Right next to it St. Mary’s tower with an impressive facade but not much to see inside. You should also not miss the Holy ghost church for its lovely painted barrack wooden ceiling.  Worth a visit is the city museum in the Schabbel house, for the beautiful building alone and the Welterbehaus. The famous fountain “Wasserkunst” and the wonderfully crooked “Gewölbe” building can only be seen from outside. Give at least a peak into the “Alte Schwede”, a great old merchant house turned into a restaurant. It gives a rare example of a preserved “Dielenhaus” which was the typical style for a merchant house in the region.  I tried to have dinner there but it was fully booked. What I found interesting in both towns (and beyond) were buildings from the 19thand 20th century that picked up on the traditional style like the Scholl high school from brick with clear gothic elements.
I did a short excursion from Wismar to Dorf Brandenburg, the small village that gave name to the whole province. It was seat of a Slavic lord and a gib earth castle. Now turned into a cemetery you can walk up the artificial hill and around it. There isn’t much left but the enormous amount of earth but it’s an interesting if though not very old piece of history. On the way is a very cute brick gothic church with a sumptuous baroque interior.
On the way to Stralsund, I visited Rostock. While here is (even) much more destroyed then in the inscribed towns its highpoints are not inferior: Above all the church of St. Mary with its sensational baptismal font even more impressive than the one in Wismar. Then, the interesting city hall with gothic and baroque parts and a beautiful Art nouveau part. There are several well-preserved old gable houses such as the Kerkhoff house or the building that houses now the bar Fachwerk7. In the eastern part on the old town, you find to old churches with well preserved medieval streets. In the west you find a park impressive remains of the city fortifications and the beautiful city museum in an old monastery. Rostock features several neogothic secular brick buildings: I like especially the Oberlandesgericht or courthouse. The house just northeast of it features a statue of St. George and reminds of the Kontorhaus district in Hamburg. The tower building on Lange Strasse 9 clearly quotes a gothic gable house while the great University building at Uinversitätsplatz is an interesting mix between brick architecture and classical Greek and Roman elements.
There are several great daytrips from Rostock: First certainly the cathedral of Bad Doberan, which was for a short time on the tentative list: In the church you find wonderful frescoes and woodwork, the oldest tryptic in the world (so they say!) and some to the strangest monumental tombs. Outside there is a well-preserved wall, a medieval bone house, several economic buildings. Charming is also the town square with several classicistic buildings and two pavilions à la chinois. One of them is now a nice restaurant. Not far from there is Heiligendamm the first German sea spa. An impressive visit insofar as it is a schizophrenic town: While large parts of the once splendid town are in a rotten state there is one luxury hotel that is as closed as Fort Knox. If you are not a guest you do not seem to be allowed to enter the fenced premises or eat in the restaurant. It seemed a bit like a security retreat from socialist times. This frustrating but memorable impression was soothed by a nice dinner in the art nouveau restaurant of the former train station where the again run steam trains but I couldn’t coordinate a ride with my schedule. Wonderful is a walk in the “Gespensterwald”, ghost wood. with wind shaped beech trees on top of a cliff line. Just north of Rostock is the popular port area of Warnemünde with old capitaine houses. And found it very touristy though and the famous modern building “Teepott” or tea pot was closed with seemingly stagnant building work.
Further east towards Stralsund is the nice small town of Riebnitz with an excellent amber museum (just the one piece of amber with a Gecko! in it is worth the trip) or the beautiful though touristy village of Ahrenshoop with its thatched roofs that was an important artists colony.
While you can see Wismar in a bit more than a day Stralsund definitely needs a least two days if you include the museums. The most iconic structure is certainly the town hall which seems closed to visitors. I am a bold intruder into world heritage buildings but I couldn’t find a way in. You can only visit the historic town hall passage with shops. Next to it the stands main church, very different from the Wismar churches, brightly painted and full of frescoes and artwork. It seems a bit overloaded but makes a fresher and more renovated impression then the other churches. There are wonderful wooden statues and wall frescoes and a strange wooden relief with bearded men in a forest chopping and hunting showing the trade connections of a certain guild into faraway Russia. Right behind it is a nice courtyard with the gothic “Lateinschule”.  Also a must is the church of St. Mary, also impressively large and high with original, though rather rough ceiling frescos. Also the St. Jacobs church is worth a visit and if only for the impressive exterior.
The Stralsund Museum is probably the most important museum in the two cities but it is closed for a large renovation project, so I had to miss out on that. I can still not decide if I should return to Stralsund on day to tick that off. So, the only historic museum open was the “Museumshaus” which shows how a historic house has several layers that the renovation today needs to consider. I am not sure it is worth the entrance fee but the attic with huge storage rooms on several floors is rather impressive. Watch out in the basement: The space is so low that you really need to stoop and crawl to see the entire room. Rather surprising that they even let you enter this room without warning or instructions but the staff did not seem highly motivated in general. Definite highpoints of Stralsund are also the monasteries: St. Catherine houses the city museum (now closed), the St. John houses the city archive and cute private house, including a holiday home. The monastery of the Holy Ghost actually never was a monastery but a communal hospital and almshouse. It is lovingly renovated and houses private homes.
While the harbor area in Wismar is included in the core zone that much more interesting harbor of Stralsund is not included though it seems very much a part of the old town. There are several old storage buildings, especially the group at the north end is     gorgeous and offers several nice restaurants. The neogothic Speicher 8 would be a jewel even in the Speicherstadt. There are several nice restaurants in historic buildings worth visiting in Stralsund: The Ratsherrn Braugasthaus, the cute Altes Zollhaus and above all the high-end hotel Zum Scheele. Like the “Alte Schwede” in Wismar it is in the high hall of an old merchant’s house. So, the atmosphere is great and the food good and a great deal for the quality. So, if you enjoy this kind of restaurant have lunch there or go for their wonderful breakfast that is also open to external guests upon reservation.
It is also worth to walk around the old town with the old fortifications now mostly turned into a lovely lake landscape with several historic bridges, all part of the core zone. A great example of neogothic public buildings is the “Schule am Sund” in the south or the almost Venetian building west of St. Mary’s church. But all the streets in the old city are worth exploring and offer an interesting mix of old crooked, splendid baroque and historistic buildings.
If you are not fed up with bricks the town of Greifswald is also worth a half day trip. The town offers another lovely old town, a famous old university and a beautiful historic museum that offers also pictures Caspar David Friedrich, that town’s greatest son. East of the town, reachable by bus, you can visit the most famous ruin of German romanticism, the Eldena monastery.
Both towns are certainly worth visiting but do they really need to be on the list? In general, I found their integrity lacking since quite a bit has been destroyed and lost, especially in Wismar. Some losses have been replaced by rather disappointing new houses. They mostly keep the proportions of the neighbouring buildings but fall far back in quality. If you compare them to Lübeck they have the advantage that they lack the few great architectural sins of the latter like the shopping malls in the very center. But compared to Lübeck they are not only much smaller but also more modest and they lack, perhaps apart from the town hall in Stralsund, real architectural icons of which Lübeck has several to offer that could be a WHS on their own. The argument that the represent another century of the Hanse is not obvious to the visitor since all this towns developed over many centuries and have a limited number of buildings left from their foundation period.
A comparison that also comes to mind immediately are the Flemish Hanse towns of Belgium and the Netherlands: Though their peak may have been a bit later their cityscapes are richer and better preserved then the to inscribed towns. If you compare Gent or Delft or Leiden to them you cannot wonder why they have never been nominated: They are incredibly well-preserved historic towns that are very much alive and the artistic level (especially since the Renaissance) is much higher which effects not only the decorations but also the architecture, showing their immense wealth. Some people may be glad for every European town that is not inscribed I think quality should be the prime argument and several Flemish uninscribed towns overshadow Stralsund and Wismar easily.

Hubert

2.00 Austria - 02-Dec-20 -

There are good reasons why these two Hanseatic towns were inscribed together as one World Heritage Site. They have a lot in common: a similar medieval layout, churches in Brick Gothic architecture as their main landmarks, well-preserved gabled houses dating from the time of the Hanseatic League and traces from the period of Swedish rule.
In 2002, when Stralsund and Wismar were inscribed, the Hanseatic League was already well represented on the WH list. And even Germany had a similar WHS with Lübeck, inscribed as early as 1987. So, nothing outstanding about Stralsund and Wismar? Indeed, if you have already visited other Hanseatic towns, Riga for example, you may feel that this WHS has nothing to offer that you have not seen elsewhere, and probably even better. Lübeck has the Holstentor, but neither Stralsund nor Wismar have such a distinctive and unique building. On a positive note: the medieval townscape has largely been preserved in both cities, there are hardly any ugly modern additions. Again, Lübeck as a counterexample.

The old town of Stralsund is located on an island. From the tower of St. Mary's Church, you have a beautiful view of the historic town center, the sea and the island of Rügen.The best moment in Stralsund was a coffee in the sun on the Old Market Square with a view to the façade of the Town Hall and the towers of the St. Nikolas’ Church, and the gabled houses in my back.

In Wismar there is also a St. Mary's Church with a viewing platform (actually only the tower has been preserved). You don't have to climb stairs, there is an elevator, more comfortable than in Stralsund, but the view is less impressive and I would not recommend it. In Wismar, I liked best the area around the St. Nikolas’ Church (even the churches have the same name) and the Old Harbor (photo) with the Wassertor, the gate from the harbour to the town centre and the only preserved city gate in Wismar.
Cineastes will certainly remember the Wassertor as the location of a scene from the silent film Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror by F.W. Murnau from 1922. It is perhaps the most impressive scene from the Wismar setting: The vampire Count Orlok walks through the Wassertor with his coffin, in which he sleeps during the day.

I visited Stralsund and Wismar in August 2020 and spent half a day and a night in each of the two cities, which is enough time for a proper visit of this WHS. The history of the two cities ran parallel, from the period of the Hanseatic League to the recent times of the GDR and German reunification. Therefore, they share a lot of similarities, like twins, although they are about 150 kilometers apart from each other (Lübeck is much closer to Wismar).
I really enjoyed strolling through the old streets, exploring the architecture, the cafés and shops. It can be very relaxing to visit a city without paying attention to opening times or queuing for tickets.

Matejicek

3.00 Czechia - 06-Feb-20 -

Stralsund is a town of the brick gothic, the style that I like. Well, it is quite common in Northern Europe, and I could see it already in Riga, Roskilde, Brandenburg, Stendal, Tangermunde, Brugges, even in Bavarian Landshut, etc… but the examples I found in Stralsund belong to the finest ones of the style, and Stralsund reminds me the old town of Riga.

Stralsund is perfectly preserved, so, there are 3 large brick churches (Our Lady – open for free, St Nicolas – deconsecrated museum that I refused to visit, and St Jacob – closed for renovations in time of my visit), one very representative brick Municipal Hall (a beautiful text-book structure), the brick hospital church, and numerous brick town houses, which I enjoyed maybe the most. However, my highlight was Our Lady church built in the radical gothic style that can be seen on windows on the eastern side that are virtually cut in the middle by corners, which is modern or almost timeless rather than gothic feature.

I spent a couple of days in Stralsund during my trip to Rugen Island some 5 years ago. I went by direct train from Prague, and I was not disappointed. Besides Rugen, I also went to the small island of Hiddensee by ferry, highly recommended if you are there. PHOTO – the view from the ferry towards Stralsund (St Nicola in the middle, Municipal Hall on the right, and on the left there are towers of St. Jacob and Our Lady – the higher one).

As I was satisfied by what I have seen in Stralsund, I have no urge to travel to Wismar, since I do not expect anything radically different - the brick gothic must be consumed with care to avoid an overdose...

FK

4.00 Deutschland / Germany - 17-May-19 -

Michael Turtle

Australia - 02-Feb-16 -

Hundreds of years after the Hanseatic League lost its influence, both Stralsund and Wismar became major administrative and defence centres when they were ruled by the Swedish kingdom in the 17th and 18th centuries. The need for protection means both city centres stayed relatively small and concentrated. That’s great for visitors because it’s easy to walk between the main sights and explore most significant buildings within a day.

Even if there wasn’t the history and the medieval architecture, Stralsund and Wismar are interesting cities to visit. The influences of the Baltic coast means there’s a recreational feel lots of great seafood and bars on offer. I buy a pickled herring sandwich from a man in Wismar who is serving them right off a boat in the harbour.

You can see the main sights of either in less than a day but an overnight stay is a great way to experience a bit more and enjoy the calmer evenings when the tourist buses leave and the sunset drinks start getting poured.

Read more from Michael Turtle here.

Thijs van den Berg

United States - 26-Mar-15 -

In Stralsund, I got a strong impression when I walked along the city wall of Knieperwall how big is Stralsund. There are also two beautiful gates; Kutertor and Kniepertor. The most beautiful building of Stralsund is Rathaus because of an architectural language. That identified as the Gothic of the region of Sund. This city has a lots of Swedish influence especially colors and style at houses. Building restoration is still under process in the historic center of Stralsund. The lookout from the tower of St Marien church is so beautiful ! Wismar is much smaller than Stralsund. The Bridge House, canal Grube, Furstenhof, St Mary's Church, Alter Schwede and Wasserkunst are my favorite attractions of Wismar. St Mary's Church is a landmark of Wismar because of the 80 metre high tower. The Furstenhof is the earliest important Renaissance structure in Mecklenburg. Stralsund and Wismar have both own World Heritage Information Center. The entrance to these center is free!

Clyde

2.00 Malta - 11-Oct-14 -

I visited this WHS in October 2014. Unfortunately I only had time to visit Wismar as I wanted to visit nearby Schwerin and also go birdwatching since hundreds of grey cranes were arriving after migration. I spent a whole day wandering around the narrow streets of Wismar, admiring the gable houses next to the red brick houses. The market square and the Wasserkunst is worth visiting as is the Bridge House and the harbour area. The main highlights of Wismar are the 3 gothic red brick churches: St Nicholas Church (worth visiting inside to view the beautiful genealogical tree fresco and the intricate triptych dating from 1430), St George's Church and St. Mary's Church (only the tower is left). Having viewed 3 out of the 6 churches I think I can safely say that I could grasp the OUV of this WHS. If ever I will have the chance to visit Stralsund, further north in Mecklenburg Vorpommern, I'll happily visit. Otherwise, I'll treasure the wonderful day I spent in Wismar.

Ian Cade

2.00 UK - 11-Feb-13 -

Well I will give those Baltic Red-Brick Gothic architects’ one thing: they can certainly build a massive church. That was the main thing that struck me after my visit to Wismar on New Year’s Eve 2012/13.

My exploration took me through the affluent looking shopping streets from the heaving bulk of one massive church onto the next, and wandering through the giant remnants of St Marien Kirche. It was rather impressive. I can’t say I was particularly taken by the main square, much like Frederik my main impression was one of a giant car park surrounded by a few nice buildings. On my way towards the old Harbour I stopped into the Heiligengeistkirche as residents were arriving for Mass. I was really impressed by the painted ceiling and also thankful of somewhere to warm up.

As it was New Years eve I spent a lot of my time jumping at the sound of fireworks exploding next to me, but also covered an inordinate amount of miles trying to find an open restaurant or bar, they were all reserved for private parties later in the night, but after 20 or so establishments, I managed to have a pizza down by the waterfront (In case you are wondering I’m not exaggerating, even the Irish Pub was closed!), however the harbour side was a rather charming place to while away some time before heading off to my train.

Wismar was a late addition to my itinerary, it was there in part because of a rather sadistic decision to not get any accommodation and just stay awake until my plane left Hamburg the next morning. In the end it turned out to be a good idea, I got to see a new WHS, tick off another German Länder and also see in the New Year in some style in Hamburg. Wismar was a great reminder of why I find Baltic city’s so charming, combining the affluent shops of Malmo, the giant brick churches of Lübeck and the early industrial waterside of Gdansk, and I will happily head off to Stralsund in the future to see the other part of this WHS

[Site 4: Experience 5]

John booth

New Zealand - 16-Oct-10 -

After visiting Wismar and Stralsund as well as Lubeck this year, I am pleased that Lubeck is a separate WHS. Probably as a result of having been hidden in East Germany for several decades these two towns have retained their integrity as heritage towns. Very little modern construction is apparent, in fact some WWII bomb damage is yet to be restored, eg the Marienkirche in Wismar).

Saw both towns in a day, travelling by train between.

Els Slots

2.50 The Netherlands - 28-Dec-07 -

Both Stralsund and Wismar can be visited on a day trip from any of northern Germany's big cities. I choose the more remote Stralsund, located about 200 km east of Lübeck. It's an easy Autobahn ride deep into Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and close to the German-Polish border where controls were lifted earlier this week. How the world changes. Stralsund itself used to be hidden behind the Iron Curtain too.

Anno 2007 it turns out to be a pretty and well-looked-after little town. Parking and navigation is easy in the almost deserted streets. Ugly modern construction that so dominates Lübeck fortunately is lacking here. The Hanseatic and the Swedish heritage go side-by-side, brick houses and colourful residences alternate in the streets. The most impressive sights are the red brick churches adorned with huge towers.

One of these former churches now houses the 'Meeresmuseum', a museum dedicated to the sea with bits and pieces of GDR history and an aquarium. Fun for kids and a bit quirky too.

The Stralsund harbour is where the locals are taking their Sunday stroll. I finish my stay here at a fish restaurant with lunch of jacked potato and caviar.

Frederik Dawson

3.00 Netherlands - 06-Sep-06 -

Wismar is a small town on the Baltic coast in northern Germany which has rich heritage of Hanseatic League and Sweden. Wismar can be called a prettiest small city in northern Germany; it's full of many lovely buildings from Hanseatic brick style to Swedish gable houses. Its pride is large red brick cathedral of St. Nikolai which every decorative detail made from bricks, a very unique way in this region. The city's market square is very nice with lovely, renovated building and in the center of the square is a big well covered with Dutch Renaissance style pavilion called Wasserkunst! The seafront area is also nice with lively old buildings and fish market.

The big problem of Wismar is cars, they park everywhere from main square to small streets which sometime ruins the atmosphere. Waking in Wismar is a very nice experience; all pavements are very good in design for walking, every turns always have some surprise with amazing buildings, churches, squares and my favorite is a bridge decorated with pigs! Wismar is just great for spending your time in holiday, less crowned compared to Stralsund or Lubeck and has the feel of down to earth. Swedish link is still active in this city; I can see Swedish flags more than German ones. You may wonder where you are now, Sweden or Germany.