Greifswald
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| Coat of Arms | Map of Germany |
| Missing image Coat-of-arms_Greifswald.jpg red griffin standing on a tree | 
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| Data | |
|---|---|
| State | Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania |
| Area | 50,2 km² |
| Population | 52 140 (01 Sept 2003) |
| Population Density | 1039 per square km |
| Altitude | 17 m above sea level |
| Location | Template:Coor dm |
| Postal Code | 17489 (City Centre) |
| Telephone Code | +49-3834 |
| Car Code | HGW |
| City Council | Markt 17489 Greifswald |
| Homepage | http://www.greifswald.de |
| info@greifswald.de (mailto:info@greifswald.de) | |
| Politics | |
| Lord Mayor | Dr Arthur König (CDU) |
Greifswald (German Greif=griffin, Wald=forest) is a city in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany. Located at the south end of the Baltic Sea, and the mouth of the Ryck river. Population: about 55,000. Officially Hansestadt Greifswald in German (Hanseatic League City of Greifswald).
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Historical notes
The first settlers were Danish Cistercian monks, who founded the Eldena monastery in 1199. Due to the salt trade the monastery grew to a monumental religious centre. The town of Greifswald, close to the monastery, was first time mentioned in 1248. Enjoying a steady rise in population, Greifswald also became one of the earliest members of the Hanseatic League at the end of the 13th century, which helped increase trade and wealth.
In 1456, Greifswald's mayor Heinrich Rubenow set the foundations of the second oldest university of Northern Europe, one of the oldest in Germany, for a time the oldest in Sweden and Prussia.
The town of Greifswald became part of the Kingdom of Sweden in 1631 as a result of the Thirty Years War and remained Swedish until 1815.
During the period of socialist rulership following the Second World War, parts of the historic city have seen little renovation efforts. Since the German reunification of 1989/1990 this has changed substantially.
The largest nuclear powerplant in East Germany was located near the town. It had four reactors which were successively brought online starting in 1974. The plant was promptly shut down after the reunification of Germany, in 1990, due to safety concerns.
Education & science
- see Ernst Moritz Arndt University of Greifswald
- The Max-Planck-Institut für Plasmaphysik has it second site (after Munich) in Greifswald and is experimenting with a stellarator, Wendelstein 7-X.
People
- Romanticist painter Caspar David Friedrich
- German author Hans Fallada
- German author Wolfgang Koeppen
See also
External links
- Ernst Moritz Arndt University of Greifswald (http://www.uni-greifswald.de)
- Official website of the City of Greifswald (http://www.greifswald.de)
- Pomeranian State Museum Greifswald (http://www.pommersches-landesmuseum.de)
- Theater Vorpommern (http://www.theater-vorpommern.de)
- Information about Greifswald (http://www.greifswald-infoweb.de)
- Current information, lives and culture of the Hanseatic city Greifswald (http://www.greif-live.de/)
Tourism links
- Regional Tourist Board Vorpommern (D) (http://www.vorpommern.de) (English, German, Swedish, Polish, French, Russian, Spanish)
- Ost|See|Land - Tourism site (D) (http://www.ostseeland.de) (English, German, Swedish, Polish)
da:Greifswald de:Greifswald eo:Greifswald fr:Greifswald nl:Greifswald nds:Griepswohld pl:Greifswald sv:Greifswald