Discover

'Greifswald' (from German ''Greif'', "griffin", and ''Wald'', "forest") is a town in northeastern Germany. Located in the Pomeranian part of the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, it borders the Baltic Sea, and is crossed by a small river. The population is roughly 55,000, including about 11,000 students of the traditional Ernst Moritz Arndt University of Greifswald.
The city is officially known as ''Universitäts- und Hansestadt Greifswald'', which means ''University and Hanseatic City of Greifswald''.

Contents

Geography

History

Economy

Politics

City Council

Twinning

Education

University

Secondary Schools

Cultural events

Infrastructure

Notable people from Greifswald

See also

External links

References

Geography

Greifswald is located near the Bay of Greifswald, which is the part of the Baltic Sea between the islands of Rügen and Usedom, in Northeast Germanys state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.
The small river ''Ryck'' passes through the old town which is about 5km 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 fishers village and today provides a small beach, a marina and the main Greifswald port.

History

The first settlers were Danish Cistercian monks, who founded the Brick Gothic Eldena monastery in 1199. The salt trade helped the monastery grow to a monumental religious centre. The earliest known document that refers to Greifswald was written in 1248. 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.
In 1456, Greifswald's mayor Heinrich Rubenow laid the foundations of the second oldest university in Northern Europe, which is one of the oldest in Germany, and was, periodically, the oldest in Sweden and Prussia respectively.
As a result of the Thirty Years' War Greifswald became part of the Kingdom of Sweden in 1631 and remained Swedish until 1815, when it became part of Prussia.
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 the historic buildings in the old part of the city 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.

Renovation of the old town began an the late 1980s and at present nearly all of it has been restored. 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.

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 Pomerania (German: Pommern) 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'')

Economy

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 Yachtsis based in Greifswald as well as ''Solon AG'' 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.

Politics

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

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

Twinning

★ Osnabrück, Germany, since 1988

★ Tver, Russia

★ Kotka, Finland, since 1959

★ Lund, Sweden, Since 1990

★ Kristianstad, Sweden, since 1998

★ Hamar, Norway, since 1997

★ Goleniów, Poland, seit 1986

★ Szczecin, Poland, Since 1996

★ Angers, France, seit 1994

★ College Station, USA, since 1995

Education

University

The local university, Ernst Moritz Arndt University of Greifswald, was founded in 1456 and is one of the oldest universities in Germany and northern 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 facilites, such as:

★ Max-Planck-Institut für Plasmaphysik (plasma physics) with its second site (after Garching) in Greifswald and is experimenting with a stellarator, Wendelstein 7-X.

★ Alfried-Krupp-Wissenschaftskolleg (interdisciplinary centre for advanced studies)

★ Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut Insel Riems (Federal Research Institute for Animal Health)

★ Institut für Niedertemperatur-Plasmaphysik (Institute of Low Temperature Plasma Physics)

★ Technologiezentrum (Centre for Technology)

★ Biotechnikum (Centre for Bioscience)

Secondary Schools

★ Alexander-von-Humboldt-Gymnasium

★ Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Gymnasium (founded in 1561 as ''schola senatoria'' and one of the oldest still existing schools in Germany)

★ Johann-Gottfried-Herder-Gymnasium

★ Ostseegymnasium

Cultural events

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 muscial 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

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.

Notable people from Greifswald

★ Caspar David Friedrich, Romanticist painter

★ Hans Fallada, author

★ Wolfgang Koeppen, author

★ Josef Sommer , actor

★ see also list of people associated with the local university here

See also

★ Pomerania, Hither Pomerania, Swedish Pomerania

External links

★ City of Greifswald (official website)

★ university

★ more pictures

★ Pomeranian State Museum, Greifswald

★ theatre

References

1. Population source
2. Siehe Handelsblatt: http://www.handelsblatt.com/news/Default.aspx?_p=302919&_t=ft&_b=1245899