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Wismar

Town in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany

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Wismar is located on the Bay of Wismar of the Baltic Sea, directly opposite the island of Poel, that separates the Bay of Wismar from the larger Bay of Mecklenburg. The city lies in the middle between the two larger port cities of Lübeck in the west, and Rostock in the east, and the state capital of Schwerin is located south of the city on Lake Schwerin. Wismar lies in the northeastern corner of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region, and is the capital of the district of Northwestern Mecklenburg. The city's natural harbour is protected by a promontory. The uninhabited island of Walfisch, lying between Wismar and the island of Poel, administratively belongs to the borough of Wismar-Wendorf.

It is estimated that Wismar was founded in 1226 under Henry Borwin I, Lord of Mecklenburg from the House of Mecklenburg, a German dynasty of Slavic origin also known as the Obotrites or Niklotides. In 1259, the city became part of the Hanseatic League. Throughout its history, the city has been under control of various German states as well as the Swedish Empire. It was part of Sweden from 1648 until 1803 (de jure until 1903, when Sweden officially renounced its claims to the city), and this Swedish chapter of the city is celebrated annually with a large "Sweden Celebration". From 1815 until 1918, Wismar lay in the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and later in the Free State of Mecklenburg-Schwerin.

Wismar is a typical representative of the Hanseatic League with its city-wide Brick Gothic structures and iconic gabled patrician houses and was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List alongside the historical old town of Stralsund in 2002. Wismar is the seat of Hochschule Wismar, a university of applied sciences, one of nine institutions of higher education in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. With MV Werften Wismar, the city is one of three cruise ship-producing locations of MV Werften (along with Rostock and Stralsund), and the shipyard with its tall white-blue hall is one of the city's largest employers. St. George's, St. Nicholas' and St. Mary's, of which only the tower is left standing, are the three iconic sacred buildings dominating the skyline of Wismar.

History

The name of the settlement was first recorded in the 12th century as Visemer, Wismar (1147, 1167), Wyssemaria (1229)and is probably of Slavic origin although finally disputed. Wismar could have the same Old Saxon origin like the German city Weimar.Wismar was part of the Western Slavic Obotrites' territory.

The exact date of the city's foundation is not clear. In the oldest existing document of Wismar from 1229, its civic rights are already established. In 1301 Wismar came under the rule of the House of Mecklenburg. In 1259 Wismar joined a defensive agreement with Lübeck and Rostock, in order to effectively counter the numerous Baltic pirates. Subsequently more cities of the northern Holy Roman Empire would agree to cooperate as commerce and trade was increasingly coordinated and regulated. These policies would provide the basis for the development of the Hanseatic League. By the 13th and 14th centuries Wismar had grown into a flourishing Hanseatic trading hub and an important center of wool processing. Although around 2,000 of its inhabitants perished during the plague of 1376, the town remained reasonably prosperous until the 16th century.

Under Swedish rule

With the Peace of Westphalia of 1648 Wismar came under the territorial control of Sweden. Through the acquisition of Wismar and other dominions in the Holy Roman Empire, the Kings of Sweden in their role as imperial princes were entitled to a seat in the Imperial Diet. Wismar became administrative center of Wismar town and the districts of Pod and Neukloster, and after 1653 the Fürstenhof (prince's court) served as the seat of the supreme court for all Swedish dominions in the Holy Roman Empire. Wismar's fortifications were extended into an effective all-round defence system under the supervision of Field Marshal Erik Dahlbergh. Remains of these fortifications have been preserved, among other places, in the ‘Lindengarten' to the east of the wall of the old city. During the Scanian War, the town was besieged and captured by Danish forces in 1675.

In 1803, Sweden ceded both the town and lordship to the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin for 1,258,000 Riksdalers, but reserved the right of redemption after 100 years. In view of this contingent right of Sweden, Wismar was not represented at the diet of Mecklenburg-Schwerin until 1897. In 1903, Sweden finally renounced its claims to the town. Wismar still retains a few relics of its old privileges, including the right to fly its own flag.

20th century

By the end of the 19th century Wismar's most important manufacturing branches were the production of iron and steel, roofing-felt, asphalt, paper and machine industry. International sea trade took place at the local harbour, which was deep enough to admit vessels of up to five metres (16 ft) draught at its quays. Exports included grains, oil-seeds and butter as coal, timber and iron were imported. Wismar was production site for several railroad rolling stock manufacturers and since 1933 home to Norddeutsche Dornier-Werke of aircraft manufacturer Dornier. On 14 May 1881 Rudolph Karstadt opened his first shop (Tuch-, Manufaktur- und Konfektionsgeschäft) of the now well established department store chain Karstadt in Wismar.

During World War II, it was the location of a forced labour subcamp of the Nazi prison in Bützow-Dreibergen. Wismar was heavily bombed and destroyed by Allied air raids. As the line of contact between Soviet and other Allied armies formed in Europe at the end of the war, Wismar was captured by the British 6th Airborne Division's 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion on 2 May 1945, James Hill commanding, in accordance with Operation Eclipse. On 7 May 1945 British Field Marshal Montgomery and Soviet Marshal Konstantin Rokossovsky met in Wismar. In accord with the Occupation Zone Agreements of the Yalta Conference Wismar became a part of the Soviet Occupation Zone of Germany on 1 July 1945, as British troops retreated and Soviet troops took control over the area.

During the 1949 to 1990 era of the German Democratic Republic, Wismar became East Germany's second-largest port, after Rostock and developed a shipbuilding industry. Although the GDR government had pledged to restore the local churches and historic sites that had been heavily bombed during the war, this commitment was for the most part not fulfilled.

After German reunification in 1990, churches and all historic buildings in the city's town center were restored, and the old towns of Wismar and Stralsund (c. 110 km or 70 mi to the east), were listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. In 2011, Wismar became the capital of the district of Nordwestmecklenburg.

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