The city's name as well as that of theStrelasund are compounds of theSlavic (Polabian)stral andstrela (arrow; Polish:strzała, Czech:střela) and theGermanicsund, astrait orsound. Thecanting arms of the city make reference to that etymology as well as to Stralsund'sHanseatic past in featuring a silvercross pattée (a Hanseatic Cross) above a silver arrow.
Stralsund was granted city rights in 1234 and is thus the oldest city in Pomerania. It was one of the most prosperous members of the medievalHanseatic League. In 1628, during theThirty Years' War, the city came underSwedish rule and remained so until the upheavals of theNapoleonic Wars. It was the capital ofSwedish Pomerania (New Western Pomerania) from 1720 to 1815. From 1815 to 1945, Stralsund was part ofPrussia.
The city of Stralsund is located in northeasternGermany in the region ofWestern Pomerania in the state ofMecklenburg-Vorpommern. Stralsund is located south west ofRügen. It is separated by a small body of water named the Strelasund, which stretches out to the Baltic Sea.
Itsannual precipitation is 656 mm (25.8 inches) and comparatively low, falling within the lowest third of all precipitation values inGermany. The driest month is February; the most precipitation falls in July. The precipitation varies relatively moderately throughout the year. Only 40% of weather stations in Germany exhibit lower seasonal variation.
Climate data for Stralsund, elevation: 13 m, 1991–2021 normals
Stralsund's city borough includes municipal forest and three municipal ponds (theKnieperteich, Frankenteich andMoorteich. The three ponds and the Strelasund lend the Old Town, the original settlement site and historic centre of the city, a protected island ambience. The highest point of the city is theGalgenberg ("Gallows Hill") on its western approaches.
The city's territory covers an area of 54.07 km2, which makes Stralsund, with its nearly 58,000 inhabitants one of the most densely populated cities inMecklenburg-Western Pomerania (1,480 inhabitants per km2).
The borough of the Hanseatic city of Stralsund is divided into as follows:
Many of the smaller villages in the vicinity, likeProhn orNegast, have grown sharply after 1990 as a result of the influx of those living or working in Stralsund.
Stralsund seen fromAltefährView over Stralsund from the tower of St Mary'sTypical street view of Stralsund: patrician houses with high gables from different eras, including the remarkableBrick Gothic and Renaissance
In theMiddle Ages the Stralsund area formed part of theWest SlavicPrincipality of Rügen. At that time theDänholm isle and fishing village, both at the site of the latter city, were calledStrale orStralow,Polabian for "arrow" (this meaning underlies the city's coat of arms, which shows an arrow). The full Polabian name can be rendered inPolish asStrzałów.[8]
The village also had a ferry to the island of Rügen.[9] In 1168, following thesiege of Arkona, the Principality of Rügen became part ofKingdom of Denmark.
In the course ofGermanOstsiedlung, many German settlers, gentry and merchants were invited to settle in the principality, and they eventually populated theStrale settlement. Merchants from other countries as well as locals were attracted to the area and made up one third of the settlement's population. The Danish navy used the isle as well. When the settlement had grown to town size, princeWizlaw I of Rügen grantedLübeck law to "our town Stralow" in 1234, although a significant settlement had existed long before the formal founding.[9] In 1240, when the prince gave additional land to the town, he called itStralesund.
The success of the settlement challenged the powerfulFree City of Lübeck, which burnt Stralsund down in 1249. Afterwards the town was rebuilt with a massivetown wall having 11town gates and 30 watchtowers. TheNeustadt, a town-like suburb, had merged with Stralsund by 1361.Schadegard, a nearby twin city to Stralsund also founded by Wizlaw I, though not granted German law, served as the principal stronghold and enclosed a fort. It was given up and torn down by 1269 under pressure from the StralsundBürger.
Following theFirst World War Stralsund suffered the same sort of political unrest and unemployment that afflicted much of Germany. In May 1919 Stralsund workers clashed with police, and martial law was declared. In the early 1920s theIndependent Social Democratic Party (USPD) became the strongest party in Stralsund, but its political fortunes waned rapidly, and in September 1922 it reunited with theSocial Democratic Party (SPD). TheStralsunder Zeitung was published as a local newspaper in Stralsund.
In the national parliamentary election of May 1924, the conservativeGerman National People's Party (DNVP) polled 8,547 votes in Stralsund, the SPD 3,534, the Communists 1,825 and theGerman People's Party (DVP) of Foreign MinisterGustav Stresemann 1,417. However, in keeping with national trends,Hitler'sNational Socialists made rapid gains in the late 1920s, and by the time of the last free national election in July 1932 the Nazis polled twice as many votes in Stralsund as the SPD.
During the Nazi period (1933–1945), Stralsund's military installations expanded, and a naval training base opened on the nearby island ofDänholm. InWorld War II the city was subjected torepeated Allied bombing. Attacks by the U.S. Army Air Forces in 1944 killed some 800 Stralsunders and destroyed an estimated 8,000 dwellings. The354th Rifle Division of theRed Army occupied Stralsund on April 28, 1945 – 10 days before the end of the war in Europe. Approximately half its population had fled.
During the period of theGerman Democratic Republic (GDR), Stralsund saw the construction of numerousPlattenbau prefabricated apartment blocks. Its economic life centered on the now state-owned shipyard, which largely focussed on building ships for theSoviet Union.
AfterGerman reunification in 1990, the city's historic old town was thoroughly restored, and Communist-era apartment blocks were renovated and upgraded. In 2002 the old towns of Stralsund andWismar, some 120 km to the west, were listed asUNESCO World Heritage Sites. Stralsund's shipyard was privatized, and thereafter specialized in constructing container ships.
The heart of the old town is the Alter Markt Square ("Old Market"), with the Gothic city hall (13th century). Behind the city hall soars the imposingSt. Nicholas' Church, built in 1270–1360. The square is surrounded by houses from different periods, including the GothicWulflamhaus (a 14th-century patrician house, today a restaurant), and the BaroqueCommandantenhus of 1751, the old headquarters of the Swedish military commander.
Saint James' Church, built in mid-14th century. It was destroyed several times, e.g. byWallenstein and inWorld War II.
St. John's Abbey (Franciscan monastery built in 1254) is one of the oldest buildings in the city.
Stralsund is the port of registry for the former GermanReichsmarine Navy Sail Training ship"Gorch Fock" 1. It is now a floating museum.
The Monastery of Saint Catherine, mainly built in the 15th century, houses two museums today: Stralsund'sMuseum of Cultural History (known for e.g. theGold Jewellery of Hiddensee),[12] and theGerman Oceanographic Museum, Germany's largest aquarium and oceanographic collection. The ancientrefectory of the monastery is one of the most spectacular Gothic interiors in Germany.
Besides the mentionedGerman Oceanographic Museum at the Katharinenkloster, Stralsund has other museums dedicated to marine life, including the popularOzeaneum that was votedEuropean Museum of the Year in 2010. There is also a nautical centre, the Nautineum, onDänholm island and theMarinemuseum Dänholm, showcasing the military history of the German Navy, especially the interwarReichsmarine. It also hosts one of the last remaining GDRVolksmarine (People's Navy) torpedo boats.
The centre of Stralsund has a wealth of historic buildings. Since 1990, large parts of the historic old town have been renovated with private and public capital, and with the support of foundations. As a result of the contempt for historic buildings inEast Germany many houses were threatened by ruin. The Old Town in particular offers a rich variety of historic buildings, with many former merchants' houses, churches, streets and squares.
Of more than 800 listed buildings in Stralsund, more than 500 are designated as individual monuments in the Old Town. In twenty years, from theWende (turning point) in 1990 to November 2010, 588 of the more than 1,000 old buildings were completely refurbished, including 363 individual monuments.[13] Because of its historical and architectural significance, in 2002 Stralsund's old town together with the old town ofWismar were added to entitled theUNESCO World Cultural Heritage list as the "Historic Centres of Stralsund and Wismar".[5]
The city hall
Alter Markt Square
On the Alter Markt Square there is the main landmark of Stralsund: theBrick Gothic city hall fromHanseatic times. This building from 1278 features a remarkable "show façade" that serves the sole purpose of displaying wealth of the city. Citizens can walk through the city hall and itsgallery. It also features one of Europe's largest Gothiccellar vaults. The ensemble of buildings on the Alter Markt Square includes the St. Nicholas Church, the Artushof, the Wulflamhaus, the Commandantenhus, the Gewerkschaftshaus and a new apartment complex.
Old Town houses
The historic houses with their distinctive gables, often renovated at a high financial cost, dominate the scene in the streets of the Old Town. The former Swedish Government Palace is now home to the city construction department. The Museum of Cultural History Museum inMönchstrasse, in one of the most important surviving original houses of theHanseatic era, was refurbished with funds from theGerman Foundation for Monument Conservation It offers a guide to understanding the city's history over seven centuries.
Churches
Three largemedievalBrick Gothic buildings –St. Mary's Church,St. Nicholas Church and St. James Church, point to the medieval significance of Stralsund. Today St. James' is used purely as a cultural venue, its parish being served now by the Church of the Holy Spirit, which also dates from the 14th century. Two other churches on the Alter Markt Square and the Neuer Markt are still used for church services. The tower of St. Mary's on the Neuer Markt offers a panoramic view over Stralsund and the island of Rügen.
Monasteries
St. John's Abbey, aFranciscan monastery from 1254, now houses the Stralsund City Archives. Regular cultural events also take place here, such as open-air theatre productions.
The Gothic abbey of St. Anne and St. Bridget inSchillstrasse was established around 1560 from the merger of the abbey ofSt. Anne (1480) and the double abbey ofMariakron (1421).
The Abbey of St. Jürgen onMönchstrasse was mentioned in 1278 for the first time. It served in the 14th century as an old people's home. In 1743 a new building, theKleines St. Jürgen Kloster, was built atKniepertor and the site was extended in 1754 to create old people's flats and in 1841 for widow's apartments.
First mentioned in 1256, theHeilgeistkloster is now the Hospital of the Holy Spirit.
Old Port withOzeaneum, warehouses and historical ships including theGorch Fock
Port
Ferries toHiddensee andAltefähr, as well as harbor tour boats, dock at the port. In the summer months the port is a berthing places for river cruisers. There are several yacht harbors and marinas near the Old Town. Hundreds of yachts and boats tie up along the north mole in summer. Architecturally the pilot station and the harbor warehouse (Hafenspeicher), as well as the silhouette of the Old Town, form a unique tableau of different historical eras. The barque and former sailor's training ship,Gorch Fock is another tourist attraction at the harbor.
University of Applied Sciences Stralsund, Department of Economics
The Fachhochschule Stralsund is aUniversity of Applied Sciences[14] with a modern campus, north of the old town at theStrelasund. It has around 2,500 students and is among thebest ranked public universities in Germany in various fields, especially in economics.[15] Other university departments are Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Information Technology. The FH Stralsund also offers international study programs, such asLeisure and Tourism Management[16] andBaltic Management Studies (international business management).[17]
Stralsund is linked to theA20 motorway (towardsBerlin andHamburg), via theB96n dual-carriageway. Other major roads include the B105 (beginning in the city centre and continuing toRostock) and theB96 (major road toRügen) and the B194 to the town ofGrimmen.
The current mayor of Stralsund is Alexander Badrow (CDU) since 2008. The most recent mayoral election was held on 8 May 2022, and the results were as follows:
^abcLanger, Herbert (2003)."Die Anfänge des Garnisionswesens in Pommern". In Asmus, Ivo; Droste, Heiko; Olesen, Jens E. (eds.).Gemeinsame Bekannte: Schweden und Deutschland in der Frühen Neuzeit (in German). Berlin-Hamburg-Münster: LIT Verlag. pp. 402–403.ISBN3-8258-7150-9.
^Langer, Herbert (2003)."Die Anfänge des Garnisionswesens in Pommern". In Asmus, Ivo; Droste, Heiko; Olesen, Jens E. (eds.).Gemeinsame Bekannte: Schweden und Deutschland in der Frühen Neuzeit (in German). Berlin-Hamburg-Münster: LIT Verlag. p. 39.ISBN3-8258-7150-9.
Gustav Kratz:Die Städte der Provinz Pommern – Abriss ihrer Geschichte, zumeist nach Urkunden. Berlin 1865, pp. 434–502 (Volltext)
Auerbach, Horst:Festung und Marinegarnison Stralsund. Hinstorff-Verlag, Rostock 1999,ISBN3-356-00835-8.
Detlev Brunner:Stralsund – Eine Stadt im Systemwandel vom Ende des Kaiserreichs bis in die 1960er Jahre. Veröffentlichungen zur SBZ-/DDR-Forschung im Institut für Zeitgeschichte. München 2010,ISBN978-3-486-59805-6. (Rezension)
Hansestadt Stralsund, Untere Denkmalschutzbehörde (ed.):Denkmalplan Stralsund. Recherchen und Analysen für die Pflege des Welterbes.Thomas Helms Verlag, Schwerin 2013.ISBN978-3-940207-91-3.
_2024-05-21_JM_5D412123.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
_4.JPG)
.JPG)
%2c_by_Klugschnacker_in_Wikipedia_(9).JPG)
%2c_by_Klugschnacker_in_Wikipedia_(39).JPG)
.jpg)
