Greifswald

This former Hanseatic town is situated 5 km (3 miles) from the Bay of Greifswald. From afar the picturesque silhouette of the town with its three church towers, nicknamed Fat Mary, Little Jakob and Long Michael, appears like a painting by Caspar David Friedrich – the town’s most famous resident – come to life.

Charm pervades the old town, its architectural mix resulting from 40 years of East German rule. Greifswald, an important academic centre and market town, has geared up more for tourism since 1989. It is certainly worth a visit – a short walk from east to west will enable the visitor to see all the most important monuments in town.

The 14th-century Marienkirche has a vast square tower, giving it a rather squat appearance and its nickname, Fat Mary. Inside, the church contains the remains of frescos and an amazing Renaissance pulpit depicting the Reformation figures of Luther, Bugenhagen and Melanchthon. The city museum has a collection of paintings by Caspar David Friedrich, including his famous landscapes of the ruined monastery of Eldena, Ruined Eldena in the Riesengebirge, which he transposed to the mountains of present-day Poland and Czech Republic.

The market square with its Baroque town hall is surrounded by patrician houses, with exemplary rich brickwork facades (particularly numbers 11 and 13). Nearby rises the vast Dom St Nikolai. The cathedral’s octagonal tower, topped with a Baroque helm, affords extensive views of the town.

The Rubenow-Bild (1460), one of the paintings inside, depicts the founding professor of Greifswald’s university in front of Mary, Mother of God.

Environs

Wieck, an attractive working fishing village, is now incorporated into Greifswald. It has a drawbridge dating from 1887, reminiscent of typical Dutch bridges. The Cistercian monastery of Eldena, just 1 km (0.6 mile) south of Wieck district, was made famous by the Romantic paintings of Caspar David Friedrich. The monastery was founded in 1199 and plundered by the Swedes in 1637. Its ruined red walls amid the green grass and trees look wildly romantic.