Greifswald Hafen

Description

NV Cruising Guide

Navigation

The approach is only possible during the day. The course of the river from Wieck to Greifswald is not navigated. After passing the bascule bridge in Wieck, you keep the middle of the river to the city, paying attention to the commercial shipping.

Berths

There are several mooring possibilities in the city and the nearest surroundings.

1. In the museum harbour directly in front of the pedestrian bridge you can moor on 3 m water depth. At these moorings, which are very close to the city, it is very restless because of the proximity to a main road. Use of the berths behind the bridge after consultation with the harbour master.

2. In the Marina Yachtzentrum Greifswald, a modern marina with all services near the historic old town.

Surroundings

The old Hanseatic and university town has many sights and offers good supply, equipment and repair facilities near the harbour. Many of the valuable architectural monuments in the old town of Greifswald have been thoroughly refurbished.

NV Land Guide

Greifswald is one of the cities that were largely spared the destruction of the Second World War. The preservation of the historic townscape was largely due to the then supreme commander of the city Rudolf Petershagen, who handed Greifswald over to the Red Army without a fight in the last days of the war.

Since the end of the 1980s, the old town has been renovated, after initially concentrating only on a few "showpieces". As a result of the long hesitation in restoring old parts of the city, some of the buildings are no longer renovable. In 1978, most of the now completely dilapidated northern old town was replaced by new buildings made of concrete slabs. Nevertheless, the remaining old buildings of Greifswald, which played an important role in maritime trade for centuries, are worth seeing. Around the market square, the historic townscape has been almost completely restored.

The old merchants' houses give an idea of the prosperity in Hanseatic times when some 30 council families ruled over the guilds in the small city-state. In 1250 the city was granted Lübsche Recht, and in 1278 it became a member of the Hanseatic League.

The market was a lifeline of the city. Goods from all over the world were traded here. Unfortunately, the town hall on the market square is no longer preserved in its original form after two fire disasters in the early 18th century. After its reconstruction in 1738, however, it was not significantly changed and is therefore one of the historical buildings worth seeing. Since it is above all the houses in the immediate vicinity that present themselves in a historic face, it is best to begin your tour of the town on the market square.

With its playful façade, the Ratsapotheke next to the town hall is considered the best example of the neo-Gothic architectural style in Greifswald, while the east side of the market predominantly combines traditional Gothic building elements. House No. 11 is considered the cream of Gothic brick Gothic. With its divided pointed-arch pinnacles and tracery rosettes, it served as an inn at the beginning of the 17th century and later as a restaurant. The gable of house No. 13, built in 1450, underwent a change from shield to triangular to stepped gable. The latter was only built in 1957 with unsuitable building materials. It is easy to see from the carefully restored savings bank building on the market square that it originally consisted of two Gothic storehouses and was only converted into a house with two roofs in the course of time.

The list of gabled houses can be continued at will. Thus, not only at the Fischmarkt, in the Baderstraße and the Domstraße, one comes across a multitude of other historic buildings, which will certainly attract the strong interest of the preservationists in the coming years. These include by no means only the gabled houses; the smaller houses of the craftsmen of yesteryear are also worth seeing. Often it is individual components of a complex or details that are worth looking at, for example the baroque front door at Domstrasse 24, built in 1760, or the crooked little houses in the courtyard of the former municipal hospital St. Spiritus at Rotgerberstrasse 14. The hospital near the cathedral was a donation for the homeless, the sick and the elderly. The crooked angles of the houses add to the charm of the small settlement.

From the names and the location of the streets it can be seen that the craftsmen had to move to the second limb, the side streets (Fleischerstraße etc.). The "place in the sun" in the centre of Greifswald was reserved for the big merchants. This upper class also elected the three mayors of the town.

Before the merchants had the say in Greifswald, the church had the monopoly of power. It was from the Cistercian monastery of Eldena that the town was founded. Around 1199, the monks, who had originally come from Zealand, moved to the mouth of the small river Ryck and colonised the surrounding land against the resistance of many peasants. With the help of the nobility, they obtained the right to a market in 1241, which they established on the southern bank of the Ryck.

The development of maritime trade brought economic prosperity to the town so quickly that it is first mentioned in a document as early as 1248.

One of the most drastic events for the town occurred in 1456, when Dr. Heinrich Rubenow founded Greifswald University, the second oldest in northern Europe. After the disintegration of the Hanseatic League and the Thirty Years' War, Greifswald belonged to the Swedes until 1815, and then to the Prussians.

The place where the city was planned is also home to what is probably Greifswald's most outstanding sight, the ruins of Eldena Monastery. It already impressed Caspar David Friedrich so much that he sketched it several times and captured it in oil (see Greifswald Wieck).

The St. Nikolai Cathedral with its mighty west tower and four baroque domes cannot be missed. Several times the spire has collapsed and been rebuilt. The church, completed in 1375, with its pointed-arched portals and windows was restored in 1981 and can be visited. The interior, however, was last remodeled in 1833.

Nearby, in the former Friedrich soap factory, is the CDF Centre, where an exhibition covers everything about the life and work of the painter and draughtsman Caspar-David Friedrich, who was born in Greifswald in 1774.

The Marienkirche in Brüggstraße, built in 1360, is considered an important example of chorusless hall churches, with a height of 21m to the apex of the vault. The upper tower storey, destroyed in 1678, and the eight-sided pyramidal dome were replaced in 1870 by a tent roof with small towers.

The monument to the mayor and university founder Rubenow and the university building opposite at Domstrasse 11 are historically connected. Among the world-renowned scientists who studied here were Ulrich von Hutten, the surgeons Theodor Billroth and Ferdinand Sauerbruch, and the man of letters Ernst Moritz Arndt. Like no other, the private secretary of Baron von Stein influenced the events of his time. The peak of the work of the political publicist and patriotic poet, who was born on Rügen in 1769 and buried in Bonn in 1860, fell in the time of the wars of liberation against Napoleon. With his national pathos and his hate poems against the French oppressors, he became the most widely read publicist of these wars of liberation. Today, the university bears his name.

Many an attacker failed against Greifswald's strong defences - including the Brandenburg troops in September 1659. They had tried in vain to overcome the inner moat below the city wall with boats. The remains of the repeatedly extended moat around the town still exist in some places, although the defences had already fallen into disrepair by the end of the Northern War (1721). Later promenades were laid out on the ramparts.

An artfully arranged English garden was created between Fettentor and Mühlenberg. The town's Kurhaus was later built on this site. In the Binnengraben, between Fleischer- and Fettentor, is the botanical garden and the university's arboretum.

In 1242 the Count of Gützkow donated a plot of land in the town to the Franciscan monks. The mendicant monks then built themselves a monastery and cared mainly for the poor and sick. Due to their critical attitude towards worldly possessions and the Catholic Church's claim to power, they came into conflict with Rome. Although they are said to have been popular with the common people, they too had to give way after the Reformation. The monastery fell into disrepair and was demolished piece by piece. In 1929, a museum of local history was set up in the remaining abbot's dwelling, which is well worth seeing. Today, the museum reminds visitors of the great past of the village as well as of the old crafts. Household objects made of tin, copper and brass (including a tea kettle from the 19th century) show how elaborately and artistically even the simplest utensils were made. Textile production and dyeing are also among the museum's topics.

The museum harbour, located in the town centre, is a maritime trademark for Greifswald. The association "Museumshafen Greifswald", founded in 1991, takes care of the preservation of the facilities and ships and organises an annual gaff rig meeting, always on the second weekend in July.

Since summer 2006, the summer stage directly at the museum harbour has offered the culturally interested visitor an additional attraction as a venue for the Baltic Sea Festival. Other venues for unforgettable theatre, opera and concert experiences are the Eldena Monastery Ruins and Stralsund.

Marina Information

Contact

Phone	+49 3834 771339-12
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Website	http://marina-yachtzentrum.de/