Around the year 1200 craftsmen and merchants settled in today's old town centre. Wismar was mentioned in documents for the first time in 1229. In the same year the village was assigned the status of a town. Prince Johann von Mecklenburg transferred his residence to Wismar in 1257. Up to the year 1358 the Mecklenburg princes reigned from here.
Rostock, Lübeck and Wismar formed an alliance in 1259 in order to protect their tradesmen against pirates on the Baltic Sea. Since then Wismar has been regarded as a member of the Hanse - the Hanseatic League. Hence Wismar acquired political independence and enjoyed a great economic boom: Textiles produced by the wool weavers and beer were especially in demand.
With the decline of the Hanseatic League during the 16th century, Wismar also lost its significance. Soldiers occupied and pillaged the town during the Thirty Years' War. Thus economic strength declined. Its political independence was also lost forever: The Peace Treaty of Westphalia in 1648 awarded Wismar to the Kingdom of Sweden. The Swedes mortgaged the town to the Dukedom of Mecklenburg-Schwerin in 1803. Not until 1903 did Wismar cease to be under Sweden's rule for good.
The 19th century brought new economic upswing to Wismar. Rudolf Karstadt opened his first department store. A wagon factory was founded and a new harbour was built. In 1934 the Dornier aircraft factories settled here. They made Wismar a target for allied bombing raids during the Second World War.
At the end of the war a considerable part of the town was destroyed. The Marienkirche had been so severely damaged that the remains of the nave were blasted in 1960. Nevertheless, its high steeple is still a landmark in Wismar's silhouette. The ruins of the Georgenkirche were left in disrepair until 1990. Since then the reconstruction of the church has been undertaken. In the year 2002 the efforts to preserve the historical buildings of Wismar's old town were rewarded: UNESCO declared them a world culture heritage.
Tourist- Information Wismar
Am Markt 11
23966 Wismar
Postanschrift:
PF 1245
23952 Wismar
phone: 03841-2513025
fax: 03841-2513091
e-mail: tourisinfo@wismar.de
Internet: www.wismar.de