Online-Card - Stralsund

The Hanseatic City of Stralsund has so many sights and sounds to offer that the visitor really is spoilt for choice. The medieval town, with its great variety of religious and secular buildings in the northern German brick Gothic style, transports you back to Hanseatic times. These protected monuments were added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in June of 2002. The historic old town is surrounded by water, giving it an island feel, and offers the sailing enthusiast the rare pleasure of mooring his boat almost directly in front of the town hall. The port, ferries, sailors and cutters together with a striking skyline lend the Hanseatic city of Stralsund its particular maritime flair.

Shipbuilding has been important for the economy of Stralsund for centuries. Today, the Volkswerft shipyard produces container ships in a modern compact shipbuilding centre. And investment is being made in new technologies for the future, through the University of applied sciences and the technology centre. Tourism is also a key element of the economy. The German Oceanographic Museum in the heart of the old town is the jewel in the crown of a spectrum of museums that attracts thousands of visitors to Stralsund every year. The Oceanographic Museum’s main site in the historic Abbey of St Catherine’s will soon be joined by a new centre on Hafeninsel, the OZEANEUM which is scheduled to open in 2008. There, huge aquariums will take visitors on a journey of discovery through the northern seas. The biggest Baltic Sea exhibition in Europe will focus on everything that is special about the little sea on Stralsund’s doorstep, which has been so central to the city’s economy since the Middle Ages. But there will be other exhibitions too, such as ‘Giants of the Deep’ and ‘Sea for Kids’ making the OZEANEUM a major new attraction in this historic city.

 

This Hanseatic City of Stralsund is also viewed as the gateway to Scandinavia with its so-called royal ferry line to Trelleborg, steeped in tradition. In Stralsund, great care is being taken to preserve the spirit of the city's Hanseatic past - and this spirit is still very much alive for all to see.