greifswald

Coat of Arms>

colspan="2" bgcolor="#336699" align="center" \| Data
bgcolor="#336699" align="center" \| Map of Germany
align="center" \|	align="center" \| Map of Greifswald in Germany
gcolor="#888888" \| State	bgcolor="#efefef" \| Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania
bgcolor="#888888" \| Area	bgcolor="#efefef" \| 50,2 km
bgcolor="#888888" \| Population	bgcolor="#efefef" \| 52 140 (01 Sept 2003)
bgcolor="#888888" \| Population Density	bgcolor="#efefef" \| 1039 per square km
bgcolor="#888888" \| Altitude	bgcolor="#efefef" \| 17 m above sea level
bgcolor="#888888" \| Location	bgcolor="#efefef" \|
bgcolor="#888888" \| Postal Code	bgcolor="#efefef" \| 17489 (City Centre)
bgcolor="#888888" \| Telephone Code	bgcolor="#efefef" \| +49-3834
bgcolor="#888888" \| Car Code	bgcolor="#efefef" \| HGW
bgcolor="#888888" \| City Council	bgcolor="#efefef" \| Markt 17489 Greifswald
bgcolor="#888888" \| Homepage	bgcolor="#efefef" \| http://www.greifswald.de
bgcolor="#888888" \| E-mail	bgcolor="#efefef" \| info@greifswald.de
colspan="2" bgcolor="#336699" align="center" \| Politics
bgcolor="#888888" \| Lord Mayor	bgcolor="#efefef" \| Dr Arthur Knig (CDU)

Greifswald (German Greif=griffin, Wald=forest) is a city in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany. Located at the south end of the Baltic Sea, and the mouth of the Ryck river. Population: about 55,000. Officially Hansestadt Greifswald in German (Hanseatic Leaque City of Greifswald).

Historical notes

The first settlers were Danish Cistercian monks, who founded the Eldena monastery in 1199. Due to the salt trade the monastery grew to a monumental religious centre. The town of Greifswald, close to the monastery, was first time mentioned in 1248. Enjoying a steady rise in population, Greifswald also became one of the earliest members of the Hanseatic League at the end of the 13th century, which helped increase trade and wealth. In 1456, Greifswald's mayor Heinrich Rubenow set the foundations of the second oldest university of Northern Europe, one of the oldest in Germany, for a time the oldest in Sweden and Prussia. The town of Greifswald became part of the Kingdom of Sweden in 1631 as a result of the Thirty Years War and remained Swedish until 1815. During the period of socialist rulership following the Second World War, parts of the historic city have seen little renovation efforts. Since the German reunification of 1989/1990 this has changed substantially. The largest nuclear powerplant in East Germany was located near the town. It had four reactors which were successively brought online starting in 1974. The plant was promptly shut down after the reunification of Germany, in 1990, due to safety concerns.