On May 14, 1250, the small market town received the Lubian City Law by duke Wartislaw III of Pomerania-Demmin. In its exciting history, the city first mentioned in a document in 1248 as “oppidum gripheswald”, experienced its own share of ups and downs.
Commerce, craft and shipping helped the young hanseatic city between the 13th and 16th centuries to make a rapid upturn of which, to this day, architectural masterpieces made of brick bear testimony. In 1456, the Ernst Moritz Arndt University was founded, now being the second oldest university of Northern Germany. The Thirty Year´s War (1618-1648) was followed by misery and destruction, from which Greifswald recovered only very slowly, even after the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. On the tide of the Thirty Years’ War, Greifswald came under the government of the Swedish king Gustav Adolf II. In 1815, Swedish-Pomerania and with it Greifswald were given to Prussia in the course of the Congress of Vienna. At the end of the 19th century, the city experienced a modest industrial upturn.
The old part of the town with its historical market place has been lovingly restored. It is one of the greatest cultural assets of Greifswald and a must for each visitor. The market place and the churches visible from near and far offer the viewer one of the most beautiful Northern German market place ensembles with magnificently decorated gable houses.
