Rostock

With more than 200.000 inhabitants Rostock is the largest city in the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.

Small Slawic settlemetns existed already in the 8th century. A settlement named Roztok was founded in the 11th century by Polabian Slavs. This town was burnt down by troops of the Danish king Valdemar I in 1161. Afterwards the place was settled by German traders.

After 1226 Rostock became the seat of the Lordship of Rostock.

In the 1250s the city became a member of the Hanseatic League. In the 14th century it was a powerful seaport town with 12,000 inhabitants and the largest city in Mecklenburg. Ships for cruising the Baltic Sea were constructed in Rostock. Until the last Hansa Convention in 1669, Rostock took a leading role in the Baltic Sea behind Lübeck.

In 1419, the University of Rostock was founded, the oldest university in the Baltic Sea area.
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As the centre of the armaments industry of Nazi Germany Rostock was bombed already in 1940. At the end of the war, almost 25% of the residential buildings were completely destroyed, and another 60% were damaged. Among them the 14th-century Nikolaikirche (St Nicholas Church) and Jakobikirche (St Jacob's Church). The ruins of the latter were torn down in 1960.
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Rostock seen from the tower of St. Petri. The large building is the Marienkirche (St. Mary's Church).