GreifswaldGreifswald (ˈɡʁaɪfsvalt), officially the University and Hanseatic City of Greifswald (Universitäts- und Hansestadt Greifswald, Low German: Griepswoold) is the fourth-largest city in the German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania after Rostock, Schwerin and Neubrandenburg. In 2021 it surpassed Stralsund for the first time, and became the largest city in the Pomeranian part of the state. It sits on the River Ryck, at its mouth into the Danish Wiek (Dänische Wiek), a sub-bay of the Bay of Greifswald (Greifswalder Bodden), which is itself a sub-bay of the Bay of Pomerania (Pommersche Bucht) of the Baltic Sea.
Brick GothicBrick Gothic (Backsteingotik, Gotyk ceglany, Baksteengotiek) is a specific style of Gothic architecture common in Northeast and Central Europe especially in the regions in and around the Baltic Sea, which do not have resources of standing rock (though glacial boulders are sometimes available). The buildings are essentially built using bricks. Buildings classified as Brick Gothic (using a strict definition of the architectural style based on the geographic location) are found in Belgium (and the very north of France), Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Kaliningrad (former East Prussia), Denmark, Sweden and Finland.
RostockRostock (ˈʁɔstɔk), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (Hanse- und Universitätsstadt Rostock), is the largest city in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the state, close to the border with Pomerania. With around 208,000 inhabitants, it is the third-largest city on the German Baltic coast after Kiel and Lübeck, the eighth-largest city in the area of former East Germany, as well as the 39th-largest city of Germany.
StralsundStralsund (ˈʃtʁaːlzʊnt; Swedish: Strålsund), officially the Hanseatic City of Stralsund (German: Hansestadt Stralsund), is the fifth-largest city in the northeastern German federal state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania after Rostock, Schwerin, Neubrandenburg and Greifswald, and the second-largest city in the Pomeranian part of the state. It is located on the southern coast of the Strelasund, a sound of the Baltic Sea separating the island of Rügen from the Pomeranian mainland.
ObotritesThe Obotrites (Obotriti, Abodritorum, Abodritos...) or Obodrites, also spelled Abodrites (Abodriten), were a confederation of medieval West Slavic tribes within the territory of modern Mecklenburg and Holstein in northern Germany (see Polabian Slavs). For decades, they were allies of Charlemagne in his wars against the Germanic Saxons and the Slavic Veleti. The Obotrites under Prince Thrasco defeated the Saxons in the Battle of Bornhöved (798).
MecklenburgMecklenburg (ˈmeːklənbʊʁk; Mękel(n)borg ˈmɛːkəl(n)bɔrx) is a historical region in northern Germany comprising the western and larger part of the federal-state Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The largest cities of the region are Rostock, Schwerin, Neubrandenburg, Wismar and Güstrow. The name Mecklenburg derives from a castle named Mikilenburg (Old Saxon for "big castle", hence its translation into Neo-Latin and Greek as Megalopolis), located between the cities of Schwerin and Wismar.
PomeraniaPomerania (Pomorze; Pommern; Kashubian: Pòmòrskô; Pommern) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The western part of Pomerania belongs to the German states of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Brandenburg, while the eastern part belongs to the West Pomeranian, Pomeranian and Kuyavian-Pomeranian voivodeships of Poland.
