Rostock

Rostock (ˈʁɔstɔk is the largest city

City

A city is a relatively large and permanent settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.For example, in the U.S...

in the north German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

state

States of Germany

Germany is made up of sixteen which are partly sovereign constituent states of the Federal Republic of Germany. Land literally translates as "country", and constitutionally speaking, they are constituent countries...

Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Rostock is located on the Warnow

Warnow

The Warnow is a river in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in Germany. It flows into the Baltic Sea near the town of Rostock, in its borough Warnemünde....

river; the quarter of Warnemünde

Warnemünde

Warnemünde is a sea resort and northmost district of Rostock in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, situated on the Baltic Sea in the northeast of Germany at the estuary of the river Warnow.- History :...

12 km north of the city centre lies directly on the coast of the Baltic Sea

Baltic Sea

The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...

Early history

In the 11th century Polabian Slavs

Polabian Slavs

Polabian Slavs - is a collective term applied to a number of Lechites tribes who lived along the Elbe river, between the Baltic Sea to the north, the Saale and the Limes Saxoniae to the west, the Ore Mountains and the Western Sudetes to the south, and Poland to the east. They have also been known...

founded a settlement at the Warnow river called Roztoc (which means broadening of a river); the name Rostock is derived from that designation. The Danish

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

king Valdemar I

Valdemar I of Denmark

Valdemar I of Denmark , also known as Valdemar the Great, was King of Denmark from 1157 until 1182.-Biography:...

set the town aflame in 1161.

Afterwards the place was settled by German traders. Initially there were three separate cities:

Altstadt (Old Town) around the Alter Markt (Old Market) with St. Petri
St. Petrikirche, Rostock
St. Peter's Church, in German Petrikirche, is the oldest of three town churches found in the Hanseatic city of Rostock, in northern Germany. The other two are St. Mary`s Church and St. Nicholas . A fourth, St. Jakobi, was heavily damaged during the Second World War and subsequently...

(St. Peter's Church),
Mittelstadt (Middle Town) around the Neuer Markt (New Market) with St. Marien (St. Mary's Church) and
Neustadt (New Town) around the Hopfenmarkt (Hop Market, now University Square) with St. Jakobi (St. James's Church, now demolished).

Hanseatic League

The rise of the city began with its membership of the Hanseatic League

Hanseatic League

The Hanseatic League was an economic alliance of trading cities and their merchant guilds that dominated trade along the coast of Northern Europe...

. In the 14th century it was a powerful seaport town with 12,000 inhabitants and the biggest city of Mecklenburg

Mecklenburg

Mecklenburg is a historical region in northern Germany comprising the western and larger part of the federal-state Mecklenburg-Vorpommern...

. Ships

COGS

* Cogs is an award-winning puzzle game for the PC, iPhone, iPad, Linux, Mac and netbook by Lazy 8 Studios, LLC.COGS, used as an acronym, may refer to:* Cost of goods sold*Shepparton, Victoria or City of Greater Shepparton* Parts of a gear system...

for cruising the Baltic Sea were constructed in Rostock. In 1419 one of the oldest universities in Northern Europe, the University of Rostock

University of Rostock

The University of Rostock is the university of the city Rostock, in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.Founded in 1419, it is the oldest and largest university in continental northern Europe and the Baltic Sea area...

, was founded.

15th to 18th century

At the end of the 15th century the duke

Duke

A duke or duchess is a member of the nobility, historically of highest rank below the monarch, and historically controlling a duchy...

s of Mecklenburg succeeded in enforcing their rule over the town of Rostock, which had until then been only nominally subject to their rule and essentially independent. They took advantage of a riot known as Domfehde, a failed uprising of the impoverished

Poverty

Poverty is the lack of a certain amount of material possessions or money. Absolute poverty or destitution is inability to afford basic human needs, which commonly includes clean and fresh water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter. About 1.7 billion people are estimated to live...

population. Subsequent quarrels with the dukes and persistent plundering led ultimately to a loss of economic and political power.
The strategic location of Rostock provoked the envy of its rivals. Danes and Swedes occupied the city twice, first during the Thirty Years' War

Thirty Years' War

The Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....

(1618–48) and again from 1700 to 1721. Later, the French, under Napoleon, occupied the town for about a decade until 1813. It was in nearby Lübeck

Lübeck

The Hanseatic City of Lübeck is the second-largest city in Schleswig-Holstein, in northern Germany, and one of the major ports of Germany. It was for several centuries the "capital" of the Hanseatic League and, because of its Brick Gothic architectural heritage, is listed by UNESCO as a World...

-Ratekau

Ratekau

Ratekau is a municipality in the district of Ostholstein, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is situated approx. 10 km northeast of Lübeck.It is the place where Blücher surrendered after the Battle of Lübeck in 1806....

that Blücher

Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher

Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher, Fürst von Wahlstatt , Graf , later elevated to Fürst von Wahlstatt, was a Prussian Generalfeldmarschall who led his army against Napoleon I at the Battle of the Nations at Leipzig in 1813 and at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 with the Duke of Wellington.He is...

, who was actually born in Rostock and who was one of few generals to fight on after the Battle of Jena, surrendered to the French in 1806. This was only after furious street fighting in the Battle of Lübeck

Battle of Lübeck

The Battle of Lübeck took place on 6 November 1806 in Lübeck, Germany between soldiers of the Kingdom of Prussia led by Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher and troops of the First French Empire under Marshals Joachim Murat, Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte, and Nicolas Soult...

, in which he led some of the cavalry charges himself; the exhausted Prussians had, by the time of the surrender, neither food nor ammunition.

19th century

In the first half of the 19th century Rostock regained much of its economic importance, at first due to the wheat trade, and, from the 1850s, to industry, especially to its shipyards. The first propeller-driven steamers in Germany were constructed here.

The city grew in size and population, with new quarters emerging in the south and west of the ancient borders of the city. Two notable developments were added to house the increasing population at around 1900:

Steintor-Vorstadt in the south, stretching from the old city wall to the facilities of the new Lloydbahnhof Railway Station (now Hauptbahnhof). It was designed as a living quarter and consists mostly of large single houses, once inhabited by wealthy citizens.
Kröpeliner-Tor-Vorstadt in the west, designed to house the working population as well as smaller and larger industrial facilities such as Mahn & Ohlerich's Brewery (now Hanseatische Brauerei Rostock). The main shipyard, Neptun was just nearby at the shore of the river.

20th century

In the 20th century, important aircraft

Fixed-wing aircraft

A fixed-wing aircraft is an aircraft capable of flight using wings that generate lift due to the vehicle's forward airspeed. Fixed-wing aircraft are distinct from rotary-wing aircraft in which wings rotate about a fixed mast and ornithopters in which lift is generated by flapping wings.A powered...

manufacturing facilities were situated in the city, such as the Arado Flugzeugwerke

Arado Flugzeugwerke

Arado Flugzeugwerke was a German aircraft manufacturer, originally established as the Warnemünde factory of the Flugzeugbau Friedrichshafen firm, that produced military hydroplanes during the First World War.-History:...

in Warnemünde

Warnemünde

Warnemünde is a sea resort and northmost district of Rostock in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, situated on the Baltic Sea in the northeast of Germany at the estuary of the river Warnow.- History :...

and the Heinkel

Heinkel

Heinkel Flugzeugwerke was a German aircraft manufacturing company founded by and named after Ernst Heinkel. It is noted for producing bomber aircraft for the Luftwaffe in World War II and for important contributions to high-speed flight.-History:...

Works with facilities at various places. It was at their facilities in Rostock-Marienehe that the world's jet plane

Heinkel He 178

|-See also:*List of firsts in aviation-Bibliography:* Warsitz, Lutz: The First Jet Pilot - The Story of German Test Pilot Erich Warsitz, Pen and Sword Books Ltd., England, 2009, ISBN 9781844158188.-External links:...

made its test flights. Aeroplane construction ceased at the end of the Second World War

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

.

Large parts of the central city were destroyed in World War II by Allied bombing in 1942 and 1944. Through reconstruction and subsequent extension, the city became a major industrial centre of the German Democratic Republic

German Democratic Republic

The German Democratic Republic , informally called East Germany by West Germany and other countries, was a socialist state established in 1949 in the Soviet zone of occupied Germany, including East Berlin of the Allied-occupied capital city...

with the port being developed as the primary gate to the world. Much of the historic centre has been faithfully rebuilt and much of its historic character restored. This includes several buildings characterised by vertical brick ribs, a style common to the Hanseatic towns.

Following the reunification

German reunification

German reunification was the process in 1990 in which the German Democratic Republic joined the Federal Republic of Germany , and when Berlin reunited into a single city, as provided by its then Grundgesetz constitution Article 23. The start of this process is commonly referred by Germans as die...

of Germany in 1989/1990, Rostock lost its prior privileged position as the principal overseas port of the former GDR and became one of several German ports, now located in one of the least industrialised regions of reunited Germany. Despite large infrastructure investments, the city's economy declined in the 1990s but is now growing again.

Rostock's population dropped from nearly 260,000 in 1989 to about 200,000 today, primarily due to suburb

Suburb

The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...

anisation but also due to emigration to more prosperous western regions of Germany.

Symbols

In Rostock's long history, the city carried three different coats of arms known as the Signum, Secretum and Sigillum. The Signum, which can be traced back to 1367, was developed last and is to this day the coat of arms of the city.

The flag depicts a golden griffin

Griffin

The griffin, griffon, or gryphon is a legendary creature with the body of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle...

on a blue background as well as the colors of the Hanseatic League

Hanseatic League

The Hanseatic League was an economic alliance of trading cities and their merchant guilds that dominated trade along the coast of Northern Europe...

, silver and red.

The coat of arms can not only be seen on flags, houses and at bus stops, but also on bridges, gullies, fences, ships and restaurants.

Administration

Since the 13th century, the governing body of the city has been the city council (Rat), first consisting of ten, later of 24 aldermen

Alderman

An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members themselves rather than by popular vote, or a council...

(Ratsherren). The chairman of the city council was the city mayor

Mayor

In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....

. In the 19th century there were even three mayors. Since 1925, the head of the city has born the title of Lord Mayor

Lord Mayor

The Lord Mayor is the title of the Mayor of a major city, with special recognition.-Commonwealth of Nations:* In Australia it is a political position. Australian cities with Lord Mayors: Adelaide, Brisbane, Darwin, Hobart, Melbourne, Newcastle, Parramatta, Perth, Sydney, and Wollongong...

. Having been elected for centuries by the city council, he is now elected directly by the citizens of Rostock, following a reform in 2002.

The city parliament (Bürgerschaft) represents the citizens. Representative are elected for five years. The number of representatives is currently 53.

13 Linke
The Left (Germany)
The Left , also commonly referred to as the Left Party , is a democratic socialist political party in Germany. The Left is the most left-wing party of the five represented in the Bundestag....
10 SPD
Social Democratic Party of Germany
The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...
9 CDU
Christian Democratic Union (Germany)
The Christian Democratic Union of Germany is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Germany. It is regarded as on the centre-right of the German political spectrum...
5 Greens
Alliance '90/The Greens
Alliance '90/The Greens is a green political party in Germany, formed from the merger of the German Green Party and Alliance 90 in 1993. Its leaders are Claudia Roth and Cem Özdemir...
4 FDP
Free Democratic Party (Germany)
The Free Democratic Party , abbreviated to FDP, is a centre-right classical liberal political party in Germany. It is led by Philipp Rösler and currently serves as the junior coalition partner to the Union in the German federal government...
4 FÜR ROSTOCK - pro OB
3 Rostocker Bund
5 others

The city parliament is presided by the Präsident der Bürgerschaft. He heads and prepares the sessions and, together with the Lord Mayor, represents the city.

Roland Methling (Independent), was elected Lord Mayor of Rostock in the first round by 58,2% of the voters on 27 February 2005.

Partner cities

Rostock has signed partnership agreements with the following cities:

Szczecin Szczecin Szczecin , is the capital city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in Poland. It is the country's seventh-largest city and the largest seaport in Poland on the Baltic Sea. As of June 2009 the population was 406,427.... , Poland, since 1957	Bergen, Norway, since 1965
Turku Turku Turku is a city situated on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River. It is located in the region of Finland Proper. It is believed that Turku came into existence during the end of the 13th century which makes it the oldest city in Finland... , Finland, since 1959	Varna Varna Varna is the largest city and seaside resort on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast and third-largest in Bulgaria after Sofia and Plovdiv, with a population of 334,870 inhabitants according to Census 2011... , Bulgaria, since 1966
Dunkirk, France, since 1960	Rijeka Rijeka Rijeka is the principal seaport and the third largest city in Croatia . It is located on Kvarner Bay, an inlet of the Adriatic Sea and has a population of 128,735 inhabitants... , Croatia, since 1966
Riga Riga Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 702,891 inhabitants Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe and home to more than one third of Latvia's population. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial,... , Latvia, since 1961	Bremen Bremen The City Municipality of Bremen is a Hanseatic city in northwestern Germany. A commercial and industrial city with a major port on the river Weser, Bremen is part of the Bremen-Oldenburg metropolitan area . Bremen is the second most populous city in North Germany and tenth in Germany.Bremen is... , Germany since 1987
Antwerpen, Belgium, since 1963	Dalian Dalian Dalian is a major city and seaport in the south of Liaoning province, Northeast China. It faces Shandong to the south, the Yellow Sea to the east and the Bohai Sea to the west and south. Holding sub-provincial administrative status, Dalian is the southernmost city of Northeast China and China's... , People's Republic of China since 1988
Århus, Denmark, since 1964	Raleigh Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh is the capital and the second largest city in the state of North Carolina as well as the seat of Wake County. Raleigh is known as the "City of Oaks" for its many oak trees. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city's 2010 population was 403,892, over an area of , making Raleigh... , USA, since 2001
Gothenburg Gothenburg Gothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated on the west coast of Sweden, the city proper has a population of 519,399, with 549,839 in the urban area and total of 937,015 inhabitants in the metropolitan area... , Sweden, since 1965

Moreover, Rostock is a member of the international network New Hanse

Hanseatic League

The Hanseatic League was an economic alliance of trading cities and their merchant guilds that dominated trade along the coast of Northern Europe...

Geography

Rostock is located nearly centrally on Mecklenburg-Vorpommern's Baltic Sea

Baltic Sea

coast. The city is crossed by the Warnow

Warnow

The Warnow is a river in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in Germany. It flows into the Baltic Sea near the town of Rostock, in its borough Warnemünde....

.

The seaside part of Rostock, Rostock-Warnemünde

Warnemünde

Warnemünde is a sea resort and northmost district of Rostock in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, situated on the Baltic Sea in the northeast of Germany at the estuary of the river Warnow.- History :...

, is about 16 km to the north of the historic city centre. The west and the southeast are the most densely populated parts of town. The overseas port is to the east of Rostock. Rostock stretches 21.6 kilometres from the Baltic Sea

Baltic Sea

to the south and 19.4 km from east to west.

Climate

One of the most picturesque places in Rostock is the Neuer Markt (New Market Square), with the Town Hall (originally built in the 13th century in Brick Gothic

Brick Gothic

Brick Gothic is a specific style of Gothic architecture common in Northern Europe, especially in Northern Germany and the regions around the Baltic Sea that do not have natural rock resources. The buildings are essentially built from bricks...

style, but extensively transformed in the 18th century, with the addition of a Baroque

Baroque

The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...

facade and a Banqueting Hall. The square also preserved six original, beautifully restored, gable houses from the 15th and 16th centuries. (The rest of the old houses in Hanseatic style that once bordered the square were destroyed in an Allied air-raid in 1942.)

The 15th-century Kerkhofhaus (at Große Wasserstraße, behind the Town Hall) is considered the best preserved brick Gothic house in Rostock.

St. Mary`s Church Marienkirche, on Ziegenmarkt, is an imposing Brick Gothic

Brick Gothic

church. Built in the 13th century, it was enlarged and modified at the end of the 14th century into the present cross-shaped basilica. The huge tower was not completed until the end of the 18th century. Inside there is an astronomical clock

Astronomical clock

An astronomical clock is a clock with special mechanisms and dials to display astronomical information, such as the relative positions of the sun, moon, zodiacal constellations, and sometimes major planets.-Definition:...

built in 1472 by Hans Düringer.
The main pedestrian precinct is Kröpeliner Straße, that runs east from the Neuer Markt to the 14th-century Kröpeliner Tor, a former town gate. The main buildings of Rostock University

University of Rostock

lie at Universitätsplatz, near the middle of the street, in front of the lively fountain of zest for life (Brunnen der Lebensfreude).

The Kloster St Katharinen (Convent of St. Catherine), an old Franciscan

Franciscan

Most Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....

monastery

Monastery

Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...

founded in 1243, and extended several times during the 14th and 15th centuries. Now used as the seat of the Academy of Music and Theatre (HMT-Rostock).

The Brick Gothic Nikolaikirche (St. Nicholas Church), which is the oldest church in Rostock, built in mid-13th century. Heavily damaged during World War II

World War II

and subsequently restored, the building is now used as an exhibition center and concert hall, due to its outstanding acoustics.

Some parts of the medieval city wall, with four town gates, still remain.

Warnemünde

Warnemünde is a sea resort and northmost district of Rostock in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, situated on the Baltic Sea in the northeast of Germany at the estuary of the river Warnow.- History :...

is the seaside part of Rostock and a major attraction of the city. Locals and tourists alike enjoy the maritime flair of old houses, a large beach, a lighthouse

Lighthouse Warnemünde

Lighthouse Warnemünde is a lighthouse situated on the estuary of the Warnow river in Warnemünde, a district of the city of Rostock. The lighthouse has a height of and was put into service in 1898.- Planning :...

and the old fisherman port.

Economy

The economy is strongly influenced by tourism

Tourism

Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...

, the University of Rostock

University of Rostock

and maritime industries (especially shipbuilding

Shipbuilding

Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to before recorded history.Shipbuilding and ship repairs, both...

) and the service sector. Major companies include:

Aker Warnow Werft, shipyard belonging to Aker Yards
Aker Yards
STX Europe AS, formerly Aker Yards ASA, a subsidiary of the South Korean industrial chaebol STX Corporation, is the largest shipbuilding group in Europe and the fourth largest in the world. With headquarters in Oslo, Norway, STX Europe operates 15 shipyards in Brazil, Finland, France, Norway,...
Neptun Werft
Neptun Werft
Neptun Werft is a German shipbuilding company, headquartered in Rostock. Since 1997 it has been part of the Meyer Neptun Group together with Meyer Werft in Papenburg.-History:...

, shipyard belonging to Meyer Neptun Group
Meyer Werft
The Meyer Werft is one of the remaining large German shipyards, headquartered in Papenburg. Since 1997, it has been part of the Meyer Neptun Group together with Neptun Werft in Rostock.-History:...
Deutsche Seereederei Rostock, transport, cruises, property and tourism holding
Suzlon,worlds 5th largest wind turbine manufacturers
Nordex
Nordex
Nordex is a German company that designs, sells and manufactures wind turbines. The domicile is located in the German city of Hamburg, production takes place in Rostock, China and Jonesboro, Arkansas. The company was founded in 1985 in Give, Denmark. Since then the company steadily grew...

, a major producer of wind turbine
Wind turbine
A wind turbine is a device that converts kinetic energy from the wind into mechanical energy. If the mechanical energy is used to produce electricity, the device may be called a wind generator or wind charger. If the mechanical energy is used to drive machinery, such as for grinding grain or...

s
Hanseatische Brauerei Rostock, German brewery belonging to the Oetker-Gruppe
Dr. Oetker
Dr. Oetker is a German company that produces baking powder, cake mixes, yogurts, frozen pizza and pudding.Also included in the portfolio are a maritime freight business, a bank, a publishing company, an insurance outfit, a brewery and a number of high class hotels all over...
Liebherr
Liebherr
* The Liebherr Group, a German manufacturing complex established in 1949 by Hans Liebherr* Liebherr Grazer AK* Liebherr T 282B, an off- highway, ultra class, rigid frame, two- axle, diesel/electricappointed...

, manufacturer of cranes
Caterpillar Inc.
Caterpillar Inc.
Caterpillar Inc. , also known as "CAT", designs, manufactures, markets and sells machinery and engines and sells financial products and insurance to customers via a worldwide dealer network. Caterpillar is the world's largest manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas...

, manufacturer of diesel engines for ships
IKEA
IKEA
IKEA is a privately held, international home products company that designs and sells ready-to-assemble furniture such as beds and desks, appliances and home accessories. The company is the world's largest furniture retailer...
Scandlines
Scandlines
Scandlines is a major German-Danish ferry operator.It consists of a parent company, Scandlines AG, and under this parent company a German subsidiary named Scandlines Deutschland GmbH and a Danish subsidiary named Scandlines Danmark A/S...

, German-Danish ferry operator
Inros Lackner AG, Architects, Engineers, Consulting company
Yara International
Yara International
Yara International ASA is a Norwegian-based chemical company. Its largest business area is the production of nitrogen fertilizer, however it also encompasses the production of dry ice, nitrates, ammonia, urea and other nitrogen-based chemicals....

, supplier of plant nutrients
AIDA Cruises
AIDA Cruises
AIDA Cruises is a British-American owned German cruise line based in Rostock, Germany.Originally founded as Deutsche Seereederei with a ship called Völkerfreundschaft , the company entered the cruise industry in the 1960s and was later acquired by P&O Princess Cruises PLC in 2000...

, German company for cruises

Furthermore, Rostock is the seventh-largest port of the Baltic Sea

Ports of the Baltic Sea

There are over 200 ports in the Baltic Sea. When only those ports that handle minimum of 50,000 tonnes of cargo annually, and where at least part of this cargo is international, are taken into account the number of ports reaches approximately 190. In 2008, the total amount of cargo handled in the...

, and among the largest in Germany.

Education

Rostock is home to one of the oldest universities in the world. Founded in 1419, the University of Rostock

University of Rostock

is the third oldest university in Germany in continuous operation, the second oldest in Northern Europe

Northern Europe

Northern Europe is the northern part or region of Europe. Northern Europe typically refers to the seven countries in the northern part of the European subcontinent which includes Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Finland and Sweden...

(after St Andrews

University of St Andrews

The University of St Andrews, informally referred to as "St Andrews", is the oldest university in Scotland and the third oldest in the English-speaking world after Oxford and Cambridge. The university is situated in the town of St Andrews, Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. It was founded between...

) and the oldest university in continental northern Europe. It offers graduate and postgraduate programmes in evangelical theology, philosophy and arts, natural sciences and mathematics, law, engineering and naval architecture, agriculture and environmental science, medicine, state, and political and social science, and also maintains a botanical garden

Botanical garden

A botanical garden The terms botanic and botanical, and garden or gardens are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word botanic is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is a well-tended area displaying a wide range of plants labelled with their botanical names...

(the Botanischer Garten Universität Rostock

Botanischer Garten Universität Rostock

The Botanischer Garten Universität Rostock , also known as the Botanischer Garten Rostock, is a botanical garden and arboretum maintained by the University of Rostock...

).

The Academy of Music and Theatre, Hochschule für Musik und Theater, offers graduate degrees in artistic fields. Founded in 1994, the institution combined the former drama school Ernst Busch and the outpost school of the Hanns Eisler Music School Berlin

Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler

The " in Berlin, Germany is one of the leading music conservatories in Europe. It was established in East Berlin in 1950 as the ' because the older was in West Berlin...

. Today, the school is a member of the Association of Baltic Academies of Music (ABAM), a union of 17 music conservatories at the Baltic Sea and Israel. Unique in Europe is the postgraduate degree in piano duo performance. The school possesses a large opera stage (Katharinensaal) and two chamber music halls. There are concerts every day through the whole year.

Rostock hosts also the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research

Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research

The Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research is located in Rostock, Germany. It was founded in 1996 and moved into new buildings in Rostock in 2002. It is one of approximately 80 institutes of the Max Planck Society....

, the Leibniz Institute for Catalysis as well as two branches of Fraunhofer Institutes, one for Computer Graphic and one for Large Structures in Production Technology.

Events

The city is home to the annual Hanse Sail

Hanse Sail

The Hanse Sail in Rostock is the largest maritime festival in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and one of the largest in Germany.About 250 traditional sailing ships of all types and sizes from a vast variety of countries visit the coast off the city of Rostock every year during the second weekend of August...

festival, during which many large sailing ships and museum vessels are brought out to sea, drawing over 1.5 million visitors.

There is an annual Jazz festival taking place in June called Ostsee-Jazz.

Further events include:

Kurfilmfestival FiSh
Rostocker Kulturwoche
Sommer der Kulturen
Rostocker Hafenfest
Boulevardfest
Warnemünder Woche

Museums and Zoo

Kunsthalle Rostock (art gallery)
Kulturhistorisches Museum
Dokumentations- und Gedenkstätte der Bundesbeauftragten für die Unterlagen des Staatssicherheitsdienstes der ehemaligen Deutschen Demokratischen Republik
Heimatmuseum Warnemünde
Schiffbau- und Schifffahrtsmuseum
Rostocker Zoo
Walter-Kempowski-Archiv

Music and theatre

Volkstheater Rostock
- Norddeutsche Philharmonie
- Rostocker Singakademie
Niederdeutsche Bühne Rostock
Compagnie de Comédie
Kleine Komödie Warnemünde
Mechaje
Bühne 602
Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
Ostsee Big Band (Jazz)

Sport

Club	Sport	Founded	League	Venue	Head Coach
F.C. Hansa Rostock	Football Football (soccer) Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...	1965	2. Bundesliga 2. Fußball-Bundesliga - Changes in division set-up :* Number of clubs: currently 18. From 1974 to 1981 there were two conferences, each of 20 teams. In 1981–91 it had 20...	DKB-Arena	Peter Vollmann Peter Vollmann Peter Vollmann is a German football coach and a former player who is the manager of FC Hansa Rostock.-External links:...
HC Empor Rostock	Team handball Team handball Handball is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each pass a ball to throw it into the goal of the other team...	1954	2. Bundesliga Bundesliga (handball) The Handball-Bundesliga is the top German professional handball league. The league has been sponsored by Toyota since 2007 and therefore the league is called the Toyota Handball-Bundesliga...	Rostocker Stadthalle	Maik Handschke
Piranhas Rostock Piranhas Rostock Rostock Piranhas are the male first team of the Rostocker Ice Hockey Club, based in Rostock, Germany. The team plays in the North Region of the Oberliga, the third tier of German ice hockey. The team's home ice is the Eishalle Rostock in the Schillingallee in the Kröperliner-Tor-Vorstadt area of...	Ice hockey Ice hockey Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...	1990	Oberliga Oberliga (Ice Hockey) The Oberliga is currently the third tier of ice hockey in Germany. In the 2007-08 season, the Oberliga is split in a northern and a southern group.-1948-58:... (3rd division)	Eishalle Rostock	Henry Thom

Transport

Car

Rostock can be reached by motorway (Autobahn) A 1 from Hamburg

Hamburg

-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...

via Lübeck

Lübeck

on A 20 and by A 19 from Berlin

Berlin

Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

and A 20 from Stettin in Poland.

Public transport

Rostock Hauptbahnhof

is the central railway station in the German city of Rostock. The station was first opened in 1886 by the Deutsch-Nordischer Lloyd, operating a combined railway/ferry line to Nykøbing in Denmark. In 1894, the station was renamed to Central-Bahnhof and finally to Rostock Hauptbahnhof at the turn of...

(Rostock Central Station) offers fast rail connections to Hamburg

Hamburg

and Berlin

Berlin

and from there to almost any other European city.

Within the city a wide network of tram

Tram

A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...

s, buses and ferries is available. The first privately financed tunnel in Germany crosses the Warnow

Warnow

The Warnow is a river in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in Germany. It flows into the Baltic Sea near the town of Rostock, in its borough Warnemünde....

river and thus connects the eastern part of Rostock with the western part.

Ferry / Ship

Rostock is Germany's largest Baltic port. Rostock is also home to a large ferry

Ferry

A ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...

port

Port

A port is a location on a coast or shore containing one or more harbors where ships can dock and transfer people or cargo to or from land....

. It is a main base for ferry operators Scandlines

Scandlines

Scandlines is a major German-Danish ferry operator.It consists of a parent company, Scandlines AG, and under this parent company a German subsidiary named Scandlines Deutschland GmbH and a Danish subsidiary named Scandlines Danmark A/S...

, Tallink

Tallink

Tallink is an Estonian shipping company currently operating Baltic Sea cruiseferries and ropax ships from Estonia to Finland, Estonia to Sweden, Latvia to Sweden and Finland to Germany. They also own Silja Line and a part of SeaRail...

and TT-Line

TT-Line

TT-Line is a shipping company based in Lübeck, Germany, which has been providing a ferry service between Travemünde in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Trelleborg in southern Sweden since 1962. From 1992 on, Rostock is also offered as starting harbor to Trelleborg...

, which both connect Rostock with major Scandinavian destinations. Furthermore, Rostock receives the highest numbers of cruise tourists in Germany per year.

Ferries leave for

Tallinn
Tallinn
Tallinn is the capital and largest city of Estonia. It occupies an area of with a population of 414,940. It is situated on the northern coast of the country, on the banks of the Gulf of Finland, south of Helsinki, east of Stockholm and west of Saint Petersburg. Tallinn's Old Town is in the list...

, Estonia
Helsinki
Helsinki
Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...

, Finland
Gedser
Gedser
Gedser is a town at the southern tip of the Danish island of Falster in the Guldborgsund Municipality in Sjælland region. It is the southernmost town in Denmark. The town has a population of 809...

, Denmark
Trelleborg
Trelleborg
Trelleborg is a locality and the seat of Trelleborg Municipality, Skåne County, Sweden with 25,643 inhabitants in 2005. It is the southernmost town in Sweden.-History:...

, Sweden

Plane

The nearest international airports are in Hamburg

Hamburg

and Berlin

Berlin

. There are connecting flights via Munich

Munich

Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...

to Rostock Laage Airport

Rostock Laage Airport

Rostock Airport is the regional airport of Rostock, Germany.In addition to civil activity, Jagdgeschwader 73 of the Luftwaffe is stationed on the military side of the airport.-Airlines and destinations:- Ground traffic :...

. There are also a number of airfields for smaller aircraft, e.g. Purkshof.

Notable people

This is a, naturally, incomplete list of notable people that were born, lived or contributed to the welfare of the City of Rostock:

people who studied or did research in Rostock:
- Heinrich Schliemann
  Heinrich Schliemann
  Heinrich Schliemann was a German businessman and amateur archaeologist, and an advocate of the historical reality of places mentioned in the works of Homer. Schliemann was an archaeological excavator of Troy, along with the Mycenaean sites Mycenae and Tiryns...
  
  , finished his PhD
- Albert Einstein
  Albert Einstein
  Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics and one of the most prolific intellects in human history...
  
  , received his first Doctor honoris causa
  Doctor (title)
  Doctor, as a title, originates from the Latin word of the same spelling and meaning. The word is originally an agentive noun of the Latin verb docēre . It has been used as an honored academic title for over a millennium in Europe, where it dates back to the rise of the university. This use spread...
  
  in Rostock
- Magnus Pegel
  Magnus Pegel
  Magnus Pegel was a German doctor and mathematician. Pegel was one of the first authors to write about the theory of blood transfusions.- Works :* "Disputatio de peste"...
  
  , mathematician
- Fritz Reuter
  Fritz Reuter
  Fritz Reuter was a novelist from Northern Germany who was one of the most prominent contributors to Low German literature.-Early life:...
  
  , writer
- Rudolf Steiner
  Rudolf Steiner
  Rudolf Joseph Lorenz Steiner was an Austrian philosopher, social reformer, architect, and esotericist. He gained initial recognition as a literary critic and cultural philosopher...
  
  , founder of Anthroposophy
  Anthroposophy
  Anthroposophy, a philosophy founded by Rudolf Steiner, postulates the existence of an objective, intellectually comprehensible spiritual world accessible to direct experience through inner development...
- Uwe Johnson
  Uwe Johnson
  Uwe Johnson was a German writer, editor, and scholar.- Life :Johnson was born in Kammin in Pomerania . His father was a Swedish-descent peasant from Mecklenburg and his mother was from Pommern...
  
  , writer
- Arno Esch
  Arno Esch
  Arno Esch was a German liberal politician of the late 1940s in the Soviet Occupation Zone. He was executed at the Lubyanka prison in Moscow in 1951 at the age of 23.- Biography :...
  
  , politician
Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher
Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher
Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher, Fürst von Wahlstatt , Graf , later elevated to Fürst von Wahlstatt, was a Prussian Generalfeldmarschall who led his army against Napoleon I at the Battle of the Nations at Leipzig in 1813 and at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 with the Duke of Wellington.He is...

, Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...

n Generalfeldmarschall
Generalfeldmarschall
Field Marshal or Generalfeldmarschall in German, was a rank in the armies of several German states and the Holy Roman Empire; in the Austrian Empire, the rank Feldmarschall was used...
John Brinckman, writer
Walter Kempowski
Walter Kempowski
Walter Kempowski was a German writer. Kempowski was known for his series of novels called German Chronicle and the monumental Echolot , a collage of autobiographical reports, letters and other documents by contemporary witnesses of the Second World War.-Childhood :Walter Kempowski was born in...

, writer
Ernst Heinkel
Ernst Heinkel
Dr. Ernst Heinkel was a German aircraft designer, manufacturer, Wehrwirtschaftführer in the Third Reich, and member of the Nazi party. His company Heinkel Flugzeugwerke produced the Heinkel He 178, the world's first turbojet aircraft and jet plane, and the Heinkel He 176, the first rocket aircraft...

, aviation pioneer
Walter Hallstein
Walter Hallstein
Walter Hallstein was a German politician and professor.He was one of the key figures of European integration after World War II, becoming the first President of the Commission of the European Economic Community, serving from 1958 to 1967. He famously defined his position as "a kind of Prime...

, politician
Joachim Gauck
Joachim Gauck
Joachim Gauck is a German politician, journalist and theologian. After a brief political career during Die Wende in Eastern Germany, the co-founder of the New Forum was elected member of the People's Chamber for the Alliance 90 in 1990...

, vicar, first responsible for the BStU
BStU
The Federal Commissioner for the Stasi Archives is a federal government agency of Germany that preserves and protects the archives and investigates the past crimes of the former Stasi, the secret police and intelligence organization of the communist German Democratic Republic . Since March 2011,...
Jan Ullrich
Jan Ullrich
Jan Ullrich is a German former professional road bicycle racer. In 1997, he was the first German to win the Tour de France. He went on to take five second places and a fourth in 2004 and third in 2005. He is considered one of the best time-trialists in the history of the sport...

, cyclist
Britta Kamrau
Britta Kamrau
Britta Kamrau-Corestein is a German long distance swimmer. She is a former European champion at the 5 km, 10 km and 25 km open water distances and current world champion at 25 km....

, swimmer
Paul Walden
Paul Walden
Paul Walden was a Latvian-German chemist known for his work in stereochemistry and history of chemistry. In particular he invented the stereochemical reaction known as Walden inversion and synthesized the first room-temperature ionic liquid, ethylammonium nitrate.-Early years:Walden was born in...

, scientist
André Greipel
Andre Greipel
André Greipel is a German professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam .He currently lives in Hürth, close to Cologne in Germany...

, cyclist
Paul Martens
Paul Martens
Paul Martens is a German professional road bicycle racer for .- Palmares :19992001200420052006Paul Martens is a German professional road bicycle racer for .- Palmares :1999...

, cyclist
Josie Erlach, Academic, Comedian, Lifesaver

External links

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