Hanseatic pearl of the Baltic — time-stopped medieval harbour
Wismar is one of Germany's most perfectly preserved medieval Hanseatic towns, its red-brick Gothic churches, gabled warehouses, and cobbled market square forming a UNESCO World Heritage Site alongside nearby Stralsund. The Alter Hafen (old harbour) still functions as it did centuries ago, and the ruined Gothic shell of St George's Church — bombed in WWII and left as a memorial — towers over the town. Wismar was Swedish for 150 years (1648–1803) and still has a quietly Nordic feel.
Wismar was founded in 1229 and rapidly became one of the most powerful cities of the Hanseatic League — a medieval trading alliance of Northern European cities that dominated Baltic commerce. The city was so prosperous that its St Mary's Church was the third-tallest church in the world when completed. In the Peace of Westphalia (1648) Wismar was ceded to Sweden, remaining Swedish until 1803 when it was mortgaged to Mecklenburg. UNESCO inscribed it in 2002 alongside Stralsund.