60km (37 miles) E of Lübeck, 53km (33 miles) W of Rostock
Wismar was once an elegant city of the Hanseatic League, the medieval capital of Mecklenburg-West Pomerania. For long periods of its history, it was part of the overseas empire of Sweden. The city became prominent in the early 1200s because of its port. Wismar has the largest market square in Germany -- 1 hectare (2 1/2 acres) -- surrounded by elegant buildings with styles ranging from 14th-century North German Gothic to 19th-century Romanesque revival. The square's focal point, and one of the town's most frequently photographed objects, is an elaborate wrought-iron fountain imported from Holland in the early 1600s. The silent filmmaker Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau used the twisting streets of Wismar's Altstadt as the backdrop for his classic vampire film, Nosferatu.
Unfortunately, your drive into this town's charming core passes by the socialist regime's endless, unattractive concrete-sided suburbs. Once you're in the historic city center, sites to look out for include the pillared and gabled Rathaus, Markt 1, built on the town's main square in the neoclassical style in 1819. Most of the Rathaus is not open to the public, but a small-scale museum in its basement, Museum am Rathaus Keller (tel. 03841/282350), has exhibitions that celebrate the history of Wismar. Open daily from 10am to 6pm, it charges 1€ ($1.30) for adults, .50€ (65¢) for students and children 14 to 18; children under 14 enter free. A very old house on the square, Alter Schwede (The Old Swede), constructed around 1380, operates as a restaurant. The town's most famous church is St. Nikolaikirche, Hinter dem Chor (tel. 03841/210143), a Gothic brick structure whose high altar dates from 1430. It's open daily 8am to 8pm. Admission is free.
For tourist information in Wismar, contact Wismar-Informationen, Am Markt 11 (tel. 03841/2513026; www.wismar.de), open year-round daily 9am to 6pm.
