Wismar

Wismar's sheltered harbour opens onto a Baltic bay behind the island of Poel. The town was established in the thirteenth century in lands formerly inhabited by the Obotrites. In 1259 it joined Lübeck and Rostock in an agreement against pirates, part of the growing cooperation that gave rise to the Hanseatic League. Trade and wool processing brought prosperity, despite a plague that killed many inhabitants in 1376.

The Peace of Westphalia awarded Wismar to Sweden in 1648. Its rulers strengthened the defences, and from 1653 the Fürstenhof housed the supreme court for Sweden's possessions within the Empire. Danish forces besieged and captured the town in 1675 during the Scanian War. In 1803 Sweden transferred Wismar to Mecklenburg-Schwerin against payment, reserving a right to redeem it a century later.