ROSTOCK tourist attractions

Rostock is a port city on the Baltic Sea, whose history has almost one and a half millennia. Despite the destruction of World War II, it boasts a large fragment of the Old Town surrounded by defensive walls.

The first stronghold at the mouth of the Warnow River to the Baltic Sea was founded by Obodrites, a group of the Slavs of Elbe, and its name comes from the word "Roztok", which means a wide, spreading river mouth. The Obodryt family collapsed in the 12th century after the Danish invasions, and German merchants established a trading plant in the former stronghold. It obtained city rights fairly quickly, and thanks to its connections with Lübeck became an important seaport and one of the pillars of the emerging Hanza.

The golden age for Rostock lasted until the Thirty Years War, when the city was severely plundered. The revival took place in the nineteenth century due to the establishment of significant industrial factories, which in the interwar period worked for the army. This include for this reason and because of the local port Rostock became the target of several Allied raids, which caused very large damage. The reconstruction of the historic center lasted several decades.

Despite the devastating airstrikes, you can still see a lot of historic buildings in Rostock. The preserved fragments of the city walls are over a kilometer long and include, in addition to the walls, the Kröpeliner Gate, Kuh Gate, Stone Gate and several bastions.

Inside the walls is the Gothic St. Mary's Church, in which you can see the astronomical clock, the Holy Cross Monastery today housed the Rostock Culture Museum, two markets, the Old and the New with the town hall and a lot of nice tenements.

As a city by the sea, Rostock also has its district-resort. It is Warnemünde with a sandy beach, lighthouse, West Pier, Heimat Museum and nice spa buildings from the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. A popular attraction of Rostock is also the Zoo in which Darwineum is located. The place willingly chosen for walks is the Rose Garden and Iga Park.