Greifswald - St. Marienkirche

Greifswald's foundation can be traced back to Cistercian Kloster Eldena (Eldena Monastery), to whose estate it initially belonged. Salt was produced here and so it may have been a settlement of salt workers. In June 1249, the local prince Wartislaw III received a fiefdom from the monastery over the town, which was granted the "Lübische Stadtrecht" (city rights) in 1250. In 1264 the city was allowed to build a protective wall and fortifications.

In 1278, Greifswald was first mentioned in a document as a member of the Hanseatic League. However, as early as the 14th and then in the 15th century, Greifswald's harbour no longer met the requirements of shipping traffic, as it silted up. As a result, Greifswald fell behind the other Hanseatic towns.

In 1456, Duke Wartislaw IX founded the university as the Pomeranian State University. The still existing university is the second oldest university in the Baltic region after Rostock.

The Thirty Years' War brought horrible times. The imperial troops led by notorious Wallenstein entered Greifswald in 1627 and set up a regime of terror in which the population was plundered. To repel the Swedish troops, Wallenstein had the fortifications reinforced and used the population for forced labour. A plague epidemic decimated the population to such an extent that by the end of the war only half the houses were inhabited. In 1631, King Gustav Adolf II's troops captured Greifswald after a short battle.

Pomerania was now swedish until the Congress of Vienna in 1815.
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A predeccing church is known here since 1249. The erection of the Gothic St. Marienkirche of today started around 1260, the same time, when the two other churches in Greifswald were built.

The merchants of Greifswald, namely the "Bergenfahrer" and the "Schonenfahrer" doing business with Scandinavia, used altars in the Marienkirche.

During the Thirty Years' War, the church suffered severe damage, which was met with extensions during reconstruction. These included the construction of a new tower with a tent roof.