Early history

In the 11th century Polabian Slavs founded a settlement at the Warnow river called Roztoc (*ras-tokŭ, Slavic for "fork of a river"); the name Rostock is derived from that designation.

The Danish king Valdemar I set the town on fire in 1161. Afterwards the place was settled by German traders. Initially there were three separate cities:

• Altstadt (Old Town) around the Alter Markt (Old Market), which had St. Petri (St. Peter's Church),
• Mittelstadt (Middle Town) around the Neuer Markt (New Market), with St. Marien (St. Mary's Church) and

Confirmation of Lübeck law city rights, 1218

• Neustadt (New Town) around the Hopfenmarkt (Hop Market, now University Square), with St. Jakobi (St. James's Church, demolished after World War II).

In 1218, Rostock was granted Lübeck law city rights by Heinrich Borwin, prince of Mecklenburg.

Hanseatic League

Rostock University, the oldest university in continental northern Europe and the Baltic Sea area, founded in 1419.

During the first partition of Mecklenburg following the death of Henry Borwin II of Mecklenburg in 1226, Rostock became the seat of the Lordship of Rostock, which survived for almost a century. In 1251, the city became a member of the Hanseatic League. In the 14th century it was a powerful seaport town with 12,000 inhabitants and the largest city in Mecklenburg. Ships for cruising the Baltic Sea were constructed in Rostock. The formerly independent fishing village of Warnemünde at the Baltic Sea became a part of Rostock in 1323, to secure the city's access to the sea.

In 1419, the University of Rostock was founded, the oldest university in continental northern Europe and the Baltic Sea area.

15th to 18th centuries

Rostock in the 16th century

Rostock in the 17th century

At the end of the 15th century, the dukes of Mecklenburg succeeded in enforcing their rule over the town of Rostock, which had until then been only nominally subject to their rule and essentially independent. They took advantage of a riot known as Domfehde, a failed uprising of the impoverished population. Subsequent quarrels with the dukes and persistent plundering led ultimately to a loss of the city's economic and political power.

Rostock 1780–90

In 1565 there were further clashes with Schwerin that had far-reaching consequences. Among other things, the nobility introduced a beer excise that favoured the dukes. John Albert I advanced on the city with 500 horsemen, after Rostock had refused to take the formal oath of allegiance, and had the city wall razed (slighted) to have a fortress built. The conflict did not end until the first Rostock Inheritance Agreement of 21 September 1573, in which the state princes were guaranteed hereditary rule over the city for centuries and recognizing them as the supreme judicial authority; this bound Rostock for a long time. The citizens razed (or slighted) the fortress the following spring.

From 1575 to 1577 the city walls were rebuilt, as was the Lagebusch tower and the Stein Gate, in the Dutch Renaissance style. The inscription sit intra te concordia et publica felicitas ("You enter a state of harmony and happiness"), can still be read on the gate, and refers directly to the conflict with the Duke. In 1584 the Second Rostock Inheritance Agreement was enforced, which resulted in a further loss of former city tax privileges. At the same time, these inheritance contracts put paid to Rostock's ambition of achieving imperial immediacy, as Lübeck had done in 1226.

The strategic location of Rostock provoked the envy of its rivals. Danes and Swedes occupied the city twice, first during the Thirty Years' War (1618–48) and again from 1700 to 1721. Later in the early 19th century, the French, under Napoleon, occupied the town for about a decade until 1813. In nearby Lübeck-Ratekau, Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher, who was born in Rostock and who was one of few generals to fight on after defeat at the Battle of Jena, surrendered to the French in 1806. This was only after furious street fighting in the Battle of Lübeck, in which he led some of the cavalry charges himself. By the time of the surrender, the exhausted Prussians had neither food nor ammunition.

19th century

Colourful gabled houses of Rostock

In the first half of the 19th century, Rostock regained much of its economic importance, due at first to the wheat trade, then, from the 1850s, to industry, especially its shipyards. The first propeller-driven steamers in Germany were constructed here.

The city grew in area and population, with new quarters developing in the south and west of the ancient borders of the city. Two notable developments were added to house the increasing population at around 1900:

• Steintor-Vorstadt in the south, stretching from the old city wall to the facilities of the new Lloydbahnhof (Lloyd Railway Station, now Rostock Hauptbahnhof), was designed as a living quarter. It consisted mostly of large single houses, once inhabited by wealthy citizens.
• Kröpeliner-Tor-Vorstadt in the west, was designed to house the working population as well as to provide smaller and larger industrial facilities, such as the Mahn & Ohlerich's Brewery (now Hanseatische Brauerei Rostock). The main shipyard, Neptun, was nearby at the shore of the river.

20th century

In the 20th century, important aircraft manufacturing facilities were situated in the city, such as the Arado Flugzeugwerke in Warnemünde and the Heinkel Works with facilities at various places, including their secondary Heinkel-Süd facility in Schwechat, Austria, as the original Heinkel firm's Rostock facilities had been renamed Heinkel-Nord. The world's first airworthy jet plane prototype made its test flights at their facilities in what used to be named the Rostock-Marienehe neighborhood (today's Rostock-Schmarl community, along the west bank of the Unterwarnow estuary).

In the early 1930s, the Nazi Party gained in popularity among Rostock's voters, many of whom had suffered economic hardship during the 1920s. In elections in the summer of 1932, when the Nazis achieved 37.3 percent, their greatest national showing in a free election, they polled 40.3 percent in Rostock. A year later, after the Nazi seizure of power and the suppression of other political parties, the Rostock city council (Stadtrat) was composed entirely of Nazis. During Kristallnacht on 10 November 1938, the synagogue in Rostock's Augustenstrasse was destroyed by arson and dozens of Jews were beaten and imprisoned.

Feverish rearmament by the Nazi regime boosted Rostock's industrial importance in the late 1930s, and employment soared at the Heinkel and Arado factories, and at the Neptunwerft shipyard. The city's population grew from 100,000 in 1935 to 121,192 in 1939.

During World War II, Rostock was subjected to repeated and increasingly heavy bombing attacks, especially by the British Royal Air Force. Targets included the Heinkel and Arado plants and the shipyard, but churches and other historic structures in the city centre were also heavily damaged, among them the 14th-century Nikolaikirche (St Nicholas Church) and Jakobikirche (St Jacob's Church). The ruins of the latter were pulled down in 1960.

The city was eventually captured by the Soviet 2nd Belorussian Front on 2 May 1945 during the Stettin-Rostock offensive operation.

After the war, Rostock – now in the German Democratic Republic – became East Germany's largest seaport. The state expanded the national shipyards in the district of Warnemünde. The city's population, boosted in part by resettled ethnic German refugees who had been expelled from territories in the east, increased in the GDR years to a peak of 260,000. Following the reunification of Germany in 1990, Rostock lost its privileged position as the No. 1 port of the GDR, and the city's population declined to about 200,000. However, after 2006, the population increased again. Today, Rostock and Warnemünde are significant tourist destinations on the Baltic Sea.

Since the late 20th century migrants have come to Germany from Turkey and Africa seeking work. In response to high rates of joblessness and increased levels of crime, some Germans took part in the Rostock-Lichtenhagen riots which occurred from 22 to 24 August 1992.

• 
  Depiction of Rostock in 1845
• 
  Rostock bomb damage, 1942
• 
  City hall, Market Square after war
• 
  Rostock in 2011
• 
  The 16th-century Steintor city gate
• 
  St. Mary's Church (Marienkirche), 2011

Districts

1788 historic map of Rostock, showing earlier district names

Modern Districts of Rostock

Symbols

Coat of arms

Motto: Within your walls may be harmony and happiness (in Latin)

Rostock has had three different coats of arms, known as the Signum, the Secretum and the Sigillum. The Signum, which can be traced back to 1367, was developed last and is to this day the coat of arms of the city.

The Signum depicts a golden griffin on a blue background, with bars of silver and red, the colours of the Hanseatic League, below. It can be seen not only on flags and houses, and at bus stops, but also on bridges, gullies, fences, ships and restaurants.

Administration

Restored Rostock City Hall, a mixture of Baroque and Brick Gothic architecture.

Since the 13th century, the governing body of the city has been the city council (Rat), first consisting of ten, later of 24 elected aldermen (Ratsherren). The chairman of the city council was the city mayor. In the 19th century there were three mayors. Since 1925, the head of the city has borne the title of Lord Mayor. Having been elected by the city council for centuries, since 2002 this position is now elected directly by the citizens of Rostock, following a reform. If a candidate does not achieve an absolute majority in the first round, the two candidates with the most votes stand in a second round.

Results of the second round of the 2022 mayoral election.

The current Lord Mayor of Rostock is Eva-Maria Kröger of The Left, who was elected mayor in 2022 and took office on 1 February 2023.^[3] She won in the second round with 58.4% of votes against senior police officer Michael Ebert, an independent backed by the Christian Democratic Union, Independent Citizens for Rostock, and Free Democratic Party.^[4]

The most recent mayoral election was held on 13 November 2022, with a runoff held on 27 November, and the results were as follows:

Winning party by precinct in the 2019 city council election.

Seat distribution in the 2019 city council election.

The city parliament (Bürgerschaft) represents the citizens. Representative are elected for five years. The number of representatives is currently 53. The city parliament is presided by the Präsident der Bürgerschaft, who heads and prepares the sessions and, together with the Lord Mayor, represents the city. The most recent city council election was held on 26 May 2019, and the results were as follows:

Party		Votes	%	+/-	Seats	+/-
	The Left (Die Linke)	58,405	19.9	6.5	11	3
	Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne)	55,616	19.0	7.5	10	4
	Christian Democratic Union (CDU)	42,422	14.5	6.0	8	3
	Social Democratic Party (SPD)	42,269	14.4	2.5	8	1
	Alternative for Germany (AfD)	28,294	9.6	5.2	5	3
	Independent Citizens for Rostock (UFR)	21,483	7.3	0.8	4	±0
	Rostock Alliance (RB)	12,086	4.1	0.5	2	1
	Free Democratic Party (FDP)	9,645	3.3	0.8	2	1
	Die PARTEI (PARTEI)	7,373	2.5	New	1	New
	Free Voters (FW)	3,790	1.3	New	1	New
	New Start 09 (A'09)	2,897	1.0	0.5	1	±0
	The Grays – Gray Panthers (Graue)	1,869	0.6	0.1	0	1
	Pirate Party Germany (Piraten)	1,714	0.6	New	0	New
	National Democratic Party (NPD)	1,633	0.6	1.2	0	1
	Independents	3,779	1.3		0	±0
Valid votes		293,275	98.6
Invalid votes		4,179	1.4
Total		102,304	100.0		53	±0
Electorate/voter turnout		173,650	58.9	18.4
Source: City of Rostock

Geographical position of the Rostock Regiopolis

Regiopolis Rostock

Rostock is the first city region that defines itself not only as a city in its boundaries, but as a regiopolis, with a supra-regional sphere of influence. A regiopolis can be compared to a metropolis, but on a smaller scale. This is a sign for the inter-regional cooperation and economic dynamics that can be found in the Rostock area. A taskforce with different actors such as the hanseatic city of Rostock, the administrative district of Rostock, the Regional Planning Association Middle Mecklenburg/Rostock and the local business organisations are working on the promotion and advancement of the concept.^[5]

Geographic location

Rostock is located nearly centrally on Mecklenburg-Vorpommern's Baltic Sea coast. The city is crossed by the Warnow.

The seaside part of Rostock, Rostock-Warnemünde, is about 16 km (10 mi) to the north of the historic city centre. The west and the southeast are the most densely populated parts of town. The overseas port is to the east of Rostock. Rostock stretches 21.6 km (13.4 mi) from the Baltic Sea to the south and 19.4 km (12.1 mi) from east to west.

Climate

Rostock has an oceanic climate (Köppen: Cfb) with strong influence of the Baltic Sea, more similar to Denmark and far southern Sweden than to the rest of Germany. The main difference with lower Scandinavia is that the continuous landmass to the south and east enables stronger bursts of heat during summer. In spite of this, the Warnemünde station is generally less warm on the average summer day than on the northern side of the sea. In addition, the maritime influence of the Baltic Sea tempers any Arctic blasts, ensuring slightly milder winters. The Warnemünde station is located on the open sea and thus has a stronger maritime influence and slightly smaller variations than the downtown that is further inland.

Rostock

Panorama of Rostock from the bank of the Warnow river during the Hanse Sail

Aerial view of marina and Yacht Harbour Residence "Hohe Düne" at the Baltic Sea, close to Warnemünde.

Heiligengeisthof (Holy Spirit Courtyard).

One of the most picturesque places in Rostock is the Neuer Markt (New Market Square), with the Town Hall – that was originally built in the 13th century in Brick Gothic style, but extensively transformed in the 18th century, with the addition of a Baroque façade and a banqueting hall. The square also preserved six original, carefully restored gable houses from the 15th and 16th centuries. The other historical houses in Hanseatic style that once bordered the square were destroyed in an Allied air-raid in 1942, and rebuilt in a simplified manner.^[10]

The 15th-century Kerkhofhaus (at Große Wasserstraße, behind the Town Hall) is considered the best-preserved brick Gothic house in Rostock.

St. Mary's Church Marienkirche, on Ziegenmarkt, is an imposing Brick Gothic church. Built in the 13th century, it was enlarged and modified at the end of the 14th century into the present cross-shaped basilica. The huge tower was not completed until the end of the 18th century. Inside there is an astronomical clock erected in 1472 by Hans Düringer.

Kröpeliner Straße – main shopping street

The main pedestrian precinct is Kröpeliner Straße, which runs east from the Neuer Markt to the 14th-century Kröpeliner Tor, a former town gate. The main buildings of Rostock University lie at Universitätsplatz, near the middle of the street, in front of the lively fountain of zest for life (Brunnen der Lebensfreude), known colloquially as Pornobrunn (fountain of pornography), for its nude sculptures.

The Kloster St Katharinen (Convent of St. Catherine), is an old Franciscan monastery founded in 1243, and extended several times during the 14th and 15th centuries. Now used as the seat of the Academy of Music and Theatre (HMT-Rostock).

The Brick Gothic Nikolaikirche (St. Nicholas Church), which is the oldest church in Rostock, was built in the mid-13th century. Heavily damaged during World War II and subsequently restored, the building is now used as an exhibition centre and concert hall, due to its outstanding acoustics.

Some parts of the medieval city wall, with four city gates, have survived to the present day.

Warnemünde

Alexandrinenstraße in Warnemünde.

Speicher (office buildings) at night. Headquarters of AIDA Cruises.

Warnemünde is the seaside part of Rostock and a major attraction of the city. Locals and tourists alike enjoy the maritime flair of old houses, a large beach, a lighthouse and the old fisherman's port.

Theatre

The municipal theatre is the Volkstheater Rostock where the Norddeutsche Philharmonie Rostock plays.

Events

The city is home to the annual Hanse Sail festival, during which many large sailing ships and museum vessels are brought out to sea, drawing over 1.5 million visitors.

An annual jazz festival, Ostsee-Jazz ("Baltic Sea Jazz"), takes place in June.

Cinemas

The Lichtspieltheater Wundervoll is the art house cinema of Rostock. It opened in 1993 and offers a daily programme in two venues, the Metropol and the Frieda 23 with three cinemas. At Frieda 23 is the Institut für neue Medien (IFNM), Rostock's Institute for New Media, which includes a media workshop. Both Liwu and IFNM are active members of the Landesverband Filmkommunikation Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Special screenings for schools, educational programmes and special programmes are offered as well. It is the central venue for Rostock's Film Festival, the Festival im Stadthafen (FISH), the German Federal Festival for Young German Film.

Museums and zoo

Walter Kempowski archives

• Rostock Art Gallery (Kunsthalle Rostock)
• Museum of Cultural History (Kulturhistorisches Museum)
• Stasi Museum (Dokumentations- und Gedenkstätte der Bundesbeauftragten für die Unterlagen des Staatssicherheitsdienstes der ehemaligen Deutschen Demokratischen Republik)
• Warnemünde Local History Museum (Heimatmuseum Warnemünde)
• Shipbuilding and Shipping Museum (Schiffbau- und Schifffahrtsmuseum)
• Rostock Zoo
• Walter Kempowski Archive
• Max-Samuel-Haus, Rostock Jewish Heritage Centre

Food and drink

Rostock manufactures its own local beer, called Rostocker Pilsner, manufactured at the Hanseatische Brauerei Rostock GmbH (Rostock Hanseatic Brewery Ltd.). The beer is well known throughout the city and is also sold in cities nearby. To celebrate Rostock's 800th birthday, a special light beer called Heller Freude was brewed to commemorate the occasion.

Sport

Ostseestadion, home ground of Hansa Rostock

Rostock Seawolves huddle in April 2023.

Car

Rostock can be reached by motorway (Autobahn) A 1 from Hamburg via Lübeck on A 20 and by A 19 from Berlin and A 20 from Szczecin in Poland.

Public transport

Rostock Hauptbahnhof offers fast rail connections to Hamburg and Berlin and from there to almost any other European city.

Rostock is served by the Rostock tramway network, with six tram lines that serve the inner city as well as the suburbs. The city is also served by an extensive bus fleet, as well as a handful of ferries that cross the Warnow.

Ferry/ship

Rostock is Germany's largest Baltic port. Rostock is also home to a large ferry port. It is a main base for ferry operators Scandlines and TT-Line, which both connect Rostock with major Scandinavian destinations. Furthermore, Rostock receives the highest number of cruise tourists in Germany every year.

Ferries leave for

• Helsinki, Finland
• Gedser, Denmark
• Trelleborg, Sweden
• Nynäshamn, Sweden
• Visby, Sweden

Air

The Rostock–Laage Airport offers connections to major German and international destinations; regular flights to e.g. Munich are offered. The nearest larger international airports are in Hamburg and Berlin. There are also a number of airfields for smaller aircraft, such as Purkshof.

Public service & thinking

• Henry Borwin I, Lord of Mecklenburg (??–1227), Lord of Mecklenburg
• Carl Friedrich Behrens (1701-1750), a German sailor and soldier, landed in Easter Island
• Franz Aepinus (1724–1802), German-Russian natural philosopher.^[14]
• Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher (1742–1819), Prussian field marshal.^[15]
• Moritz Wiggers (1816–1894), politician, lawyer and notary
• Rudolph Sohm (1841–1917), jurist, Church historian and theologian
• Mathilde Mann (1859–1925), prominent German translator and editor
• Carl Brockelmann (1868–1956), semiticist and orientalist
• Hans Paasche (1881–1920), politician and pacifist
• Ernst Heinkel (1888–1958), aviation pioneer, worked in Warnemünde
• Erika Fuchs (1906–2005), translator
• Duchess Woizlawa Feodora of Mecklenburg (1918–2019), member of the House of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
• Berndt von Staden (1919–2014), diplomat, Ambassador to the United States 1973–1979
• Peter Schulz (1930–2013), politician (SPD) and first Mayor of Hamburg 1971–1974
• Klaus Kilimann (born 1938), politician (SPD), physicist and Mayor of Rostock 1990–1993
• Joachim Gauck (born 1940), politician, civil rights activist and President of Germany 2012–2017
• Heinz Eggert (born 1946), theologian and CDU politician
• Eva-Maria Kröger (born 1982), politician, Mayor of Rostock since February 2023.

Science and academia

• Simon Paulli (1603–1680), Danish physician and naturalist
• Matthias Christian Sprengel (1746–1803), geographer and historian
• Christian Martin Frähn (1782–1851), German-Russian numismatist and historian.^[16]
• Sir Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich von Mueller (1825–1896), German-Australian physician, geographer and botanist.^[17]
• Clara Wehl (1833–1901), Australian botanist.
• Johann Georg Noel Dragendorff (1836–1898), pharmacist and chemist
• Hermann von Maltzan (1843–1891), malacologist, worked in the field of conchology
• Albrecht Kossel (1853–1927), biochemist and pioneer in genetics, recipient of 1910 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for determining the chemical composition of nucleic acids
• Paul Walden (1863–1957), Latvian-German chemist, lived and worked in Rostock
• Gustav Mie (1868–1957), physicist, worked on electromagnetic waves
• Karl Leo Heinrich Lehmann (1894–1960), American art historian, archaeologist and professor
• Arthur R. von Hippel (1898–2003), German-American materials scientist and physicist
• Hans von Ohain (1911–1998), physicist and engineer, worked in Warnemünde
• Egbert Brieskorn (1936–2013), mathematician who introduced Brieskorn spheres
• Sibylle Günter (born 1964), theoretical physicist, since 2011 heads the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics

Francis Cleyn

Dörte Helm, pre-1941

The Arts

• Francis Cleyn (ca.1582 – 1658), painter and tapestry designer.^[18]
• Johann Heinrich Bartholomäus Walter (1734–1802), Baltic-German architect, worked in Tartu
• John Brinckman (1814–1870), poet and short story writer in Low German
• brothers Friedrich Eggers (1819-1872, art historian & Karl Eggers (1826–1900), lyric poet.
• Paul Tischbein (1820–1874), illustrator and painter primarily of landscapes; part of the Tischbein family
• Adolf Wilbrandt (1837–1911), a German novelist and dramatist.^[19]
• Edvard Munch (1863–1944), Norwegian painter, lived in Rostock 1907/08.^[20]
• Heinrich Tessenow (1876–1950), architect, professor and urban planner
• Paul Wallat (1879–1964), landscape artist, draftsman and sculptor
• Margarete Scheel (1881–1969), artist, specializing in sculpture and ceramics
• Bruno Gimpel, (DE Wiki) (1886–1943), painter and illustrator.
• Egon Tschirch (1889–1948), painter and illustrator.
• Dörte Helm (1898–1941), Bauhaus artist, painter and graphic designer.
• Jessie Rindom (1903–1981), a Danish film actress.
• Marianne Hoppe (1909–2002), actress
• Peter Borgelt (1927–1994), actor
• Jo Jastram (1928–2011), sculptor
• Walter Kempowski (1929–2007), writer
• Erik Smith (1931–2004), British record producer, pianist and harpsichordist.
• Mario Frank (born 1958), writer, CEO of Der Spiegel 2007/8; now a political biographer
• Franziska Knuppe (born 1974), fashion model
• Hinnerk Schönemann (born 1974), actor
• Marteria (born 1982), hip hop artist

Jan Ullrich, 2016

Sport

• Friedrich Wilhelm Rahe (1888–1949), tennis and field hockey player
• Siegfried Brietzke (born 1952), a German rower and Olympic team gold medallist
• Hansjörg Kunze (born 1959), track and field athlete, bronze medallist at the 1988 Summer Olympics
• Frank Rohde (born 1960), footballer and coach, played over 250 games and 42 for East Germany
• Martina Proeber (born 1963), diver, silver medallist at the 1980 Summer Olympics
• Christian Schenk (born 1965), decathlete, gold medallist at the 1988 Summer Olympics
• Ramona Portwich (born 1967), canoe sprinter and multiple team medallist at three Summer Olympics
• Andreas Tews (born 1968), flyweight boxer, won two medals at two Summer Olympics
• Jörn Lenz (born 1969), footballer who played over 430 games
• Jan Quast (born 1970), light flyweight boxer, bronze medallist at the 1992 Summer Olympics
• Steffen Baumgart (born 1972), football manager and former player who played 535 games
• Jan Ullrich (born 1973), cyclist, Tour de France winner, won two medals at the 2000 Summer Olympics
• Dörte Lindner (born 1974), diver, bronze medallist at the 2000 Summer Olympics
• Annika Walter (born 1975), diver silver medallist at the 1996 Summer Olympics
• Britta Kamrau (born 1979), long-distance swimmer
• André Greipel (born 1982), road bicycle racer
• Jennifer Zietz (born 1983), footballer, played 278 games and 15 for Germany women
• Hannes Ocik (born 1991), rower, three-time world champion, twice an Olympic team silver medallist