Rostock

Travel times from Potsdam:
Train – 3 hours, 45 mins.
Car – 2 hours

After exploring the sights, tastes and history of two of its more southerly neighbors, come taste the salty air and experience the nostalgia of old-time sailboats in coastal Rostock. Once the center of the Hanseatic League, this “Gateway to the North” has preserved much of its charm from its days of booming commerce in medieval times. Rostock has kept its importance as a trade center to this day, as well as its status as a college town. Its university, founded in 1419, is the oldest in Northern Europe.

The prosperity of its maritime merchants is evidenced by the remarkable medieval and Renaissance architecture in Rostock's Old Town. There's the 1490 Hausbaumhaus, one of the few wooden structures remaining in the city. The Marienkirche (St. Mary's Church) continues to cast a dramatic shadow, but today the 355-foot steeple of the Petrikirche tops the skyline. Adjacent to the Marienkirche stands the 13th-century Rathaus, with its 18th-century baroque makeover. Traditional gabled patrician houses line Wokrenterstrasse.

Some of the original city wall still remains, especially along the parklike Wallstrasse. The lively Kröpelinerstrasse in the pedestrian zone is usually bustling with window-shoppers and friends chatting at sidewalk cafes. At its mid-way point, the Universitätsplatz (with its Fountain of Happiness) is a magnet for students, children and other young people.

Leave behind the bustle of business in Rostock for its smaller, slower neighbor, Warnemünde. Part of Rostock since 1323, this quaint town has retained the charm of the fishing village it has historically been while attracting luxury-seekers as a seaside resort today. A boat seems the most appropriate transportation to get to a town so tied to the sea, so catch one from Rostock that will follow the Warnow to its wide mouth at the Baltic. After disembarking at Warnemünde, it takes barely three minutes to walk from the boat landing to the town center, crossing the Alter Strom - the old channel where fishing boats lie tied to cleats as their crews sell from tables heaped with fish. Crossing the footbridge over the Alter Strom, visitors are rewarded with a walk through narrow alleys lined with centuries-old gabled fishermen's houses.

Built in 1897, the nearly 100-foot brick Warnemünde Lighthouse offers a superb panoramic view of the town and the harbor entrance. At its base is a plaque honoring the former coast guard station that served as “the last house until Denmark.” Walk past the Lighthouse to the Westmole, a 1,600-foot breakwater topped with a wide cement walkway. It extends out into the Baltic and provides the best vantage point for watching ships make their way to sea. A promenade also runs from the Lighthouse along the beach.

For those craving a little excursion, there’s plenty to see in Rostock’s beautiful surrounding areas. More than almost any other state, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern is studded with castles, parks and gardens well worth a detour. The decorated Basedow estate (45 miles southeast of Rostock) is the most extensive landscape garden park between the Baltic and the Müritz. The park, including royal stables and church, is largely preserved and well-kept, and a café has been opened in the former sheepfold.

Ivenack (50 miles southeast) is famous for the 1,000-year-old oaks to be found in the nearby forest. Today, on the site of a former monastery, there is an impressive architectural ensemble with a castle, chapel, royal stables, teahouse and orangery.

And if you just didn’t have time to see everything that Mecklenburg-Vorpommern has to offer, experience it all at a glance at Göldenitz "SehLand“ (6 miles south-east). The model and landscape park shows the most famous sights in mini-format: Granitz hunting lodge on the isle of Rügen, Rostock's town hall, the Warnemünde lighthouse, windmills, town gates and impressive storehouses.

This is just a sampling of sights and cities in the Historic Highlights of Germany. Find out more at www.historicgermany.com. For planning assistance, contact your travel professional.

Parts of this text originally appeared in Gemütlichkeit, the Travel Letter for Germany, Austria and Switzerland, www.gemut.com.