Stralsund: Old Town Highlights Walking Tour with St. Marienkirche

St. Mary's Church (Marienkirche) is a large Lutheran church built some time before 1298. It is architecturally Gothic, an example of the brick gothic style prevalent in northern Germany. Between 1625 and 1647, it was the tallest building in the world at 151 metres tall. The bell tower collapsed in 1382, and was rebuilt by 1478. In 1495, the steeple tower blew down during a severe storm, and was then rebuilt taller. This was subsequently struck by lightning in 1647, and burned down, and was rebuilt as a baroque dome, which, completed in 1708, can be seen today. The tower is currently 104 metres tall.

The City Hall is one of Stralsund´s oldest and most beautiful buildings in the North German Brick Gothic style. Its origins date back to the thirteenth century. The magnificent decorated facade at the northern end of the building has become one of the city´s emblems.

The centre of Stralsund has a wealth of historic buildings. Since 1990, large parts of the historic old town have been renovated with private and public capital, and with the support of foundations. As a result of the contempt for historic buildings in East Germany many houses were threatened by ruin. The Old Town in particular offers a rich variety of historic buildings, with many former merchants' houses, churches, streets and squares. Of more than 800 listed buildings in Stralsund, more than 500 are designated as individual monuments in the Old Town. In twenty years, from the Wende (turning point) in 1990 to November 2010, 588 of the more than 1,000 old buildings were completely refurbished, including 363 individual monuments.[10] Because of its historical and architectural significance, in 2002 Stralsund's old town together with the old town of Wismar were added to entitled the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage list as the "Historic Centres of Stralsund and Wismar".

Stralsund Museum of Cultural History is museum in the Hanseatic city Stralsund, Germany. It is headquartered in a former convent of the Dominicans, the St. Catherine's Monastery. Since 2015, the institution "Stralsund Museum". The Museum, which was established in 1859 as the Provincial Museum for New Pomerania and Rügen, is the oldest museum of its kind in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and presents extensive collections of folklore and cultural and art history in the region of Vorpommern. It houses both permanent exhibitions and special exhibitions on changing subject areas. The permanent exhibitions are dedicated to the prehistory and early history of the region as well as the history of the city. Special exhibitions are mainly concerned with Fine Arts.

The German Oceanographic Museum, also called the Museum for Oceanography and Fisheries, Aquarium , in the Hanseatic town of Stralsund, is a museum in which maritime and oceanographic exhibitions are displayed. It is the most visited museum in North Germany. The main house is located in the hall of the former St. Catherine's Church. The Oceanographic Museum has many exhibitions with information on fishing, the environment and marine conservation, on marine and ocean research, flora and fauna of the Baltic Sea region, and, just under 50 aquaria contain more than 600 living sea creatures, including giant tortoises and Polynesian fish.

Look at this magnificient St. Nicholas Church which is the oldest of the three major parish churches of the Hanseatic city of Stralsund in Germany. It was dedicated in 1279 to St. Nicholas of Myra, the patron saint of sailors. Since 1524 it is an Evangelical Lutheran church.

The Wulflamhaus is a 14th century town house on the Old Market in Stralsund. It can be assigned to the north German brick Gothic style and is one of the best preserved late Gothic residential buildings in northern Germany. The building was commissioned by the then city councilor and later mayor of Stralsunds Bertram Wulflam. He had this house built in front of the Stralsund town hall before 1358. What is striking is the display facade typical of North German brick Gothic, which is characterized by the elaborate pillar gable construction, which is particularly typical of Stralsund. It underwent multiple changes and was extensively reconstructed between 1988 and 1991.

The Heilgeistkirche (Church of the Holy Spirit) in the Hanseatic city of Stralsund is a 14th-century baroque brick building with three naves within the grounds of the Heilgeist Hospital near the port of the city on Strelasund, on the waterway, at the corner of the Heilgeistkirche. The church, which in its current form corresponds in substance to the last reconstruction after various destructions due to wars from the 19th century, is a short hall church with a rectangular plan. The saddle roof of the building towers over the buildings of the hospital. The church does not have a tower, but a roof rider with an open lantern was built on the gable side to the west, on the waterway. Narrow buttresses and wide pointed arch windows with triangular arch closures structure the unadorned side walls. The gable side facing the city with the main entrance has three windows, the window above the portal being raised compared to the two on the side.

The Kütertor is one of the former gates of the Hanseatic city of Stralsund ; it was one of the towers of the city fortifications of Stralsund. The Kütertor and the Kniepertor are the only remaining city gates of Stralsund. The gate was mentioned for the first time in the year 1281, but the present gate and tower were built in the year 1446. The historic old city of Stralsund was added to the Unesco world heritage list in 2002.

Founded by the Franciscans in 1254 this monastery attracts its visitors with the monastery itself, a beautiful rose garden, the chapter hall, cross-shaped vaults and a baroque library. Furthermore, the monastery buildings house a much-used municipal archive, providing a broad collection of historical documents, records, books, old pictures and prints of the town.

The Kniepertor is one of the former ten city gates of Stralsund. It is named after a 13th century civil family. Together with the Kütertor, these are the only remaining city gates in the Hanseatic city. The gate was first mentioned in 1293 and was part of the city fortifications at that time. The building is at the end of Knieperstrasse, has a width of 11.50 m, a height of 20.80 m and a depth of 8.60 m. Extensive structural changes were made to the gate in the 15th century and can still be seen in this form today. The Kniepertor is part of the preserved city fortifications and belongs to the core area of the UNESCO World Heritage Site