Greifswald

Greifswald (Low German: Griepswold) is officially known as Universitäts- und Hansestadt Greifswald, which means University and Hanseatic Town of Greifswald (from German Greif, "griffin", and Wald, "forest"). It is a town in northeastern Germany. The town is on the Baltic Sea, about 200 kilometres (124.3 miles) to the north of Berlin in the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The population is roughly 55,000, including about 11,500 students and some 5,000 employees of the University of Greifswald. Till September 4, 2011 Greifswald was a urban district. City council The city council is elected for five year terms. Since the last election in 2014, the 43 city council seats are allocated as follows: CDU: 11 Linke: 8 SPD: 6 Greens: 5 BG: 3 KfV: 3 AfD: 2 FDP: 2 Pirates: 2 AL: 1 Town twinning Finland, Kotka, since 1959 Poland, Goleniów, since 1986, twin town since 2006 Germany, Osnabrück, since 1988 Sweden, Lund, since 1990 Norway, Hamar, since 1997 USA, Newport News, Virginia, since 2007 Poland, Szczecin, city friendship since 1996 France, Angers, contacts since 1994 USA, College Station, contacts since 1995 Notable people from Greifswald Caspar David Friedrich, Romanticist painter Hans Fallada, author Wolfgang Koeppen, author Josef Sommer, actor Toni Kroos, Professional footballer currently playing for Bayern Munich References Other websites Media related to Greifswald at Wikimedia Commons City of Greifswald (official website) university Pomeranian State Museum, Greifswald theatre