Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-06-13
CITY THAT'S IN HOOK
A German Seaport That
Belongs to Sweden.
PAY DAY Is THIS MONTH
HAS BEEN IN PAWN FOR THE
LAST HUNDRED YEARS.
Contract Can Be Renewed for Another
Century If Germany
Wills.
PAY DAY rs THIS MONTH

Written for The Evening Star.
On June 26 the strangest pledge that
pawnbroker ever took in the world will
have to be returned to its owner, II that
owner can pay the loan.
The pledge Is big seaport. 1t Is the city
of Wismar, on the German coast of the
Baltic sea, and once powerful member
of the great Hanseatic League. The owner
who pawned it is Sweden and the pawn
broker Is the duchy of Mecklenburg.
That big city on German territory. not
fifty miles away from the great imperial
naval port of Kiel, really belongs, without
question, to another nation. is one Of the
romances of everyday history which are
forever cropping out all over the world.
The pledging Of Wismar, while it hap
pened only a hundred years ago. really
was directly due to the changing fortunes
of the thirty years war. If there should
be any diplomatic squabbles over the mat
ter now treaties and protocols OF sur
renders and armistices dating back to the
years between 1913 to 164S would have
to be dragged in court. Another EXHIBIT
would be the story of the fitting by king
of the daughter of a duke.
The fact that Wismar really is a Swedish
possession explains what has been mys-
terry for many years-the neglect OF the
German empire to fortify this port, which
is considered as being the finest harbor site
of the entire Baltic coast.
Wismar was pawned to the duchy OF
Mecklenburg on June rs, 1903, as security
for loan of 1.25S,0O0 reichsthaler. With
Wismar, Sweden also pledged the govern
in German territory.
Why It is Unfortifed.
Under treaty between Sweden and Den
mark it had been provided that Wismar
should not be fortified, and when the duchy
Of Mecklenburg took over the city 1t had to
obey the provisions made with Sweden.
Hence Mecklenburg was bound to build no
Notifications to make Wismar a great port
as 1t once had been, and also to permit no
great power to utilize it for any war pur-
poses.
If it had not been for this fact. Germany
would no doubt, have made mighty naval
station out Of Wismar long ago.
Under the conditions of the loan the city
of Wismar and the two government dis
tricts were to remain in pledge for one hun
dred years
At the end Of the one hundred years
Sweden could claim and obtain the pledged
city and land by paying back the original
loan with per cent compound interest. A
further provision, however, Of the loan is
that should Sweden fail to take any notice
whatever of the expiration Of the time the
cally for another hundred years.
The sum which Sweden would have to pay
on June 26 If she wished to claim Wismar
and the two government districts is figured
as amounting to twenty-seven million dol
lars. and this alone, quite apart from con-
siderations of policy, is expected to operate
as a bar against the assertion of her rights
Still, 1t Is going to be Germany's part to
make sure that there Is no renewal of the
pact through Sweden's simple expedient of
keeping silent. And already Germany is
sending out semi official utterances regard
ing the value to Sweden Of Germany's
friendship In the face of the growing ap-
proaches on Swedish territory by Russia.
as evidenced by the recent destruction of
Finnish autonomy and independence.
The Story of the Pledging.
The immediate story of how Wismar was
pawned dates back to the beginning of the
eighteenth century, when Denmark, the
most powerful enemy of Sweden, after the
destruction of the old Hanseatic league,
became weary of being threatened with this
powerful Swedish stronghold and took 1t
after fierce fighting. Almost as soon as it
was conquered the Danes RACED the mighty
Notifications and subsequently, when peace
was declared and Wismar reverted to Swe-
den, clause In the peace protocol was
forced by the Danes prohibiting the SwedeS
from erecting new Notifications.
This converted Wismar from an element
of strength into one of weakness for the
Swedes. Robbed of its usefulness as a
bulwark and base of military operations,
Wismar at once became a source of ex-
penSe instead of the source Of rich income
that it had been.
Its fine port became valueless to the
Swedes. In addition, the continuous fights
for it's possession and the wars which had
made it a center of battles had ruined its
great sea trade. Its waters were thronged
no more with ships from the orient, from
the Mediterranean or from the golden
Americas. Even its inland trade was de-
stroyed, for the Duchy of Mecklenburg
erected the barriers of prohibitive inland
duties against 1T.
Under these circumstances 1t was not sur
prising that the Swedes tired at last OF
their white elephant of a possession in the
land of the enemy. So, in the reign of the
incompetent and extravagant Gustavus
~, with territory lost to the French in one
war, with Finland lost to Russia, with de-
feat in a war against Norway the Swedes
seized an opportunity to relieve them
selves of the burden Of possession.
The direct opportunity was given by the
cancellation by Gustavus of his engage
ment to the daughter Of Duke Frederick
Franz I. That person not unnaturally re-
scented the insult and threatened dire
things. Finally his threats crystallized
into a demand for an enormous indemnity.
The money had to be raised at once. The
duchy of Mecklenburg advanced 1258 600
reichsthaler and took Wismar, Neukloster
and the island of Peel In pledge for one
hundred years.
"Wismar the Useful"
"wismar the Useful" was what the city
was called In the old days Of its world
glory. when Lubbock was the chief of the
Hanseatic league and Bremen, Hamburg,
Lueneberg and Wismar formed the mighty
bund that not only fitted out fleets and
armies on irs own account, but often dc