page_title: Greifswald
section_title: 1631/48—1815: Sweden
hierarchical_section_title: Greifswald / History / 1631/48—1815: Sweden
caption_attribution_description: Map showing the Greifswalder Bodden on Germany's Baltic coast. This map's source is here, with the uploader's modifications, and the GMT homepage says that the tools are released under the GNU General Public License.
context_page_description: Greifswald, officially the University and Hanseatic City of Greifswald is a city in northeastern Germany.
  It is situated in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, at an equal distance of about 250 kilometres from Germany's two largest cities, Berlin and Hamburg, and 80 km from the Polish border. The city belongs to Western Pomerania and flanks the Baltic Sea, and is crossed by a small river, the Ryck.
  It is also located near Germany's two largest islands, Rügen and Usedom, and it is close to three of Germany's 14 national parks. It has been the capital of the newly established district of Vorpommern-Greifswald since the September 2011 district reforms. Together with Stralsund, Greifswald forms one of four urban centers of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.
  The city's population was listed at 55,659 in 2013, including many of the 12,500 students and 5,000 employees of the University of Greifswald. Greifswald draws international attention due to the university, its surrounding BioCon Valley, the Nord Stream gas pipeline and the Wendelstein 7-X nuclear fusion projects.
context_section_description: During the Thirty Years' War, Swedish forces entered the Duchy of Pomerania in 1630. Greifswald was besieged by Swedish troops on 12 June 1631 and surrendered on 16 June. Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden had returned from Brandenburg to supervise the siege, and upon his arrival received the university's homage for the liberation from Catholic forces. After the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648), Greifswald and the region surrounding it became part of the Kingdom of Sweden. Swedish Pomerania, as it was then called, remained part of the Swedish kingdom until 1815, when it became part of the Kingdom of Prussia as the Province of Pomerania. In 1871, it devolved to Germany.
  The Thirty Years' War had caused starvation throughout Germany, and by 1630 Greifswald's population had shrunk by two-thirds. Many buildings were left vacant and fell into decay. Soon, other wars followed: the Swedish-Polish War and the Swedish-Brandenburg War both involved the nominally Swedish town of Greifswald. In 1659 and 1678, Brandenburgian troops bombarded the town. The first bombardment hit mainly the northeast part of town, wrecking 16 houses. The second bombardment leveled 30 houses and damaged hundreds more all over the city. Cannonballs of this second bombardment can still be seen in the walls of St Mary's Church.
  During the Great Northern War (1700–1721, Greifswald was compelled to house soldiers. While besieging neighboring Stralsund, Russian tsar Peter the Great allied with George I of Great Britain in the Treaty of Greifswald. Large fires in 1713 and 1736 destroyed houses and other buildings, including City Hall. The Swedish government had issued decrees in 1669 and 1689 absolving anyone of taxes who built or rebuilt a house. These decrees remained essentially in force, under Prussian administration, until 1824.
  In 1763, Greifswald Botanic Garden was founded.
caption: Bay of Greifswald
exif: {}