page_title: Wismar
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Wismar / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Wismar, 16th century, National Museum Nürnberg Deutsch: Wismar in der 2. Hälfte des 16. Jhd. Holzschnitt von Martin Weigel, Aufbewahrungsort Nationalmuseum Nürnberg
context_page_description: Wismar is a port and Hanseatic city in Northern Germany on the Baltic Sea, in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. It is located about 45 kilometres east of Lübeck and 30 kilometres north of Schwerin, and is part of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region. Its natural harbour, located in the Bay of Wismar, is protected by a promontory. The population was 42,219 in 2013. It is the capital of the district of Nordwestmecklenburg.
  Located in the historical region of Mecklenburg, Wismar was founded in the 13th century. Throughout its history, the city has been part of various German states as well as the Swedish Empire. It became part of the German Empire in 1871, though Sweden officially renounced its claims to the city only much later, in 1903. A unique representative of the Hanseatic League city type, with its Brick Gothic constructions and many patrician gable houses, Wismar has been included in the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites since 2002, together with the historical old town of Stralsund.
context_section_description: The name of the settlement was first recorded in the 12th century and is of Slavic origin. It comes from a personal Slavic name Wyszemir. Wismar was part of the Western Slavic Obotrites territory.
  Wismar received its civic rights in 1229, and came into the possession of Mecklenburg in 1301. In 1259 it had entered a pact with Lübeck and Rostock, in order to defend itself against the numerous Baltic sea pirates. This developed into the Hanseatic League. During the 13th and 14th centuries it was a flourishing Hanseatic town, with important woollen factories. Though a plague carried off  2,000 of the inhabitants in 1376, the town seems to have remained tolerably prosperous until the 16th century.
caption: Wismar in the 16th century
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