Greifswald

Greifswald ()  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  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
, Kotka, since 1959
, Goleniów, since 1986, twin town since 2006
, Osnabrück, since 1988
, Lund, since 1990
, Hamar, since 1997
, Newport News, Virginia, since 2007
, Szczecin,  city friendship since 1996
, Angers,  contacts since 1994
, 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

 City of Greifswald (official website)
 university
 Pomeranian State Museum, Greifswald
 theatre