The name of the settlement was first recorded in the 12th century as Visemer, Wismar (1147, 1167), Wyssemaria (1229)
and is probably of Slavic origin although finally disputed. Wismar could have the same
Old Saxon origin like the German city Weimar.
Wismar was part of the Western Slavic
Obotrites' territory. The exact date of the city's foundation is not clear. In the oldest existing document of Wismar from 1229, its civic rights are already established. In 1301 Wismar came under the rule of the
House of Mecklenburg. In 1259 Wismar joined a defensive agreement with Lübeck and
Rostock, in order to effectively counter the numerous Baltic pirates. Subsequently more cities of the northern
Holy Roman Empire would agree to cooperate as commerce and trade was increasingly coordinated and regulated. These policies would provide the basis for the development of the
Hanseatic League. By the 13th and 14th centuries Wismar had grown into a flourishing Hanseatic trading hub and an important center of wool processing. Although around 2,000 of its inhabitants perished during the plague of 1376, the town remained reasonably prosperous until the 16th century.
Under Swedish rule With the
Peace of Westphalia of 1648 Wismar came under the territorial control of
Sweden. Through the acquisition of Wismar and other
dominions in the
Holy Roman Empire, the
Kings of Sweden in their role as
imperial princes were entitled to a seat in the
Imperial Diet. Wismar became administrative center of Wismar town and the districts of Pod and
Neukloster, and after 1653 the
Fürstenhof (prince's court) served as the seat of the supreme court for all Swedish dominions in the Holy Roman Empire. Wismar's fortifications were extended into an effective all-round defence system under the supervision of Field Marshal
Erik Dahlbergh. Remains of these fortifications have been preserved, among other places, in the ‘Lindengarten' to the east of the wall of the old city. During the
Scanian War, the town was besieged and captured by
Danish forces in 1675. In 1803, Sweden ceded both the town and lordship to the
Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin for 1,258,000
Riksdalers, but reserved the right of redemption after 100 years. In view of this contingent right of Sweden, Wismar was not represented at the
diet of
Mecklenburg-Schwerin until 1897. In 1903, Sweden finally renounced its claims to the town. Wismar still retains a few relics of its old privileges, including the right to fly its own flag.
20th century By the end of the 19th century Wismar's most important manufacturing branches were the production of iron and steel, roofing-felt, asphalt, paper and machine industry. International sea trade took place at the local harbour, which was deep enough to admit vessels of up to draught at its quays. Exports included grains, oil-seeds and butter as coal, timber and iron were imported. On 14 May 1881
Rudolph Karstadt opened his first shop (
Tuch-, Manufaktur- und Konfektionsgeschäft) of the now well established department store chain
Karstadt in Wismar. During
World War II, it was the location of a
forced labour subcamp of the Nazi prison in
Bützow-Dreibergen. Wismar was heavily bombed and destroyed by
Allied air raids. As the
line of contact between Soviet and other Allied armies formed in Europe at the end of the war, Wismar was captured by the British
6th Airborne Division's
1st Canadian Parachute Battalion on 2 May 1945,
James Hill commanding, in accordance with Operation Eclipse. On 7 May 1945 British Field Marshal
Montgomery and Soviet Marshal
Konstantin Rokossovsky met in Wismar. In accord with the
Occupation Zone Agreements of the
Yalta Conference Wismar became a part of the
Soviet Occupation Zone of Germany on 1 July 1945, as British troops retreated and Soviet troops took control over the area. During the 1949 to 1990 era of the
German Democratic Republic, Wismar became East Germany's second-largest port, after
Rostock and developed a shipbuilding industry. Although the GDR government had pledged to restore the local churches and historic sites that had been heavily bombed during the war, this commitment was for the most part not fulfilled. After German reunification in 1990, churches and all historic buildings in the city's town center were restored, and the old towns of Wismar and
Stralsund ( to the east), were listed as UNESCO
World Heritage Sites. In 2011, Wismar became the capital of the
district of
Nordwestmecklenburg. ==Mayors and Lord Mayors==