Rostock, Germany - A Pleasant Surprise

I'm of the opinion that one of two polar opposites of travel is to have high expectations of a place only to be disappointed upon arrival. The other is to have no or low expectations but have a delightful, memorable visit.

The latter was my experience in Rostock, Germany. Firstly, I'd never heard of Rostock (very USA centric of me, I know). And secondly, from the cruiseline description and brief research that I conducted before commencing my cruise, I was not exactly sitting on the edge of my seat in anticipation of the four hour city tour.

Well, after spending the fully allotted time in the old city, all I can say is beware of low expectations.

Rostock is is the largest city in Mecklenburg-Vorpommernn, a state in northern Germany. The city is located directly on the coast of the Baltic Sea. In its early history, this strategic location made it the envy of other nations causing it, for brief periods, to be occupied by the Danes, Swedes and French during the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries.

In the 14th century, Rostock was a powerful seaport town. With a sizable population of about 12,000 people and ready access to the open sea, Rostock's location was ideal and it became the biggest port and shipbuilding center for the former East Germany.

Heavy allied air-raid bombing during WWII destroyed much of the central part of the city. After the war, the historic center city was restored to its former glory and maybe better. Today it proudly shows off its colorful 19th century gable houses. The city has a population of about 200,000 residents.  

As a North Carolina native, I found it interesting to learn that Rostock has been a sister city to Raleigh NC since 2001. Sister Cities is an international, nonpartisan, non-profit organization that builds relationships by fostering bonds between people from different communities around the world. 

Now Rostock is becoming more interesting by the minute.

Our cruiseship, the Norwegian Star, docked at the Warnemunde Cruise Center. I learned later that more than 180 ships make a call at Warnemunde each year. This is the view that greeted me from the ship's seventh deck. I was already rethinking my initial assessment of Rostock. This may not be so bad after all.

After a short ride from the dock, we began our guided tour near one of Rostock's original gate towers. This is the 177 ft. Kropelin Gate, one of the four surviving gate towers of the original 22 that connected to the city wall and encircled and fortified the city. The lower two stories of the tower date to the mid-13^th century. The upper five stories in lighter brick were completed 100 years later. As was the custom of the Middle Ages for towers situated on the busiest entrance into the city, it is elaborately decorated as a show of prestige to visitors as well as enemies. Today the tower is a museum.

 

Rostock, like most medieval cities, enclosed the city with wall of boulders and bricks to fortify itself against external enemies. The walls were about 16  ft. high and 4 ft. thick making them virtually impenetrable. Access into the city was through one of the gate towers which in some cases was the weak points in the system. So the gates, such as the Kropelin Gate pictured above, were specifically reinforced.

That reinforcement, especially on longer sections of the wall were achieved by building projections in the wall.  Wiekhouses (lookout house) were built atop these projections. This is a sections of the wall that once held a wiekhouse.

Okay, enough about ancient walls. Rostock is also home to the University of Rostock, one of the oldest and largest universities in the world. The university was founded in 1419 on the same site that now houses the building constructed in 1867. It is associated with five Nobel Prize laureates including Albert Einstein. As a reference, Harvard University which claims to be the oldest university in the United States was founded in 1636.

Ana, our local guide, informed us that this book and others like it record the names of every student who has graduated from Rostock University during its 600 year history.

The "Joy of Life" fountain in front of the University of Rostock is considered a walk-in fountain. The sculptors says that the joy of a fountain is only realized when you walk in it. Locally, the fountain is a tribute to the rebirth of the city after WWII.

Looking in the opposite direction from the Joy of Life fountain is a pedestrian promenade with restored 19th century gabled houses. There are shops and cafes on the ground floor of most of the houses.

The brick Gothic St. Mary’s Church (Marienkirche) is one of the largest brickstone Gothic churches in the Baltic region. It was built in the 13^th century and has served as a place of worship for residents for nearly 780 years. 

The most interesting thing about the church to me and, I suppose, most tourists is not its architecture or how old it is or its two Romanesque towers. It is what’s inside.

Yes, as pictured on the left, there is the early 18^th century High Altar that was built mainly from painted wood. At the top is a depiction of “The Last Supper”; in the middle is “The Resurrection” and at the bottom is “The Effusion of the Holy Spirit”.

And on the right is the late 13^th century bronze Baptismal Font, one of the oldest pieces in the church. It is decorated with scenes from the life and passion of Jesus Christ. During WWII, it is said that the font was hidden somewhere else in the city to keep it from being melted down for war material. Look at the bottom of the picture and you see that the font is carried by four kneeling men ( Earth, Water, Air and Fire ).

On left - There is also the 5,700 pipe baroque façade organ  that has been rebuilt or modified several times. 

And the 85 ft. tall stained glass window shown on the right depicting “The Day of Judgment”. In all its glory, it is one of the largest single stained glass windows in Europe.

What really excited me was the 15^th century Astronomical Clock. It has five clockworks (mechanism with a spring and toothed gearwheels, used to drive a mechanical clock) that are wound up every day. It still has its original medieval clockwork and still functions precisely. Yes, it still tells time. And a lot more.

It shows the day of the month, the date as well as the letter of the day. The saint of the day is displayed on the circular rings of the calendar. This pictures shows that I was there on August 18th. In addition there is the time of the sun rise, the number of the year and the day of the week.

Furthermore, there is the sun circle, the Roman interest number, the time between Christmas and carnival as well as the date of Easter. A central baroque day-night-disc tells the duration of day and duration of the night based on the time of the year. The day I was there had 14 hours of daylight and 10 hours of darkness.
  

 There is a ring that shows all of the zodiac sign and a hand indicating the position of the sun in the zodiac sign. It also shows the phase of the moon. A disc on a hand indicating the hour is also an astrologic clock displaying the planets. 

There are carved religious symbols of the Evangelists including John, Matthew, Luke, Mark and Simon. Adam and Eve are both depicted along with angels. There’s lots more.

But what really piqued my interest was what happens at the top of the clock every day at noon. Watch the below video as the apostles exit in a procession from the right side of clock and are greeted by the figure of Christ the Redeemer for the daily blessing. All of the apostles are allowed to enter the gate on the left except one. Judas. Watch as the gate is slammed shut as Judas, in the green robe, approaches the entrance.