If you appreciate historic places and enjoy a breezy stroll around a harbor, this tour of Stralsund is for you. The city was devastated during World War II but made a spectacular recovery, and has mostly managed to return to its former glory. This walking tour of the Old Town starts from next to Marienkirche (St. Mary’s Church) on the New Market Square (Neuer Markt), where I’ll tell you how this town got its city status in the year 1234. You’ll stroll through medieval streets and see houses that go back all the way to the 1300s, and earlier, on the way to the impressive waterfront. Here, I’ll point out gigantic warehouses that date back to the 1800s, the ultra-modern aquarium, Ozeaneum Stralsund GmbH, and the three-masted sailing ship, Gorch Fock I. You’ll also stop to take in the strait that separates the mainland from the Island of Rügen, known as the Baltic Sea Sound. After enjoying the view of the water, you’ll make our way back to the Old Town while I tell you about the city’s lost and found treasures. You’ll walk through the Old Market Square (Alter Markt) to the Rathaus Stralsund (Medieval City Hall) and end the tour close to where you started at St. Mary’s Church. Along the way, you’ll have a chance to: • Climb the tower of the Marienkirche, and enjoy a fantastic view of the Old Town • Explore the 14th-century basement of an old merchant’s house (Museumshaus) • Stumble upon a series of “stumbling stones”, put there to remind us of the victims of Nazi terror • See the old Latin school where young boys used to learn to read and write • Visit a historic department store that the Stralsund families Wertheim and Tietz started in the 1800s • Marvel at the fascinating Heilgeist Hospital where the sick, poor and old were being cared for 500 years ago • See the astronomical clock that dates back to 1394 inside St. Nicholas Church So put on your windbreaker and come along on this fascinating 75-minute tour of one of Germany’s most historic port cities.