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Introducing Rostock
First impressions count and unfortunately Rostock doesn’t always make a good one. There is a small but very attractive historic core – red-brick and pastel-coloured buildings harking back to the 14th and 15th century Hanseatic era – but you generally have to wade past a gritty landscape of concrete and industrial eyesores to get to it. As a major port and shipbuilding centre, the city was devastated in WWII and later pummelled by socialist architectural ‘ideals’. It is, as someone who knows both cities well remarked to us dryly, ‘not to be compared with Hamburg’.
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However, the largest city in northeastern Germany does have several winning cards up its sleeves. Its seaside suburb of Warnemünde is really quite stunning, Rostock’s nightlife is the best north of Berlin and the city is a good base for several day trips. Most of all, things are getting better all the time, as buildings and streets are continually refurbished, and the city’s venerable university helps biotech replace its uncompetitive shipyards.
Last updated: Feb 17, 2009
