Stralsund

The city of Stralsund on the shores of the Baltic Sea is the gateway to the island of Rügen, here located two 3-kilometer bridges. The historic center in the style of brick Gothic was partially destroyed during World War II, but was restored and is now on the UNESCO World Heritage List.


The crossing to the island of Rügen has been in this place since the end of the 12th century, therefore the appearance of the city in 1234 is natural. After the Peace of Westphalia (1648) the city belonged to Sweden. And in 1815 was transferred to Prussia.

The center is surrounded on all sides by water, which creates extremely favorable conditions for walks in the fresh air.












A beautiful barque Gorch Fock is moored in the port, it has a very interesting story. Was built in 1933, as a training ship of the German fleet. In 1945, a month before the end of the war, was sunk by Soviet tanks. In 1947, it was raised, restored, renamed to "Tovarishch" (Comrade) and transferred to the Soviet team. The ship visited many places in Europe and was transferred to the Kherson Naval School. Students of Kherson and Odessa visited on it almost every corner of the world.

In 1993, the ship needed the first major repairs, which were carried out in the UK. Unfortunately, the repair cost of 2 million pounds was to high for the Ministry of Education of Ukraine and the sailboat had to be mothballed. The team went home, only 11 people remained. They were supported for several years by a German charity foundation.

In 1999 - 2003, the "Tovarishch" was repaired by the Germans and became the flagship during the world exhibition Expo 2000, which was held in Hanover.

Charitable foundation Tall-Ship Friends managed to negotiate with the Stralsund City Hall and the Ministry of Education of Ukraine on the purchase of a sailing boat for 500 thousand euros. The money was collected as voluntary donations. Since 2004, the sailboat has been working as a museum and got the historic name Gorch Fock.

During it's stay in Ukraine, "Tovarishch" participated in the filming of dozens of films. On the Internet you can find information that it was a famous sailing ship from the "Scarlet Sails" (video). It was actually used in the film, but another training ship from Rostov played a role of the sailboat with scarlet sails.


Aquarium on the waterfront


Remains of the fortress wall




The port has a typical architecture and many art objects. It is more a big public space.




Getting there: covered parking in the center is here N 54 19.021 E 13 05.613 and here N 54 18.804 E 13 05.963. The Stralsund Hbf train station is located near the historic center, use bahn.de.