Rostock (redirected from Rostock, Germany)

Rostock (rôs`tôk) or Rostock-Warnemünde (–vär'nəmün`də), city (1994 pop. 237,307), Mecklenburg–West Pomerania, NE Germany, on the Baltic Sea. It is an industrial center and a major seaport, with petroleum tank installations and shipyards, as well as fish-processing and shipbuilding industries. Manufactures include diesel engines, machinery, chemicals, and furniture. There is a large fishing fleet based at Rostock. Originally a Slavic fortress, Rostock was chartered in the 13th cent. It became one of the chief members of the Hanseatic League. Its university (founded 1419) was an important center of learning for N Germany and Scandinavia. The city was heavily damaged in World War II and was rebuilt as primary ocean port of the former East Germany. Historic structures include the 13th-century Church of St. Mary and parts of the medieval city walls and gates. Gebhard von Blücher, the Prussian general, was born (1742) in Rostock.

---

Rostock

City (pop., 2002 est.: 198,964) and seaport, northeastern Germany. Located on the Warnow River, 8 mi (13 km) from the Baltic Sea, Rostock was founded in 1218 and was a powerful member of the Hanseatic League in the 14th century. Sailing ships were built in its shipyards from the medieval period until 1851, when the first German steam-propelled vessel was built there. The city was heavily damaged by Allied bombing in World War II. After the war the town centre was rebuilt, and it was developed as East Germany's principal ocean port. It is an important fishing and shipbuilding centre; diesel engines and chemical products are manufactured there.

---

Rostock

a port in NE Germany, in Mecklenburg-West Pomerania on the Warnow estuary 13 km (8 miles) from the Baltic and its outport, Warnem?nde: the chief port of the former East Germany; university (1419). Pop.: 198 303 (2003 est.)

---

Rostock 

a Bezirk (district) in the German Democratic Republic, located along the Baltic Sea, and bordering the Federal Republic of Germany and the Polish People’s Republic. Area, 7,000 km², including the island of Rügen and part of the island of Usedom. Population, 864,500 (1973), of which 73 percent is urban. The capital is the city of Rostock.

Rostock is the most economically developed and densely populated of the northern districts of the German Democratic Republic. Industry, including construction and trades, employs 35 percent (1973) of the economically active population. Agriculture and forestry account for 16.1 percent, and transportation and communications, for 11.1 percent. Commerce accounts for 12.1 percent. Rostock’s economic specialization derives from its maritime location. The manufacture of machinery, including machinery used in transport, figures prominently in the district’s industry, accounting for 43.8 percent of the gross output. This category includes the very important shipbuilding and related branches of industry. The food industry, in particular the fish industry, is also important, contributing 38.6 percent of the gross output. There are shipyards in the city of Rostock, in Rostock’s outport Warnemünde, and in Wismar and Stralsund. The cities of Rostock and Sassnitz have fish combines. A nuclear power plant near Greifswald went into partial operation in 1973.

Shipping and transport constitute major industries. The district’s seaports are Rostock, Wismar, and Stralsund. There are train ferries between Warnemünde and Gedser (Denmark) and Sassnitz and Trelleborg (Sweden). River transport is also important. There is an oil pipeline from Rostock to Schwedt. Agriculture is intensive, with animal husbandry predominating. Three-fourths of the agricultural area is under cultivation (wheat, rye, oats, barley, potatoes, sugar beets), with meadows and pasture occupying the rest. Coastal resorts make Rostock a vacation area for the German Democratic Republic.

A. I. MUKHIN

---

Rostock 

a city in the northern part of the German Democratic Republic, on the Baltic Sea, at the estuary of the Warnow River. Capital of Rostock Bezirk (District). Population, 207,300 (1973). Rostock’s port was modernized in the 1970’s; in 1973 its freight turnover was 12.5 million tons, with imports totaling 11.3 million tons and exports 1.2 million tons. Rostock is a railroad and highway junction and the starting point of the Ros-tock-Schwedt oil pipeline; it also has an airport. The city is a center of shipbuilding and ship repair (the Neptune Wharf and, in the outport at Warnemünde, the Warnow Wharf). There is a plant for the production of diesel engines, a combine for fish processing, and a number of enterprises linked to the shipyards.

The University of Rostock was founded in 1419. The city also has a technological department of shipbuilding (with an oceanography museum), an institute of fishery management, a fishing technical school, and a music conservatory.

Rostock developed from a settlement of the Polabs and a settlement of German merchants that was established nearby circa 1200. In 1218 it received the “Laws of Lübeck.” During the Middle Ages, Rostock was one of the leading cities of the Hanseatic League.

Rostock consists of the Old Town, with the Alte Markt and the brick Gothic Church of St. Nicholas (13th–15th centuries) and Church of St. Peter (early 15th century); the Middle Town, with the Neue Markt, the brick Gothic Church of St. Mary (13th–15th centuries), and town hall (c. 1500, reconstructed 1727); and the New Town. Rostock was heavily damaged during World War II (1939–45); reconstruction began in 1948. Among the new structures are the Neptune swimming pool (1950) and the Baltic Stadium (1952), both works of M. Krüger and K. Krüger. Other buildings include a fish combine (1955, W. Litzkow) and a complex of buildings on Langestrasse (1954–62, H. Düsterhöft, J. Näther).

REFERENCES

Fabian, E. Rostock. Dresden [1959].
Witt, H. Rostock: Stadtführer. Leipzig, 1973.