Editing Stralsund (section)

{{short description|City in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany}}{{Not to be confused with|Strelasund}}{{Infobox German location
|type = Town
| image_skyline = {{multiple image
 | border = infobox
 | perrow = 1/3/2
 | total_width = 280
 | align = center
 | caption_align = center
 | image1 = WLM - 2020 - Stralsund - St. Nikolai Kirche.jpg
 | caption1 = Stralsund with [[Strelasund]] in the background
 | image2 = St.-Marien-Kirche (Stralsund) 2024-05-21 JM 5D412123.jpg
 | caption2 = [[St. Mary's Church, Stralsund|St Mary's Church]]
 | image3 = Nikolaikirche Stralsund zur blauen Stunde.jpg
 | caption3 = [[St. Nicholas Church, Stralsund|St Nick]]
 | image4 = Strelasundquerung-Rügenbrücke (10571951483).jpg
 | caption4 = [[Rügenbrücke]]
 | image5 = Stralsund, Rathaus und St. Nikolai.jpg
 | caption5 = [[City hall]]
 | image6 = St. Jakobi (Stralsund).jpg
 | caption6 = St James' Church
 }}
|image_flag = Flag of Stralsund.svg
|image_coa = Wappen Stralsund.svg
|coordinates = {{coord|54|18|33|N|13|04|55|E|display=inline,title}}
|image_plan =Stralsund_in_VR.svg
|plantext =
|state = Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
|district = Vorpommern-Rügen
|elevation = 13
|area = 54.14
|postal_code = 18435, 18437, 18439
|area_code = 03831
|licence = HST
|Gemeindeschlüssel = 13 0 73 088
|divisions =
|website = [http://www.stralsund.de/ www.stralsund.de]
|mayor = Alexander Badrow<ref>[https://www.laiv-mv.de/Wahlen/Kommunalwahlen/ Kommunalwahlen in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Ergebnisse der Bürgermeisterwahlen], Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Landesamt für innere Verwaltung, accessed 13 November 2022.</ref>
|leader_term       = 2022&ndash;29
|Bürgermeistertitel = Oberbürgermeister
|party = CDU
|year = 1168
}}
'''Stralsund''' ({{IPA|de|ˈʃtʁaːlzʊnt|-|De-Stralsund.ogg}}; [[Swedish language|Swedish]]: ''Strålsund''),<ref>{{cite web|title=Stralsunds, Britannica|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Stralsund|publisher=Britannica|access-date=2018-04-24}}</ref> officially the '''[[Hanseatic League|Hanseatic]] City of Stralsund''' ([[German language|German]]: ''Hansestadt Stralsund''), is the fifth-largest city in the northeastern German federal state of [[Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania]] after [[Rostock]], [[Schwerin]], [[Neubrandenburg]] and [[Greifswald]], and the second-largest city in the [[Pomerania]]n part of the state. It is located on the southern [[coast]] of the [[Strelasund]], a [[Sound (geography)|sound]] of the [[Baltic Sea]] separating the island of [[Rügen]] from the Pomeranian [[mainland]].<ref name="EBstral">''[[Britannica]] Online Encyclopedia'', "Stralsund" (city), 2007, webpage: [http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9069881/Stralsund EB-Stralsund].</ref>

The [[Strelasund Crossing]] with its two bridges and several ferry services connects Stralsund with Rügen, the largest island of Germany and Pomerania.<ref name=EBstral/> The [[Western Pomerania]]n city is the seat of the [[Vorpommern-Rügen]] district and, together with [[Greifswald]], Stralsund forms one of four high-level [[List of cities in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern|urban centres of the region]].

The city's name as well as that of the Strelasund are compounds of the [[Slavic languages|Slavic]] ([[Polabian language|Polabian]]) ''stral'' and ''strela'' ([[arrow]]; Polish: {{Lang|pl|strzała}}, Czech: {{Lang|cs|střela}}) and the [[Germanic languages|Germanic]] ''sund'', a [[strait]] or [[sound (geography)|sound]]. The [[canting arms]] of the city make reference to that etymology as well as to Stralsund's [[Hanseatic]] past in featuring a silver [[cross pattée]] (a Hanseatic Cross) above a silver arrow.

Stralsund was granted city rights in 1234 and is thus the oldest city in Pomerania. It was one of the most prosperous members of the medieval [[Hanseatic League]]. In 1628, during the [[Thirty Years' War]], the city came under [[Siege of Stralsund (1628)|Swedish]] rule and remained so until the upheavals of the [[Napoleonic Wars]]. It was the capital of [[Swedish Pomerania]] ([[New Western Pomerania]]) from 1720 to 1815. From 1815 to 1945, Stralsund was part of [[Prussia]].

Stralsund's old town is part of the [[UNESCO World Heritage Site]] "Historic Centres of Stralsund and Wismar" alongside the old town of [[Wismar]] in [[Mecklenburg]] because of its outstanding [[Brick Gothic]] buildings and its importance during the time of the [[Hanseatic League]] and when the city belonged to Sweden.<ref name = "unesco"><{{cite web |url = https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1067 |title = Historic Centres of Stralsund and Wismar |website = UNESCO World Heritage Centre |publisher = United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization |access-date = 27 August 2022}}</ref> [[St. Mary's Church, Stralsund|St Mary's Church]] has been the tallest church in the world from 1549 to 1569 and from 1573 to 1647. The city's other two large churches are [[St. Nicholas Church, Stralsund|St Nicholas']] and St James'. Stralsund is the seat of the [[German Oceanographic Museum]] (''{{Lang|de|Deutsches Meeresmuseum}}'') with its satellites [[Ozeaneum]] (in Stralsund), Nautineum (on [[Dänholm|Dänholm Island]]), and [[Darßer Ort Natureum|Natureum]] (on the [[Fischland-Darß-Zingst|Fischland-Darß-Zingst Peninsula]]).

The main industries of Stralsund are [[shipyard|shipbuilding]], fishing, [[mechanical engineering]], and, to an increasing degree, [[Tourism in Germany|tourism]], [[life sciences]], services and [[high tech]] industries, especially [[information technology]] and [[biotechnology]].