Stralsund is a town of the brick gothic, the style that I like. Well, it is quite common in Northern Europe, and I could see it already in Riga, Roskilde, Brandenburg, Stendal, Tangermunde, Brugges, even in Bavarian Landshut, etc… but the examples I found in Stralsund belong to the finest ones of the style, and Stralsund reminds me the old town of Riga.

Stralsund is perfectly preserved, so, there are 3 large brick churches (Our Lady – open for free, St Nicolas – deconsecrated museum that I refused to visit, and St Jacob – closed for renovations in time of my visit), one very representative brick Municipal Hall (a beautiful text-book structure), the brick hospital church, and numerous brick town houses, which I enjoyed maybe the most. However, my highlight was Our Lady church built in the radical gothic style that can be seen on windows on the eastern side that are virtually cut in the middle by corners, which is modern or almost timeless rather than gothic feature.

I spent a couple of days in Stralsund during my trip to Rugen Island some 5 years ago. I went by direct train from Prague, and I was not disappointed. Besides Rugen, I also went to the small island of Hiddensee by ferry, highly recommended if you are there. PHOTO – the view from the ferry towards Stralsund (St Nicola in the middle, Municipal Hall on the right, and on the left there are towers of St. Jacob and Our Lady – the higher one).

As I was satisfied by what I have seen in Stralsund, I have no urge to travel to Wismar, since I do not expect anything radically different - the brick gothic must be consumed with care to avoid an overdose...