In the late 18th century, up to 70 tall ships of local shipowners were anchored in the city harbor, which sailed all the world's oceans. The son of a Volgast shipping company was Philipp Otto Runge, born in 1777, one of the most important German painters of the Romantic period. You can visit his birthplace and inside you can learn a lot about his life and his works. Up the Peen, the view falls to the Peene shipyard, where most of the ships of the naval police, naval forces and later the People's Navy were built during the GDR era. Today it belongs to the Lürssen Group and builds and repairs boats and ships of the German Navy. Wolgast also has a small island, the so-called castle island. Where a Slavic castle was located over a thousand years ago, one of the proudest palaces in Pomerania was built over the centuries by the gryphon dukes. It was destroyed in the Nordic wars in the early 18th century.

Over a reconstructed wooden swing bridge, we walk through narrow, ascending alleys to the market square and the time-honored town hall. The building shows a mixture of Gothic and Renaissance architecture. Right next to it is one of the oldest buildings in the city, which because of its strange shape is popularly called “coffee grinder” in Wolgast. The local history museum is located here today and is well worth a visit, as it contains many historical documents and visual objects on the city's history.

Wolgast is rich in revolutionary traditions. The Wolgast Slavs successfully resisted Christianization until 1128. The place was one of the last pagan strongholds in the European Middle Ages. In 1796, rough sailor's fists overthrew the pillory, dethroning the symbol of medieval jurisdiction. Wolgaster cement workers went on strike as early as 1908, making them one of the founders of the still young, growing workers' movement in Germany. In 2014, thousands of Wolgasters took to the streets and continue to fight relentlessly for the child, women and birth stations in the Wolgast district hospital. This persistent fighting spirit made headlines across Germany and the maintenance of the hospital for basic and standard care also for the island of Usedom.

The large cemetery with the Gertrude chapel is also worth seeing. In the outer corners of the city you can still find the remains of the old city wall here and there, and the remains of a powder tower can still be seen in Oberwallstraße. A new, bright and beautiful residential area has been created in the south of the city in recent decades. But one thing should not be missing, one of the gigantic drawbridges in Europe, the “Blue Wonder” from Wolgast. It is the gateway to the island of Usedom and welcomes and says goodbye to millions of tourists every year.

Text: Kai-Uwe Ottenbreit