WISMAR, the second commercial town and seaport of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Germany, is situated on the Bay of Wismar, one of the best harbours on the Baltic, 18 miles almost due north of Schwerin. The town is well and regularly built, with broad and straight streets, and contains numerous handsome and quaint buildings in the northern Gothic style. The church of St Mary, a Gothic edifice of 1353, with a tower 260 feet high, and the church of St Nicholas (1381-1460), with very lofty vaulting, are regarded as good examples of the influence exercised in these northern provinces by the large church of St Mary in Lübeck. The elegant cruciform church of St George dates from the 14th and 15th centuries. The Fürstenhof, at one time a ducal residence but now occupied by the municipal authorities, is a richly decorated specimen of German Renaissance. Built in 1554, it was restored in 1877-79. The “Old School,” dating from about 1300, has been restored, and is now occupied as a museum. The chief manufactures of Wismar are iron, chicory, cigars, roofing-felt, asphalt, &c. Fishing and agriculture are carried on by the inhabitants, but their main industry is connected with shipping and trade. The leading exports are grain, oil-seeds, butter, and cattle; the imports are coal, timber, iron, stoneware, and lime. The harbour is deep enough to admit vessels of 16-feet draught. In

1886 the port owned 35 ships (2 steamers), of 8302 tons burden; in 1875, however, it had 46 ships, with a total burden of 10,447 tons. The population, 6009 in 1810 and 14,462 in 1875, was 16,011 in 1885....