WOLLIN, an island belonging to Prussia, is the more easterly of the islands at the mouth of the Oder, which separate the Stettiner Haff from the Baltic Sea (vol. xvii. p. 724). It is divided from the mainland on the E. by the Dievenow, and from Usedom on the W. by the Swine. It is roughly triangular in shape, änd has an area of 90 square miles. Heath and sand alternate with swamps, lakes, and forest on its surface, which is quite flat, except towards the south-west, where the low hills of Lebbin rise. The coast is fenced with dunes and shifting sand-hills. Cattle-rearing and fishing are the chief resources of the inhabitants, who number about 14,000. Misdroy, on the north-west coast, is a favourite sea-bathing resort, and some of the other villages, as Ostswine, opposite Swinemünde, Fritter, famous for its eels, and Lebbin, are also visited in summer....
' Wollin, the only town, is situated on the Dievenow, and is connected with the mainland by three bridges. It carries on the industries of a small seaport and fishing-town, and has (1885) a population of 5241. Near the site of the present town once stood the ancient and opulent Baltic capital of the Slavs, called Wolin by the Wends, Julin by the Danes, and Wiuetha or Vineta by the Germans. Jomsburg, Hynnisborg, and Waltzborg, names or epithets occurring in several of the northern sagas, are said by Schafarik also to refer to this town. In the 10th and 11th centuries Wolin was the centre of an active and extensive trade. Adam of Bremen (d. 1076) extols its size and wealth; he mentions that “Greeks” and other foreigners frequented it, and that “Saxons” were permitted to settle there on equal terms with the Wends, so long as they did not obtrude the fact of their Christianity. In 1125, however, Wolin itself became the seat of a Christian bishopric, which was removed to Cammin in 1170. A colony of Scandinavian vikings, often mentioned in the sagas, flourished in this neighbourhood from about 970 till their stronghold of Jomsburg was destroyed in 1083 by Magnus of Norway and Denmark. In 1183 Wolin itself was burned by Canute VI. of Denmark. Within modem times Wollin was captured by the Swedish in 1630 and 1759, and by the Brandenburgers in 1659 and 1675. A tradition long reigned, though now proved to be baseless, that the Wendish Vineta had been overwhelmed by the sea, and some submarine granite blocks near Damerow, in Usedom, were popularly recognized as its rains. These are still pointed out as such to strangers.
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