A few weeks ago we were in Greifswald, an old Hanseatic League city in the north of Germany, made famous by its university and the paintings of Casper David Friedrich. Whilst we were there, Katrin and I took a walk along the River Ryck, from our hotel in the fishing village of Wieck to the old town of Greifswald itself, and back again. The short piece that I wrote about the walk for Caught by the River was published yesterday:

“Our hotel sat right at the end of Wieck harbour, at the very point where the river Ryck empties out into the Bay of Greifswald and the Baltic Sea after its 28 kilometre journey east from its source close to the onomatopoeically-named town of Grimmen. We drove north from Berlin along the autobahn in the driving rain, aiming for this little fishing village with its neat harbour in the shadow of a hand-cranked wooden bascule bridge, to escape the post-holiday blues and explore the old Hanseatic city of Greifswald, five kilometres up stream. The next morning, after watching the small fishing boats navigate the last stretch of river and into the bay, we took our first steps along the embankment path towards the historic centre of the city, the socialist-era apartment blocks of the eastern suburbs standing gloomy in the drizzle a mile or so away…”

You can read the rest of the piece on Caught by the River, but here are some more pictures from the walk of a very beautiful and interesting corner of Germany, by Katrin Schönig:

Words: Paul Scraton
Pictures: Katrin Schönig