Rostock is the largest urban center in northeastern Germany. The city stretches along both sides of the Warnow River, and the sandy beaches of the Baltic Sea are only a few kilometers away. Rostock has long been a center of academic excellence: when the University of Rostock was founded in 1419, it was the first institution of higher learning in Northern Europe.

Living where other people go on vacation

With more than 200,000 people living in an area of 180 square kilometers, Rostock is the largest city in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, one of the 16 federal states of Germany. The city stretches 20 kilometers along the banks of the Warnow River. Its location near the Baltic coast makes Rostock one of the most attractive tourist destinations in Germany. “We live where other people go on vacation” is a slogan widely heard in Rostock. Soon after its foundation in 1218, Rostock became a member of the Hanseatic League, a highly successful alliance of some of the most powerful trading cities in late medieval Europe. With the harbor only footsteps away, the whole city center exudes the charm of a Hanseatic town.

A city of researchers and students

The University of Rostock and its 15,000 students give the city a youthful and dynamic cultural life, which can be enjoyed in a wide range of bars, restaurants, movie theaters, and music clubs. The city’s research facilities are among the best in Germany. Rostock University, together with a number of Germany’s largest and most prominent institutes devoted to research in the basic and applied sciences - including the Max Planck Society, the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, and the Leibniz Association - create an interdisciplinary and international atmosphere.

Useful Links

Research Institutes in Rostock

• University of Rostock  www.uni-rostock.de
• Fraunhofer Institute for Computer Grapics Research www.igd.fraunhofer.de
• Fraunhofer Application Centre Large Structures in Production Engineering www.hro.ipa.fraunhofer.de
• Institute of Baltic Sea Fisheries www.thuenen.de/en/of/
• Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research www.io-warnemuende.de
• Leibniz Institute for Catalysis  www.catalysis.de
• Leibniz Institute of Atmospheric Physics  www.iap-kborn.de
• Leibniz Institute for Farm Animal Biology www.fbn-dummerstorf.de
• Hochschule für Musik und Theater (in German only) www.hmt-rostock.de

Additional useful information

• Rostock denkt 365 Grad – An initiative of all of the research institutes in Rostock (in German only) www.rostock365.de