Wismar, a Baltic Sea port, flourishes during the 18th and 19th centuries as part of the Hanseatic League. With a size of 10,000 square meters, Am Markt, the city’s main square, is one of the largest and most beautiful in northern Germany. The buildings show a wide variety of styles, from 14th century red brick houses – typical for the late northern Gothic – to the neoclassical façades or the early 20th century Art Nouveau. The central point of the square is Wasserkunst, a fountain with a rich metal decoration brought from the Netherlands in 1602. The viewer may also be impressed by one of the red brick patrician houses, called Alter Schwede, which dates from 1380 and is one of the oldest of its kind.
