= Rostock =
The history of Rostock is marked by its geographical location at the lower Warnow near it's mouth in the Baltic sea. First mentioned in 1165 as Rozstoc it was even earlier a Slavic site of trading and integrated in the over regional sea trading network. In the 12th century a German settlement developed, which got the Lubic town privilege affirmed in 1218 and grew rapidly, so that soon there were three separate part of the town, which were joined in the years 1262 till 1265. Rostock became the center of the realm of Rostock and was member of the Hanseatic league since the middle of the 13th century. During the blooming years of the Hanseatic town, that had their climax in the 15th century, many representative mundane and church buildings in Gothic clinker style were built and 1419 the university was founded. The history of Rostock is marked by the continual with and against the Mecklenbug dukes. Mainly the economic interests of the town opposed the political and military ones of the sovereign.
Due to the downfall of the Hanseatic league, the Thearty Year war and the fire of 1677 the role of Rostock was diminished to a provincial town.
[c] Prehistory [c]
The prehistory of Mecklenburg till the middle of the first millennium is characterized by German settlements. Because of the barbaric invasion since the 6th and 7th century Slavic tribes immigrated into the south Baltic area, the site of the lower Warnow was occupied by Kessiner. On the right bank of the Warnow, between Dierkow and Gehlsdorf, for the 8th century archaeological evidence for craftsmen and trading sites were found. Besides many manual manufactured items also remains of block and basketwork houses were found, which were up to 8 meters long and similar wide. Discoveries of items from Scandinavia and the Frankish Eifel prove that the Dierkow settlement was of over regional importance as a (sea-)trading post.
[c] Slavic ducal castle and Heinrich the Loin [c]
Latest in the 12th century a Slavic ducal castle existed in the lowlands of the right Warnow bank, which belonged to the Kessine of the tribe of the Liutizen, together with an early market town. Even in the 13th century this craftsmen and trade site was called a Wendic Wik.
The earliest documented mentioning of Rostock can be found in the Icelandic Knýtlinga-Saga (around 1260) of the landing of Knut the Great (994/995–1035) near Raudstokk, which may however be the mouth of the Oder instead. The first secured report besides this is the chronicle Gesta Danorum of the Dane Saxo Grammaticus (around 1200). Other early chronicles are the Slavic chronicle of Helmold of Bosau (around 1170) and Arnold of Lübeck ( around 1210).
Saxo Grammaticus reports how in 1160 the Abodrit chieftain Niklot fell in the defense against the duke of Saxony Heinrich the Loin in the south of Rostock at the castle of Werle. Niklots sons Pribislaw and Wertislaw were intermittently exiled from the Abodrit realm. In the following year the Dane king Waldemar I., who was allied with Saxony, destroyed the Slavic ducal castle of Rostock (urbs roztoc).
In 1167 Pribislaw submitted himself to the rule of Heinrich the Loin and was enoffed with a large part of Mecklenbug but without the county of Schwerin. This way he could regain a large part of his fathers realm and he erected castles in Mecklenbug, Ilow and Rostock anew around 1170. Gradually Rostock became a second focal point of the realm of Mecklenbug besides the near situated castle of Kessin. After a companionable pilgrimage to Jerusalem of Heinrich and Pribislaw in 1172, Heinrich married one of his daughters to Pribislaw's son Borwin (1178-1227). While Pribislaw secured his reign by a high degree of far-sightedness, a conflict between his son Borwin I. and Wertislaw's son Nikolaus I. arose later on about the succession of power, which resulted in an open war. A seal of that time shows Nicolaus as chieftain of Rostock (nicolaus de roztoc), as a horsed warrior with a sword.
[c] German settlment and becoming a town [c]
After the castle of Rostock was destroyed in 1160/61 it was probably rebuild to the right of the Warnow together with the craftsmen hamlet. Also in the 12th century on the high left bank of the Warnow craftsmen and merchants have settled down from Holstein, Saxony, Westphalia, Denmark and Slavia. The settlement on the hill around the later Petri church and the Old market was the starting point of the city of Rostock. The first documented mentioning of Rostock is from the year 1189, when Nikolaus granted the monks of the monastery Doberan, founded in 1186, free custom on the market of Rostock. The mentioning of the German priest in the Clemens church indicates Christianisation of the town.
After the affirmation of the Lubic city law by Einrich Worwin I. on 24th of June 1218 the village was extended to the south with the Nikilai church as its center. In 1232 the church of Mary is for the first time mentioned in in a record as parish church of a independent settlement, which hooked up to the city in the west, on the other side of the Warnow tributary and had its own market and city hall. After a further extension to the west over the "foul pit" another natural border, around 1252 the Neustadt (new town) came about as the the forth independent settlement, with the Jakobini church as its center. In the years 1262 till 1265 the villages finally joined together. The middle core became the administrative center of the town, where the council and the court were located and the city hall was built copying from the one in Lübeck.
While the the Wendic Wik came to an end and chieftain Nikolaus the Child sold his holding to the right of the Warnow to the city in 1286, which constructed a brickyard at the abandoned castle site, the urban area grew so fast on the left bank of the Warnow further till the middle of the 13th century, so that the used space did not have to be extended until the early 19th century. Even the two town fires of 1250 and 1265 could not slow down this boom. The position of Rostock was further strengthened by the acquisition of privileges like for fishin on the lower Warnow, the purchase of the Rostock heathen, the large city forest, which covered the huge need of wood and provided a site for the extensive pig fattening of Rostock.
At the same time the city became the center of the realm of Rostock. The streetnames "Amberg" at the Petri church and "Burgwall" at the church of Mary seem to indicate that imperiously fortified mansions were constructed within the city. The Dane investiture over Mecklenbug, which Waldemar II. wrung from emperor Friedrich II. in 1214, ended in 1227 after the battle of Bornhöved and the death of Heinrich Borwin II. in 1229 the country was divided by the Mecklenburgian main land division among his sons and Heinrich Borwin III. became territorial sovereign over Rostock.
The fast rise of Rostock as the most important city in Mecklenburg coincidented with the dwindling of the land and urban power of the masters of Rostock in the 13th century, while at the same time in the German empire the power of the King during the Interregnum (1254-1273) was at a low point. The reeve lost more and more influence on the city council, which was put together from an exclusive circle of council privileged dynasties of the wealthy merchantmen. Since 1289 mayors are recorded.
While the castle walls of the ruling castles in and around Rostock were stripped down, Rostock built a seven meter high and one meter thick stone wall, which encircled and are of about one square kilometer. At a height of 3 meter it was possible to add wooden battlements. Part of the urban fortification were 22 gates, of those the Stone gate, the Kröpeliner gate, the monk gate and the cow gate are the only remaining ones today. The importance of the naval trade for Rostock can also be seen in the fact that more then half to the city gates were oriented toward the port on the Lower Warnow. 
[c] Hanseatic town [c]
With the acquisition of the seaport at Warnemünde (high dune) 1264 and the Hundbug (castle of dogs) near Schmarl 1278 Rostock reached the aim of a free access to the 12 kilometer distant Baltic sea. Already 1251 Rostock achieved the same trade privileges as Lübeck from the Dane king Abel, and before the three villages joined together as a single town, Rostock formed an alliance with Lübeck and Wismar. The Rostocker Landfrieden (treaty) in 1283 between Lübeck, Wismar, Rostock, Stralsund, Greifswald, Stettin, Demmin and Anklam against some chieftains, like the margrave of Brandenburg, marked the beginning of the Wendic quarter within the Hanseatic league.
In 1323 the efforts the buy the town (oppidum) Warnemünde completely were successfull. In 1325 the town got the coinage privilege by Heinrich II. and was intermittently member of the Wendic coin union. In 1358 Rostock gained complete jurisdictional rights. Through this Rostock was at the cusp of a free city, the last step however was never achieved. The Hanseatic town had reached the summit of its autonomy and her economical and cultural bloom, particularly at the inner urban conflicts between the census of 1314 and 1408 subsided and the dukes of Mecklenburg of the time supported the city. With about 14'000 inhabitants Rostock was surpassed in North Germany only by Lübeck, Hamburg and Bremen.
Of considerable significance for the Hanseatic trade in Rostock were the Rigafahrer (travelers to Riga) and the herring trade of the Schonenfarer on the Schonic fair on the peninsula Falsterbo in Schonen, where Rostock had its own herring market. With respect to the trade with Norway, the Wieckfarer of Rostock concentrated less on the trading office Bryggen in Bergen, as did the Bergenfahrer of Lübeck, but on the control of the offices (factories) in Oslo and Tonsberg. Great importance in the beginning had the Gorlandfahrt to Visby, less important on the other side were the connections to the trading offices in Bruges, London (Stalhof) in the West and Novgorod (Petershof) in the East. The sole product they produced themselves and exported in high quantities was beer.
On all decisive undertakings of the Hanseatic league, like the first and second  war against Denmark, Rostock partook in an important role. Occasionally the city alss acted against the  policy of the league, e.g. when they together with Wismar supported the Vitalien brothers in the capture war against Denmark due to loyality with the dukes of Mecklenburg. In 1390 both Mecklenburgian Hanseatic cities opened their ports for anyone who wanted to harm the Dane empire. In 1393 the Vitalien brothers of Rostock and Wismar under the leadership of Mecklenburgian gentry did not shy of raiding the Norwegian town of Bergen, however the Hanseatic trading offices were spared.
Among the Wendic cities, the core of the Hanseatic league, Rostock together with Straslund were the most important towns behind Lübeck. Often Hanseatic meetings (Hansetag) took place at the Warnow and councilmen of Rostock were sent on important diplomatic missions for the league. Especially the long lasting mayor Arnold Kröpelin (died in 1394) distinguished himself. Even though Rostock often had to maneuver between the interests of the Hanseatic league and considerations for the Meckleburgian noblesse, the city earned itself a leading role within the city alliance until the last Hansetag in 1669.
[c] Crises, disputes and riots [c]
Since the 13th century the social differentiation of the city caused crises and power struggle between the patrician dynasties and the rest of the town. In the 15th and 16th century there were repeated riots and revolts against the city council. Repeated demands were consolidation of the demands and rights of the citizenship in "Bürgerbriefen" and influence of the craftsmen in the composition of the council. The first printed town chronicle of Rostock by Peter Lindenberg reported at the end of the 16th century of six large riots. The weakness of the rulers of Rostock also awakened the interest of the neighboring chieftains on the blooming town.
The first inner urban riots were 1286/87, which resulted in the disposing of the usually livelong reigning councilmen and replacing them with new ones from the same circle of council privileged families. More grave were the riots of the citizenship against the council between 1298 and 1314. Due to the hostile action by the last reeve of Rostock, Nikolaus the Child, against the margrave of Brandenburg and other chieftains, the town was affected  and the infuriated citizenship ejected some councilmen. Nikolaus then was forced to put his land  under the protection and investiture of the king Erik of Denmark. The town however refused the king who tried to force his power by cutting off the access to the Baltic sea. The citizens of Rostock forced the double tower construction in Warnemünde and burned it down. From the stones of the destroyed tower of the Pertri church they constructed a huge tower themselves, which fell in 1312 after a long siege. When city council was ready to capitulate a riot, caused by the craftsmen, began. Some councilmen were killed others exiled. In this situation Heinrich II. the Loin of Mecklenburg could capture Rostock. In the same year Nikolaus the Child died and the country of Rostock went as Dane investiture to Heinrich. After the deaths of king Erick and the margrave Waldemar of Brandenburg he and his son Albrecht II. united the land Mecklenburg again and supported Rostock as its most important city.
After further riots in the years 1408/16 and 1427/39 there was the dome feud of Rostock from 1487 till 1491. Reason was the inauguration of a commonly called dome Kollegiat cloister near the Jakobi church, with which duke Magnus II. wanted to secure the financing of the university and his base of power within the city. On the day of the dedication of the church, the 12th of January 1487, the just appointed church priest Thomas Rode was brutally murdered in the open road, the present gentry had to flee the town. Only in 1491 the revolt, that was carried by the craftsmen, ended with the execution of the leader Hans Runge and three other insurgents.
[https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geschichte_Rostocks, 2015-09-15]