Rostock would not exist without the water of the Warnow. It has been the city's indispensable lifeline for over 800 years, whether as a supplier of drinking water, as a drive for the mills on the Mühlendamm or as a transport route to the Baltic Sea and inland. The Rostock Museum of Cultural History explores the historical relationship between the city and the river.
For centuries, the Warnow determined the everyday and economic life of Rostock in many areas. Merchants, fishermen and boat carpenters worked at the harbor, while tanners, butchers and quarry fishermen worked on the tributaries of the Warnow east of the city wall. Anyone who needed water away from the river had to carry it through the streets and alleyways of the city at great expense. Fresh drinking water was particularly valuable. It was brought into the city from wells and ponds outside the city at great expense. Population growth and industrialization then presented Rostock with enormous challenges in the 19th century. The creation of a central water supply with drinking water from the Warnow was perhaps the most important step on the way to becoming a major city.
March 17 to June 16, 2024
www.kulturhistorisches-museum-rostock.de
Kingfisher, Alcedo atthis, from the exhibition "Rostock and the Warnow" © Zoological Collection of the University of Rostock
