The spires of St. Nicholas' and St. Mary's church dominate the skyline of Wismar, the only Hanseatic town of this size on the southern Baltic to have been preserved virtually intact. Along with Stralsund, Wismar has been listed by UNESCO as a World Cultural Heritage site. Both towns represent the heyday of the Hanseatic League in the 14th century.

Stralsund, once one of the foremost Hanseatic towns in the Baltic region, is a gem of brick-built architecture with its churches of St. Nicholas and St. Mary, Holy Spirit Abbey and town houses. In addition to Lübeck, Stralsund was the most important town in the whole Baltic region in the 14th century and it was chosen as the location for the peace negotiations (the Stralsunder Friede) with Denmark in 1370. The town's ornate merchants' houses and historical town hall stand as reminders of this time.