The New International Encyclopædia/Wismar

WISMAR, vĭs'mär. A seaport of the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Germany, at the head of a bay of the same name, one of the best harbors of the Baltic, 18 miles north of Schwerin (Map: Germany, D 2), It has manufactures of tobacco, sail-cloth, machinery, paper, malt liquors, and sugar. Shipbuilding and fishing are important industries. Population, in 1900, 19,758. Wismar was the capital of Mecklenburg from 1256 to 1358 and a Hanseatic town of importance. In 1648 it passed to Sweden, and in 1803 to Mecklenburg-Sehwerin.