The university and Hanseatic city of Greifswald is a city with maritime charm close to the Bay of Greifswald (Greifswalder Bodden), between the islands of Rügen and Usedom. Alongside the Hanseatic League, the founding of the university in 1456 contributed significantly to its development and still does today. Greifswald gained worldwide fame through the paintings of Caspar David Friedrich, one of the most important painters of the Romantic period. He made the Eldena monastery ruins a central motif of his work.