unsuccessfully besieged by the Danes, but finally came under Danish control in 1185 when the Pomeranian duke accepted Danish suzerainty. While the Danes lost control over most of Pomerania in 1227, Wolgast remained a Danish bridgehead until either 1241/43 or 1250. On the mainland opposite to island with the castle, a new planned town was built in the course of the Ostsiedlung. It is not known when exactly this city of Wolgast was granted German town law, though its existence is confirmed by a letter written in or before 1259. The original charter was issued by both Pomeranian dukes of the time, Wartislaw III and Barnim I, and a confirmation of the Lübeck law was issued in 1282 by duke Bogislaw IV. Wolgast was residence of the Pomeranian dukes from 1285 until the ruling House of Pomerania became extinct in 1637. Capital of Pomerania-Wolgast, a longtime inner partition of the duchy, Wolgast Castle was built as a residential palace in Renaissance style on an island hence called Castle Island. The ducal line of Pomerania-Wolgast became extinct when Philipp Julius died without issue. During the Thirty Years' War, the Swedish Empire occupied Wolgast in 1630 and kept it as a part of Swedish Pomerania until 1815. The former ducal palace decayed, and the town was burned down in 1713 by Russian forces during the Great Northern War, in retaliation for Swedish arson in Altona. Only the church, four chapels and four more buildings were spared by the fire. Most houses of the Old Town therefore date back to the 18th and 19th centuries, the townhall was renewed after the fire in baroque style. After the Swedish withdrawal from Pomerania in 1815, the city was integrated into the Prussian Province of Pomerania. Last remnants of the palace were removed in 1849. Wolgast prospered throughout the 19th century as a port for grain trade. In 1910 a Catholic Church was built for Polish workers Wolgast lost its status as a Kreis capital on 12 June 1994, when Kreis Wolgast was merged into Kreis Ostvorpommern, which became part of Vorpommern-Greifswald in 2011. Museums The town's history is presented in the Stadtgeschichtliches Museum (Towns' historical museum) in a building at the market place nicknamed Kaffeemühle (coffee grinder). The former house of painter Philipp Otto Runge is also a museum by now (Rungemuseum). Notable people Barnim VII, Duke of Pomerania (1390–1450) Duke of Pomerania Ernst Ludwig,