article_snippet: The sea accounts for the region's ancient wealth and the cities along the coast - Wismar, Rostock, Stralsund and Greifswald - were part of the 13th-century trading confederation, the Hanseatic League, which did business with Scandinavians and Slavs around the Baltic.
article_snippet: Two of the cities, Wismar and Stralsund, are World Heritage Sites.
article_snippet: Quietly charming: The pretty Alte Markt square in Stralsund sums up the region's appeal .
article_snippet: Forewarned of the Allied bombing, citizens of Hamburg, Berlin and Dresden fled here. '
article_snippet: British Airways (0844 493 0787, www.ba.com) flies to Hamburg from £79 return.
article_snippet: For the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival and Schloss Ulrichshusen, visit www.festspiele-mv.de/en and www.ulrichshusen.de.