Art and architecture 1850 up to 1900

Art and antiquity associations compiled museum collections in Schwerin, Güstrow, Wismar, Neubrandenburg and Rostock. In 1882 Schwerin received a museum building based on plans from Hermann Willebrand. A natural history museum was built in Waren.

Schwerin theatre remained courtly. Concerts were determined by Friedrich von Flotow. Neustrelitz also had a regional theatre. Civic theatres were built in Rostock, Wismar and Güstrow.

Choral events, Mecklenburg music festivals, balls hosted by different associations and private middle-class “social events” formed part of the leisure culture.

Architecture became more eclectic. Gotthilf Ludwig designed important buildings, including the “Ständehaus” in Rostock.

Outdoor painters founded the Schwaan artistic colony in 1880. Other painters from Mecklenburg were drawn to the colony established in Ahrenshoop.

Lakes, forests, the sea and rolling hills attract artists to the region at the end of the 19th century. They form colonies to work en plein air, among them Ahrenshoop in Fischland, which becomes a prominent hub. The islands off Western Pomerania also seek to attract artists.

Western Pomerania has three bases of the Prussian army around Stralsund, Greifswald, Demmin and Pasewalk; they are responsible for significant construction work in the new styles of architecture towards the end of the 19th century.

A gold treasure is discovered on the island of Hiddensee after a storm; it consists of 16 individual pieces that the Stralsund Museum buys between 1873 and 1874.