Greifswald’s position, right next to the Baltic Sea, makes it an attractive location for studying, teaching and research. It is only a stone’s throw away from the holiday islands of Rügen, Usedom and Hiddensee and beaches can be found just around the corner. Greifswald is a young town. Due to the high proportion of students in the total population, Greifswald is one of Germany’s youngest towns. The town and the landscape of Vorpommern also inspired the famous Romantic painter, Caspar David Friedrich. Theater Vorpommern, the Literature Centre in the birth house of writer Wolfgang Koeppen, the Hans Fallada House, as well as international festivals and events, such as Nordischer Klang, the polenmARkT, the Bach Week and performances as part of the Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern guarantee a rich calendar of cultural events throughout the year.