GREIFSWALD, a town in the Prussian province of Pom erania, on the navigable Ryk, 3 m. from its mouth on the Baltic, and 20 m. S.E. from Stralsund by rail. Pop. (1933) 29,488. Greifs wald was founded about 124o by traders from the Netherlands. In 1250 it received a town constitution and Lubeck rights from the duke of Pomerania. In 127o it joined the Hanse towns. It remained in the possession of the Swedes after the peace of Westphalia. In 1713 it was desolated by the Russians; and it came into the possession of Prussia in 1815. The industries mainly consist of fish-curing, and the manufacture of surgical instru ments and machinery (particularly for agriculture), and the corn merce in the export of corn, wood and fish. Greifswald is how ever, best known to fame by reason of its university, which was founded during the year 1456, and famous for its faculty of medicine.