View source for Rostock

===Early history===

In the 11th century [[Polabian Slavs]] founded a settlement at the Warnow river called ''Roztoc'' (*''ras-tokŭ'', Slavic for "fork of a river", it was also preserved in the name of the [[Moscow]] district [[Rostokino District|Rostokino]]); the name Rostock is derived from that designation.

The Danish king [[Valdemar I of Denmark|Valdemar I]] set the town on fire in 1161. Afterwards the place was settled by German traders. Initially there were three separate cities:
* ''Altstadt'' (Old Town) around the ''Alter Markt'' (Old Market), which had [[St. Petrikirche, Rostock|St. Petri]] (St. Peter's Church),
* ''Mittelstadt'' (Middle Town) around the ''Neuer Markt'' (New Market), with St. Marien ([[St. Mary's Church, Rostock|St. Mary's Church]]) and
[[File:Rostocker Stadtbestätigung 1213.png|thumb|left|upright=0.8|Confirmation of [[Lübeck law]] city rights, 1218]]
* ''Neustadt'' (New Town) around the ''Hopfenmarkt'' (Hop Market, now University Square), with St. Jakobi (St. James's Church, demolished after World War II).

In 1218, Rostock was granted [[Lübeck law]] city rights by [[Henry Borwin I, Lord of Mecklenburg|Heinrich Borwin]], prince of Mecklenburg.