The Swedish heads are the landmarks of the city and remind of the time when Wismar was Swedish occupied.
The Swedish heads are two Hercules busts in baroque painting in front of the tree house in the Old Harbor. The originals once stood on dolphins in the harbor entrance at the height of Wendorf. After a Finnish lighter damaged the heads in 1902, they were recast true to the original and put back in place a year later. The origin and meaning of the Swedish heads cannot be clearly proven. It could be proved that in 1672 a pole, namely the outermost one of the harbor boundary, was called "Swede" and that at the beginning of the 19th century the two heads had been put on to commemorate the time of the Swedes. In all probability, the two originals were rudder heads and once belonged to the plastic stern decoration of a ship.
