The Schabbellhaus is Wismar's main town history museum, housed in one of the most architecturally distinctive buildings in the old town. Built in the 1570s for the brewer Hinrich Schabbell, it is one of the finest Renaissance secular buildings in Mecklenburg, combining the Dutch Renaissance ornamental vocabulary — elaborate gables, terracotta friezes, sandstone details — with the red brick tradition of the North German coast. The building itself is a significant reason to visit, quite apart from whatever is inside.
The permanent collection covers Wismar's history from its medieval founding through the Hanseatic peak, the long Swedish period, and into the twentieth century. The Swedish connection is particularly well covered — Wismar was under Swedish crown rule from the Peace of Westphalia in 1648 until 1803, and artefacts, documents, and maps from this period give context to a chapter of German Baltic history that is often overlooked. Opening hours vary by season; check the museum website before visiting.