 The town's commercial traditions are evidenced by a large eighteenth-century warehouse at the mouth of the Stepenitz River.Here agricultural and other produce from the surrounding area could be gathered for onward conveyance to the great port at nearby Lübeck.More recently, as the most north westerly town in the former German Democratic Republic, Dassow found itself till 1989 at the heart of a restricted zone, accessible only to those able to obtain a special pass from the East German authorities.