Ystad was not mentioned in documents until 1244, in a record of King Eric's visit to the town with his brother, Abel.

After World War II, ferry services to Świnoujście Poland and to the Danish island of Bornholm were opened.

[6] In his novel Inferno (1897), August Strindberg describes Ystad like so: The little town to which I now betook myself lies in the extreme south of Sweden, on the seacoast.

[citation needed] The ferry port has services to the Danish island of Bornholm, to Sassnitz in Germany,[10] and to Świnoujście in Poland, the latter forming part of the E65 road route south from Malmö.

Until December 2017, a direct train service linked Ystad to Copenhagen via the Øresund Bridge (operated by Danish State Railways[11]).

From the steeple of the Church of the Virgin Mary the Tower Watchman (tornväktaren or lurblåsaren) sounds his horn every 15 minutes from 21:15 to 01:00 to let the people of Ystad know that the town is safe from fire and enemies.

The Tower Watchman also says a special line when sounding his horn: "The clock strikes .... (for example twelve).