2014 is the year that I discovered the north of Germany, with beautiful places like Wismar, Schwerin and Ludwigslust. In the beginning of our big summer trip Lars and I added Rügen to this list.
Rügen is the biggest German island, connected to the mainland by a dam. Its beauty is the variety of landscapes; cliffs, sandy beaches, hills, forests and cozy towns. We arrived on the island very early in the morning and started our exploration in Kap Arkona. The German word “kap” means cape and this one is almost 50 meters high. Unfortunately, it was very cloudy, so our view was quite limited.
And off we went to Binz, known for its magnificent beaches. Lars and I were hoping for some sunshine, but instead we got very strong winds and a little bit of rain.
Our next destination was the one that we – history lovers – were looking most forward to: Prora.
Prora is a beach resort on the island of Rügen, Germany, known especially for its colossal Nazi-planned tourist structures. The massive building complex was built between 1936 and 1939 as a Strength Through Joy (Kraft durch Freude or KdF) project. The eight buildings are identical, and although they were planned as a holiday resort, they were never used for this purpose. The complex has a formal heritage listing as a particularly striking example of Third Reich architecture. (source: Wikipedia)
Not only are the buildings identical, they are also ugly! Anyway, some of the buildings now serve as a museum and another one as a youth hostel.
And last but not least: Putbus. What an elegant town with its Neo-Classical buildings!
Lars and I were very keen on exploring more on Rügen, but heavy rains prevented us from doing this. Nevertheless we considered our short visit to be an excellent start of our big summer trip! With high hopes we continued our trip to Poland.
