Heiligendamm


The ‘white town on the sea’ is Germany’s oldest seaside resort, founded in 1793 by Mecklenburg duke Friedrich Franz I, and was fashionable throughout the 19th century as a playground of the nobility. You can't miss the five gleaming white, heritage-listed buildings of the Grand Hotel Heiligendamm perched nearly on the beach. Sunshine is possible; warm weather is rare.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby attractions

1. Münster Bad Doberan

3.72 MILES

The former summer ducal residence of Bad Doberan, about 15km west of Rostock, was once the site of a powerful Cistercian monastery. Construction of this…

2. Kühlungsborn

4.06 MILES

Kühlungsborn, the biggest Baltic Sea resort, with some 7500 inhabitants, has some lovely art deco buildings backing the long beach and adjoining a dense…

3. Kulturhistorisches Museum Rostock

12.36 MILES

The city's cultural history museum has an interesting collection including Victorian furniture and a few sculptures by Ernst Barlach. It's housed in the…

4. Marienkirche

12.6 MILES

Central Rostock’s pride and joy is the 13th-century Marienkirche, the only main Rostock church to survive WWII unscathed (although restorations are…

5. Neuer Markt

12.66 MILES

Rostock’s large, somewhat bland central square is dominated by the splendid 13th-century Rathaus. The building’s baroque facade was added in 1727 after…

6. Alter Markt

12.91 MILES

Red-brick and pastel-coloured buildings on this large market square hark back to the 14th- and 15th-century Hanseatic era.

7. Petrikirche

12.93 MILES

The Gothic Petrikirche has a 117m-high steeple – a mariner’s landmark for centuries – that was restored in 1994, having been missing since WWII. There's a…

8. Karls

15.78 MILES

Gloriously hokey, Karls is a roadside attraction in the cheesiest tradition. The schtick here is fruit, strawberries to be exact. In this sprawling hodge…