The beach just north of Binz still bears testament to Nazi plans to create the world's largest resort: six hideous six-storey buildings, each 500m long, lining the sand. Begun in 1936, Prora was intended as a Kraft-durch-Freude (strength through joy) escape for 20,000 workers. The outbreak of WWII stopped its completion; no one has known what to do with it since. Much of it is a moody partial-ruin, with the echos of jackboots not far off.
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
21.42 MILES
This masterpiece of medieval architecture dates to 1270 and is modelled on Lübeck's Marienkirche. Its interior is awash with colour and is filled with art…
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21.7 MILES
You'll need divine inspiration to guess the number of bricks used to build the massive 14th-century Marienkirche, a superb example of north German red…
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21.17 MILES
In an arctic-white wave-like building that leaps out from the surrounding red-brick warehouses, the state-of-the-art Ozeaneum takes you into an underwater…
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0.98 MILES
Northwest of Binz, in a lovely Rügen forest, the extraordinary spiral Aussichtsturm Adlerhorst rises 30m above the forest floor – the spiral ramp goes…
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0.21 MILES
Macht Urlaub (Power Vacation) is a well-done exhibition on the Nazis and the role the workers' resort Prora played in their 'strength through joy' schemes…
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25.15 MILES
The richly ornamented buildings ringing the Markt hint at Greifswald’s stature in the Middle Ages. The Rathaus, at the western end, started life as some…
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4.69 MILES
A grandiose hunting palace built in 1723 on top of the 107m-high Tempelberg, Jagdschloss Granitz was significantly enlarged and altered by Wilhelm Malte I…
Nearby Rügen Island attractions
1. Dokumentationszentrum Prora
0.21 MILES
Macht Urlaub (Power Vacation) is a well-done exhibition on the Nazis and the role the workers' resort Prora played in their 'strength through joy' schemes…
0.98 MILES
Northwest of Binz, in a lovely Rügen forest, the extraordinary spiral Aussichtsturm Adlerhorst rises 30m above the forest floor – the spiral ramp goes…
3.06 MILES
A highlight of Binz is simply strolling its 4km-long north–south beach promenade, lined with elegant villas. At the southern end of the built-up area, you…
4.69 MILES
A grandiose hunting palace built in 1723 on top of the 107m-high Tempelberg, Jagdschloss Granitz was significantly enlarged and altered by Wilhelm Malte I…
6.4 MILES
Sellin's Seebrüucke (pier) is an ornate, turreted pavilion sitting out over the water at the end of a long wooden causeway. The original pier was built in…
9.59 MILES
Göhren has a collection of four historic sites, which together make up the Monchgüter Museen, including the historical Heimatsmuseum, the Museumshof farm,…
7. Nationalpark-Zentrum Königsstuhl
9.73 MILES
Admission to Jasmund National Park is through the Nationalpark-Zentrum Königsstuhl, which has multimedia displays on environmental themes, a ‘climbing…
21.11 MILES
Built as a training ship by the German navy in 1933, the Gorch Fock 1 is a large (82m-long) steel three-masted barque with quite a history. The Russians…