Rostock
Central Rostock’s pride and joy is the 13th-century Marienkirche, the only main Rostock church to survive WWII unscathed (although restorations are…
Must-see attractions in Coastal Mecklenburg – Western Pomerania
Coastal Mecklenburg – Western Pomerania
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…
Coastal Mecklenburg – Western Pomerania
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…
Coastal Mecklenburg – Western Pomerania
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…
Coastal Mecklenburg – Western Pomerania
Of the three great red-brick churches that once rose above the rooftops of Wismar before WWII, only the sober St-Nikolai-Kirche, the largest of its kind…
Rügen Island
Northwest of Binz, in a lovely Rügen forest, the extraordinary spiral Aussichtsturm Adlerhorst rises 30m above the forest floor – the spiral ramp goes…
Rügen Island
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…
Coastal Mecklenburg – Western Pomerania
The centrepiece of Old Wismar, the Markt is an attractive square, dominated by the 1602-built Wasserkunst (waterworks), an ornate, 12-sided well that…
Coastal Mecklenburg – Western Pomerania
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…
Coastal Mecklenburg – Western Pomerania
Stralsund's main square is a hub of its architectural treasures.
Coastal Mecklenburg – Western Pomerania
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…
Rügen Island
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…
Rostock
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…
Rügen Island
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,…
Coastal Mecklenburg – Western Pomerania
The large Rathaus at the Markt's northern end was built between 1817 and 1819 and houses the excellent Rathaus Historical Exhibition in its basement…
Coastal Mecklenburg – Western Pomerania
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…
Coastal Mecklenburg – Western Pomerania
The massive red shell of the St-Georgen-Kirche has been extensively reconstructed and while work continues, the intention is to use it for cultural (Abba…
Coastal Mecklenburg – Western Pomerania
Seven copper turrets and six triangular gables grace the red-brick Gothic facade of the splendid 1370 Rathaus. The upper portion of the northern facade,…
Coastal Mecklenburg – Western Pomerania
The photogenic centre of this fishing village is a Dutch-style wooden drawbridge. The small harbour is often alive with fishing boats landing – and…
Rügen Island
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…
Coastal Mecklenburg – Western Pomerania
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…
Coastal Mecklenburg – Western Pomerania
The town’s historical museum is in the Renaissance Schabbellhaus in a former brewery (1571), just south of St-Nikolai-Kirche across the canal. It reopened…
Rügen Island
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…
Coastal Mecklenburg – Western Pomerania
Kühlungsborn, the biggest Baltic Sea resort, with some 7500 inhabitants, has some lovely art deco buildings backing the long beach and adjoining a dense…
Coastal Mecklenburg – Western Pomerania
This outstanding museum links three Franciscan monastery buildings via a 73m-long, glassed-in hall. There’s a major gallery of paintings, including half a…
Coastal Mecklenburg – Western Pomerania
All that remains of 13th-century St-Marien-Kirche is its great brick steeple (1339), which rises above the city. A multimedia exhibit on medieval church…
Coastal Mecklenburg – Western Pomerania
Between the St-Marien and St-Georgen churches lies the restored Italian Renaissance Fürstenhof, now the city courthouse. The facades are slathered in…
Welterbe Ausstellung Stralsund
Coastal Mecklenburg – Western Pomerania
This small but excellent exhibition celebrates Stralsund's listing (along with Wismar) as a Unesco World Heritage-listed site. Information is in German…
Coastal Mecklenburg – Western Pomerania
Peenemünde is immodestly billed as ‘the birthplace of space travel’ here. Displays – some in surviving buildings – do a good job of showing how the…
Rostock
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…
Coastal Mecklenburg – Western Pomerania
The 12th-century red-brick Marienkirche is a square three-nave tower trimmed with turrets. It's easy to see why it's called 'Fat Mary'. Look for the 16th…
Coastal Mecklenburg – Western Pomerania
The restored Johanniskloster, a ruined former Franciscan monastery, is a peaceful corner of town. Immediately west is a courtyard surrounded by small…
Nationalpark-Zentrum Königsstuhl
Rügen Island
Admission to Jasmund National Park is through the Nationalpark-Zentrum Königsstuhl, which has multimedia displays on environmental themes, a ‘climbing…
Coastal Mecklenburg – Western Pomerania
The Meeresmuseum aquarium is set in a 13th-century convent building. Exhibits include a very popular sea turtle tank and polychromatic tropical fish.
Coastal Mecklenburg – Western Pomerania
A beautiful 15th-century town house named after an old mayor, the turreted step gable imitates the Rathaus facade across the square.
Rostock
Red-brick and pastel-coloured buildings on this large market square hark back to the 14th- and 15th-century Hanseatic era.
Coastal Mecklenburg – Western Pomerania
Don't miss the lovely ivy-covered face of this baroque 14th-century church.
Rostock
Gloriously hokey, Karls is a roadside attraction in the cheesiest tradition. The schtick here is fruit, strawberries to be exact. In this sprawling hodge…
Rügen Island
Göhren has a collection of four historic sites, which together make up the Monchgüter Museen, including the historical Heimatsmuseum, the Museumshof farm,…
Coastal Mecklenburg – Western Pomerania
The 100m onion-domed tower of 14th-century Dom St Nikolai rises above a row of historic facades, giving the cathedral the nickname ‘Long Nicholas’. The…
