Sights in Mecklenburg Western Pomerania
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Marienkirche
Central Rostock's pride and joy is the 13th-century Marienkirche, the only main Rostock church to survive WWII unscathed. Behind the main altar, the church's 12m-high astrological clock, built in 1472 by Hans Düringer, is the only working clock of its kind in the world still with its original mechanisms. At the very top of the clock is a series of doors. At noon and midnight the innermost right door opens and six of the 12 apostles march out to parade around Jesus (Judas is locked out). Zodiac symbols and moon phases feature in the centre, while the lower section has a disc that tells the exact day on which Easter falls in any given year. The replaceable discs are accurat…
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Nikolaikirche
Through the Rathaus' eastern walkway you'll come to the main portal of the 1270 Nikolaikirche, which was modelled on Lübeck's Marienkirche and is filled with art treasures. The main altar (1708), designed by the baroque master Andreas Schlüter, shows the eye of God flanked by cherubs and capped by a depiction of the Last Supper. Also worth a closer look are the high altar (1470), 6.7m wide and 4.2m tall, showing Jesus' entire life, and, behind the altar, a 1394-built (but no longer operational) astronomical clock.
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Warnemünde Beach
The jewel in Warnemünde's crown is its long, wide expanse of startlingly white beach. Even the butt-ugly concrete block that's the Hotel Neptun can't spoil it, while the mollusc-shaped Teepott building (think the TWA terminal at New York's JFK airport) and 19th-century lighthouse positively add to its quirky appeal. Warnemünde is all about sunbathing, promenading, eating fish and sipping cocktails on the beach. Sundown, when the crowds have abated slightly, is a memorable time to be here.
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Rathaus Historical Exhibition
The large Rathaus at the square's northern end was built between 1817 and 1819 and today houses the excellent Rathaus Historical Exhibition in its basement. Displays include an original 15th-century Wandmalerei (mural) uncovered by archaeologists in 1985, a glass-covered medieval well, and the Wrangel tomb - the coffin of influential Swedish General Helmut V Wrangel and his wife, with outsized wooden figures carved on top.
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Neuer Markt
Just around the corner from the Marienkirche is this open square, dominated by the splendid and rather pink 13th-century Rathaus. Opposite the Rathaus is a lovely series of restored gabled houses and a stylised, sea-themed fountain (2001) by artist Waldemar Otto. The explanatory plaque says the four figures are Neptune and his sons, although locals seem to think they represent the four elements.
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Staatliches Museum
In the Alter Garten, the Staatliches Museum has a substantial collection spanning the ages. The 15 statues in the Ernst Barlach room provide a small taste of the sculptor's work. There's also a typically amusing and irreverent Marcel Duchamp collection. Those with more traditional tastes will prefer the oils by Lucas Cranach the Elder, as well as works by Rembrandt and Rubens.
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Ducal Residence
Such was the allure of Ludwigslust's sturdy ducal residence that when the ducal seat moved 36km north to Schwerin in 1837, some family members continued to live here until 1945. Now part of the Schwerin State Museum, its high point is the stately, gilt-columned, high-ceilinged Golden Hall.
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St-Georgen-Kirche
The massive red shell of the St-Georgen-Kirche has been extensively renovated for combined use as a church, concert hall and exhibition space and is set to reopen in May 2010. In 1945 a freezing populace was driven to burn what was left of the church's beautiful wooden statue of St George and the dragon.
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Kröpeliner Tor
Today only two of 32 gates, plus a small brick section, remain of the old city wall. The 55m-high Kröpeliner Tor stands at the western end of Kröpeliner Strasse. From here, you can follow the Wallanlagen (city walls) through the pleasant park to Wallstrasse and the other surviving gate, the Steintor.
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Darss-Zingst Peninsula
Nature lovers and artists will be captivated by the Darss-Zingst Peninsula. This far-flung splinter of land is part of the 805-sq-km Vorpommersche Boddenlandschaft (Western Pomeranian Boddenlandschaft) National Park, which also encompasses the island of Hiddensee and the west coast of Rügen Island.
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Schifffahrtsmuseum
Rostock's excellent Schifffahrtsmuseum is moored on the shores of the flower-filled IGAPark on the northwest riverbank. Aboard the ship, there's a rundown on shipping from the Hanseatic period to today, plus the chance to play captain and other hands-on activities.
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Marienkirche
The Neuer Markt is dominated by the massive 14th-century Marienkirche, a superb example of north German redbrick construction. You can climb the steep wooden steps up the tower (adult/child €4/2) for a sweeping view of the town, with its lovely red-tiled roofs, and Rügen Island.
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Ozeaneum
In a stylised arctic-white wavelike building that leaps out from the surrounding redbrick warehouses, the state-of-the-art Ozeaneum takes you into an underwater world of creatures from the Baltic and North Seas and the Atlantic Ocean up to the polar latitudes.
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Schwerin Cathedral
Rising above the market square, Schwerin's 14th-century cathedral (Dom) is an impressive piece of north-German Gothic architecture - and locals love to point out that its tower (118m) is a whole 50cm taller than Rostock's Petrikirche! It offers stupendous city views.
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St-Nikolai-Kirche
One of the great redbrick church that once rose above the rooftops before WWII, only the enormous redbrick St-Nikolai-Kirche, the largest of its kind in Europe, was left intact. Today it contains a font from its older sister church, the St-Marien-Kirche.
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State Art Museum
Housed in a stately neoclassical building is one of Germany's most important art collections. Feast your eyes on Dutch masters from Rembrandt to Rubens, sculptures by Ernst Barlach, oils by Lucas Cranach the Elder, and the irreverent Marcel Duchamp collection.
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Deutsches Bernstein- Museum
Baltic coastlines are the source of almost all the world's amber. As well as the jewellery on sale throughout Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, you'll find the Deutsches Bernstein- museum in the 'amber town' of Ribnitz-Damgarten.
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Dom
The tall 14th-century Gothic Dom is a superb example of north German redbrick architecture. You can climb up to the viewing platform (€1.50) of its 19th-century cathedral tower (118m), which is a mere 50cm taller than Rostock's Petrikirche.
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Johanniskloster
On Schillstrasse, reached via Külpstrasse, is the Johanniskloster, a former Franciscan monastery that's now a concert venue. It's famous for its 'smoking attic' (there was no chimney), chapter hall and cloister.
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St-Marien-Kirche
All that remains of the 13th-century St-Marien-Kirche is its great brick steeple (1339), which rises above the city. A multimedia exhibit on medieval church-building techniques is housed in the tower's base.
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Schabbellhaus
The town's historical museum is in the Renaissance Schabbellhaus in a former brewery (1571), just south of St-Nikolai-Kirche across the canal. Pride of place goes to one of the original Swedish Heads.
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Kulturhistorische Museum Rostock
The city's cultural history museum, Kulturhistorische Museum Rostock has an interesting collection including Victorian furniture and a few sculptures by Ernst Barlach.
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Hauptgebäude
True to its name, Universitätsplatz is lined with university buildings, including the handsome terracotta 1866-70 Hauptgebäude, which replaced the famous 'White College'.
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Rathaus
The splendid and rather pink 13th-century Rathaus dominates Neuer Markt. The building's baroque façade was added in 1727 after the original brick Gothic structure collapsed.
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Kröpeliner Strasse
Kröpeliner Strasse, a broad, lively, cobblestone pedestrian mall lined with 15th- and 16th-century burghers' houses, runs from Neuer Markt west to Kröpeliner Tor.
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