Rügen
This morning we docked in Sassnitz on the island of Rügen. Until recently it was a favorite vacation spot for Erich Honecker and other communist apparatchiks of the former German Democratic Republic. Now the island is a summer beach resort for Germans and other Baltic visitors. We arrived toward the end of the season, so the beaches were only half-full and the usually bustling town of Binz was relatively calm.
Bus and mini-train brought us to the “hunting lodge” of Prince Malte zu Putbus, whose family once ruled the island and who remained even in Malte’s time (the mid-19th century) the largest landowner on the island. Putbus built the lodge to resemble a medieval castle, in keeping with the Romantic style that was popular in his day. The lodge’s main feature is a large spiraling staircase that leads to the top of the turret. On a clear day, it offers a 360-degree view of the island.
The hillsides of beech and oak reflect state-of-the-art forest management of the pre-industrial era. The understory is neatly manicured, the better to see and shoot the beasts, and the number of oak had been reduced and beech increased to create more favorable conditions for wild boar—and thus more targets for Putbus family’s hunting excursions. Heads of moose, elk, and boar were on display in the lodge.
We also saw what may (or may not!) be the longest building in the world, the massive Kraft durch Freude (Strength Through Joy) holiday camp built by Albert Speer for working families and the youth of Nazi Germany. World War II halted construction before this particular camp could be used, but many similar camps were constructed throughout Germany as a kind of “Club Med for Nazis.”
This morning we docked in Sassnitz on the island of Rügen. Until recently it was a favorite vacation spot for Erich Honecker and other communist apparatchiks of the former German Democratic Republic. Now the island is a summer beach resort for Germans and other Baltic visitors. We arrived toward the end of the season, so the beaches were only half-full and the usually bustling town of Binz was relatively calm.
Bus and mini-train brought us to the “hunting lodge” of Prince Malte zu Putbus, whose family once ruled the island and who remained even in Malte’s time (the mid-19th century) the largest landowner on the island. Putbus built the lodge to resemble a medieval castle, in keeping with the Romantic style that was popular in his day. The lodge’s main feature is a large spiraling staircase that leads to the top of the turret. On a clear day, it offers a 360-degree view of the island.
The hillsides of beech and oak reflect state-of-the-art forest management of the pre-industrial era. The understory is neatly manicured, the better to see and shoot the beasts, and the number of oak had been reduced and beech increased to create more favorable conditions for wild boar—and thus more targets for Putbus family’s hunting excursions. Heads of moose, elk, and boar were on display in the lodge.
We also saw what may (or may not!) be the longest building in the world, the massive Kraft durch Freude (Strength Through Joy) holiday camp built by Albert Speer for working families and the youth of Nazi Germany. World War II halted construction before this particular camp could be used, but many similar camps were constructed throughout Germany as a kind of “Club Med for Nazis.”
