DISTANT PLACES
Travel tips by Bremen sehenswert far from the Hanseatic City of Bremen
Hanseatic City of Rostock - A Travel Guide
Warnemünde
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In the heart of the town center
This rural charm ends shortly after the museum, as you suddenly find yourself in the heart of the town center. The "village church" is nearby, making its presence known to the water with its regular bells.
Renaissance pulpit from 1591
The neo-Gothic brick church, built between 1866 and 1871, is simple on the outside but houses historical treasures inside, including a restored Renaissance pulpit from 1591 and a Gothic carved altar from 1475. It is a place of peace - and perhaps a place for your personal devotion as well.
Gothic carved altar from 1475
To the water
From the promenade along the Alten Strom, a path leads along the jetty to a green beacon, where the way opens out to the Baltic Sea. (The reason people stand in formation here at certain times will be explained later). A small passage through the sea wall leads directly to the beach. However, one can turn off toward the wide, car-free promenade much earlier.
Lighthouses at the harbor entrance
At the transition to the seaside promenade sits one of Warnemünde's two landmarks: the "Teepott" (Teapot). Built in the late 1960s for Rostock’s 750th anniversary, this restaurant owes its fame to its peculiar architecture designed by Ulrich Müther. The stable hypar shell roof covers a large area of the round building. The name comes from a teapot-shaped pavilion built on the same spot in the 1920s, which burned down in 1945 and became known as the "Teepott."
Teepott and the old lighthouse with the "sun" between both
Right next to the restaurant, the second landmark of the seaside resort towers nearly 37 meters into the Baltic sky: the old lighthouse built in 1897/98. Thanks to a local association, the lighthouse can be entered from late April to early October. Inside, spiral staircases with 135 steps lead to two balconies surrounding the tower. From the very top, you have a wide view of Warnemünde all the way to Rostock.
Information board about the planets along the route
At the foot of the lighthouse, a "Planetary Hiking Path" begins with a sun symbolized by a golden sphere on a pedestal. It runs along the promenade, through the adjacent coastal forest, and along the steep cliffs of the Stoltera to Geinitz Ort. Staff from the Rostock Observatory have placed information boards about the planets along the route; the distance between the boards corresponds proportionally to the distance of the planets' orbits.
"Liebespaar" (Lovers) bronze sculpture created by Wilfried Fitzenreiter in 1979
On the wide and often busy promenade, you can find works of art, such as the "Liebespaar" (Lovers) bronze sculpture created by Wilfried Fitzenreiter in 1979. Other works can be admired in the park of the Kurhaus under the shadow of the imposing Neptune Hotel.
"Planetary Hiking Path"
A lot of greenery surrounds hikers once they leave the last buildings on the promenade behind. There, where the path begins to climb toward the cliff, the forest starts. A 64-hectare strip at the edge of the sea has been under nature protection as "Stoltera" since 1939. Planted in the early 20th century, the coastal forest is mostly left to nature's own devices. If you look closely, even deadwood serves a purpose.
Gnarled tree in the Stoltera nature reserve near Wilhelmshöhe
However, the nature reserve does shrink slightly every year due to natural processes. About 35 centimeters of the cliff are eroded annually by weather conditions. Still, the operators of the Hotel & Restaurant Wilhelmshöhe - a destination for many hikers - don't have to fear a sudden drop into the sea from their sunny terrace overlooking the Baltic.
View of the beach where the hiking path meets the forest and the ascent toward the sea cliffs
Read more about Rostock: The table of contents
Map
Rügen by the Baltic Sea
Active holiday featuring cycling and hiking
Enjoy an active holiday featuring cycling and hiking along the Baltic coast in Mönchgut on the island of Rügen. Long sandy beaches, rolling hills, and lush forests provide a varied and beautiful setting for your getaway. Often, the only thing breaking the peace is the distant whistle of the historic 'Rasender Roland' steam train. Despite its name (which suggests something "racing" or fast), it’s actually quite the opposite. A journey by train is simply part of the holiday experience.
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In the Probstei in late summer
Schönberger Strand and sea and more
Can you walk or ride a bike from Brasilien (Brazil) to Kalifornien (California) in just a few minutes, always with a view of the water? No, not with your finger on the globe or map, but in person. You’ll have to forgo Copacabana and the Sunset Strip with the Angels in Los Angeles (Spanish for "The Angels"). Instead, you get Germany’s "True North" with all its bright sides. Of course, there are sometimes shadows here too, but they belong only on the margins of this story.
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Wismar
The Hanseatic City on the Baltic Sea and its UNESCO World Heritage
The World Heritage House is a building with a stone front house and an attached timber-framed Kemladen on a foundation of loose fieldstones from a medieval predecessor building. This beautifully restored small building complex visually illustrates and provides information via text panels about the lives of past generations in the hall houses typical for Wismar, along with their outbuildings. Additionally, there is extensive information about the city’s history and numerous protected buildings in the old town - there are 1,754 in total, with 306 designated as individual monuments. In the old town, one is right in the middle of Wismar’s UNESCO World Heritage Site.
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Crabs, dikes and the Wadden Sea
The North Sea spa town of Büsum
Once an island, Büsum was repeatedly threatened by the "Blanken Hans". When the greatest flood of the last century struck in 1962, Büsum was already long connected to the mainland - since 1585. Today, this town of around 5,000 residents, part of the Dithmarschen district, is one of the most important holiday destinations along Schleswig-Holstein's North Sea coast. Since 1985, the sea in front of Büsum has been protected as the Schleswig-Holstein Wadden Sea National Park, and since 2009, it has also been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
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A stroll through Kiel
Sights in the fjord city and a visit to Laboe
A good starting point for exploring the city today, decades after the end of the war, is the centrally located main train station. On Sophienblatt, the main street running in front of the building, all major bus lines converge, and many sights can also be easily reached on foot during a multi-hour stroll.
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Emden in East Frisia
Where East Frisians make jokes and serious art thrives
What do Henri Nannen, the journalist and founder of the print magazine STERN, director Wolfgang Petersen (e.g., Das Boot), and comedians Karl Dall and Otto Waalkes have in common? They were all born in Emden. "The Men of the Emden" (a film) not necessarily, but that's a different story. And of course, women have also been born in this city of around 50,000 inhabitants, the largest in East Frisia, such as former boxing world champion Heidi Hartmann - naturally mentioned only as a representative of all others.
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A short visit to the historic old town of Heppenheim
Half-timbering, a false dome, and legendary lanterns
The skyline of Frankfurt, Germany's financial capital with its office towers in the banking district, is still within sight when the train to Darmstadt and Bensheim pulls into the small station of Heppenheim. In 2010, the city was on everyone’s lips after native son Sebastian Vettel left all competition behind in his Red Bull car and became the youngest Formula 1 double world champion of all time. In 2011, he added another title to his collection, as did he in 2012 and finally in 2013 for a fourth time. However, we are not following in Vettel’s footsteps but rather those of history in the picturesque old town with its timber-framed houses.
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Norden-Norddeich in East Frisia
At the north Sea
At first glance, one might get the impression that this North Sea resort is merely a transfer station for vacationers heading in droves to the islands. Not only do several ferry docks dominate the harbor, but large parking lots and multi-story garages belonging to the Frisia shipping company right behind the dike offer hundreds of parking spaces for island visitors who don’t want or can’t take their cars with them - Juist is car-free after all. But beyond that, Norddeich reveals itself as a far less hectic and manageably small coastal resort. In this state-recognized North Sea spa, tourism has only been promoted since the second half of the last century, apparently with success, as more than 1 million overnight stays per year show.
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