DAY 11
A new stage of my journey began: heading east. More than that, I was now traveling through the former East Germany, GDR. My first stop was Schwerin. The city itself is nothing extraordinary, but Schwerin Castle is magnificent. It is considered one of the finest examples of 19th-century Romantic architecture in Europe. The moment you see it, Château de Chambord comes to mind, and that’s no coincidence: the famous French château in the Loire Valley served as an inspirations for its German counterpart.
But while Chambord is dominated by its forest of chimneys, here there are not just chimneys but also spires, onion domes, a great dome crowned by an angel, and a lot more. Gilded details sparkle in the sunlight, while a mounted figure in a niche raises his lance — a feast for the eyes. As befits Romantic architecture, Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque elements are all blended together. The interiors are no less lavish. There is also a chapel, magnificent gardens and an elegant Orangery. Today, the castle houses the parliament of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and it was recently added to the UNESCO World Heritage List. Beside the castle is a pier from which you can take a 90-minute boat tour.
While in Schwerin only the castle is included on the UNESCO World Heritage List, Wismar’s entire historic center is listed. I spent several hours in the city and didn’t want to leave. I don’t think I’ve seen so many beautiful buildings in any other city on this trip — and perhaps not only on this trip. They are concentrated above all around the central Market Square (Marktplatz) and the surrounding streets. The most important among them is the former ducal palace, the Fürstenhof, a 16th-century Renaissance building that served as the residence of the Dukes of Mecklenburg in Wismar.
The city also has some extraordinary churches, impressive both in size and beauty. First and foremost is the 80-meter tower of St. Mary’s Church (Marienkirchturm), which rises above the city and is all that remains of what was once one of the most beautiful brick churches in northern Germany, destroyed during the war. Almost next door stands St. George’s Church, dating from the early 16th century, which was struck by a heavy British bomb on April 14, 1945. Its restoration was completed in 2010, after German reunification, at a cost of €40 million. The church is empty inside, but its sheer size and the beauty of its tower are striking. An elevator takes visitors up to a viewing platform. I saw another enormous church, St. Nicholas’s, only from a distance.
The area around the harbor is also very interesting. Several charming half-timbered buildings have survived here, along with the Water Gate (Wassertor), the only surviving city gate. Sightseeing boats depart from the harbor.
After Wismar, I stopped at the former monastery in the town of Bad Doberan, but the last guided tour of its enormous church — and probably the monastery grounds as well — had been at 2 p.m.
DAY 12
Today was a more relaxed day: two nights in the same place and just one city to visit. That city was Rostock, a Hanseatic and university city with one of the oldest universities in Europe, founded in 1419. Both the city’s name and that of the river on which it stands, the Warnow, are of Slavic origin.
Rostock has two main squares: Neuer Markt (New Market Square) and Universitätsplatz (University Square). I had read that on Saturdays at noon, a carillon installed on one of the buildings in University Square plays. At one minute to twelve, I was already standing in the square, ready to listen. But nothing happened. The carillon remained silent. Apparently, the information wasn’t quite accurate.
In 1985, a large fountain called “Joy of Life” (Brunnen der Lebensfreude) was installed in the square, featuring 30 bronze figures of people and animals as well as 18 water jets. It is a favorite place for local children to play. All the human figures in the fountain are nude, which earned it the nickname “Porn Fountain.” The square is framed at one end by an attractive building constructed in 1986 in a historicizing Neo-Renaissance style.
On Neuer Markt (New Market Square), the Town Hall and six beautiful buildings dating from the 15th and 16th centuries have survived; the others were destroyed during an Allied air raid in 1942.
Originally built in the Gothic style in the 13th century, Rostock Town Hall is probably one of the oldest in Germany. Yet it doesn’t look particularly old. The reason is that its façade was destroyed by a storm in the 18th century and rebuilt in the Baroque style. A little farther away, on a street behind the Town Hall, stands the Kerkhofhaus, the city’s best-preserved — and very interesting — example of 15th-century Brick Gothic architecture.
Next to Neuer Markt stands the imposing St. Mary’s Church (Marienkirche), dating from the 13th–14th centuries.
The two squares are connected by the pedestrian Kröpeliner Straße, which is also lined with many beautiful buildings. At its far end stands the Gothic Kröpelin Gate (Kröpeliner Tor), dating from 1280.
Another city gate, the Steintor (Stone Gate), can be seen from Neuer Markt. Beside it stands the extraordinarily beautiful Neo-Gothic Ständehaus, built in 1890.
I didn’t make it to Rostock’s harbor, but instead drove to Warnemünde, a seaside resort and ferry port with connections across the Baltic Sea, administratively part of Rostock. It lies at the mouth of the Warnow River, and its name literally means “mouth of the Warnow.” I took a look at the beach, photographed the lighthouse built in 1897 and still in operation, enjoyed a delicious ice cream, and then headed back. One gets to Warnemünde from Rostock through an underwater tunnel, which costs €5.40 each way.
DAY 13
A day devoted to nature. Today I was exploring Rügen Island, in the far northeastern corner of Germany, a popular destination for domestic tourism.
I had originally planned to spend two nights outside of the island but close to it, in the city of Stralsund, but later changed my plans and stayed much farther away to make the previous day less demanding. As a result, it took me more than two hours to reach my first stop on the island.
I started with the most distant point at the island so that I would have less driving to do at the end of the day. That point was Cape Arkona (Kap Arkona), in the northeast of the island. On the way there, I had to take a ferry.
The coastline around the cape and farther south is famous for its white chalk cliffs, which periodically erode and collapse into the sea. Not far from the cape, for example, are the remains of the Slavic fortress of Jaromarsburg, which is being gradually washed away by the sea; today, only remnants of its fortifications survive.
The cape itself was a little disappointing, since there is neither direct access to the sea nor a viewpoint from which you can really see the cape, but it is a pleasant place for walking or cycling. By car, you have to drive as far as the parking area in the village of Putgarten, and from there a tourist train takes visitors about 1.5 kilometers to the cape itself. Putgarten is a very picturesque village that lives largely from tourism, with restaurants, cafés and signs advertising vacation rentals.
Speaking of accommodation, while planning the trip I had hoped to book somewhere on the island, but couldn’t find anything available even though I tried my luck many months in advance. At the cape itself are two lighthouses, one with an observation deck, as well as two bunkers: a small one dating from World War II and a larger, more recent one containing an exhibition. One of the most interesting places there is the workshop and shop of a jeweler and sculptor, with a good selection of souvenirs, rings and other handmade pieces.
The same tourist train also takes you to the village of Vitt. Here you can walk down to the shore and see the chalk cliffs of Cape Arkona, although not from very close up. You can also hunt for interesting stones along the beach. I did some searching myself, remembering Planerskoye, and although I didn’t find any carnelians, I picked up a few attractive specimens for my small rock collection. There is also a smokehouse here, whose freshly smoked products are eagerly enjoyed by tourists.
The second stop was the small Königsstuhl National Park, whose name translates as “King’s Chair.” Here you’ll find the highest chalk cliffs in Germany, rising up to 161 meters. A special suspended viewing platform has been built to give visitors a good view of them. In the past, when the cliffs were considerably more picturesque, even the king came here to admire them.
The park is so new that even Waze doesn’t know about it and directs you instead to the better-known Jasmund National Park. So here’s some practical information on how to get there. Set the village of Hagen as your destination in the navigation system. The parking lot is visible from the road, but you need to keep an eye out for it. From there, bus No. 19 takes you to the cliffs. If you still end up at the Jasmund National Park parking area instead, which is several kilometers farther away, you can reach the cliffs by bus No. 23. However, the bus doesn’t leave from the parking lot itself but from the harbor, which you first have to walk down to. If you see an entrance price of €14, don’t be alarmed: that fee covers various attractions and activities. There is no charge simply to see the cliffs.
My third stop was the Hunting Lodge (Jagdschloss), built in the first half of the 19th century by order of the prince who owned the nearby town of Putbus. It was designed in the style of Renaissance castles of northern Italy. In later years, many famous people stayed there.
A sign at the parking lot pointed toward the lodge, and I entered the forest convinced that I would see it at any moment. It turned out to be 1.8 km away. So I had to walk. I had imagined something along the lines of the hunting palace in Buçaco, Portugal, but it turned out to be nothing quite like that. Still, the lodge was nice enough. And that was how my day in nature went. You know, it was no less enjoyable than exploring cities — especially as a welcome change of pace.
