When we sailed into Germany from Sweden we landed at the Baltic Seaport of Sassnitz on the Island of Rugen. This north coast ferry port is only a stones through away from Prora, where you find another very interesting project by the Third Reich. Hitler decided he wanted a beach resort for the common worker, it was called a “Holiday Camp”. Like all of his plans, it’s massive, designed to house 20,000 at a time with a central social hall that could accommodate everyone. The building project was almost complete by the start of the war when the labour force was redeployed for the war effort. It had very limited use during the war but after the war it was used for displaced refugees and then for the Soviet and East German military. Since then it fell into major disrepair and only a short time ago some developers, realizing it’s potential, have been renovating the buildings into upper end beach condos, hotels and rental units. It really is a fantastic beachfront location and just a few kilometres down the way is the very clean and classy ocean resort town of Binz. Anyone interested in a long term real-estate investment opportunity on the Baltic Sea should take a close look at this one. In the attached photo of Margot standing next to the scale model you can get an idea of the actual size of this 4.5 Km long complex.
We’ve really enjoyed this slow drive south through the German countryside with it’s beautiful lush green rolling hills that are dotted with picturesque farms, quaint towns, and tinny villages every few kilometres. Our travel pace has been rather slow considering we avoid the major autobahns in favour of the 2nd and 3rd level roads that tend to be much less stressful and offer a much better opportunity for us to see and experience all these wonderful places. One such place was Munster (The other Munster just south of Hamburg) where we found the German Panzer Tank Museum. 150 Tanks, guns and vehicles from the past 95 years were on display. The huge place was filled to the rafters with all kinds of rare and fascinating military machines and memorabilia. Margot gets full points for hanging in there for most of the day without any complaints (I actually think she enjoyed it too).
As we headed south we spent some time exploring the old city of Wurzburg. With it’s dominating huge castle sitting high on a ridge overlooking the old town below, you can’t help but be impressed. We drove up to the castle, parked the RV in the castle moat and gave it a full tour including the very interesting museum inside. This beautiful city was seriously bombed just three weeks before the end of WW2 but it was rebuilt and still retains much of it’s original splendour. As we carried on south the next morning we decided to stop in for a coffee and quick look at the old medieval walled town of Rothenburg. We couldn’t leave it and ended up spending a wonderful day roaming about and exploring this fantastic place. If you have ever wondered what it would be like to have lived in the Middle Ages, come to the 10th century walled city of Rothenburg where you can walk along the defensive city wall, explore the many towers or get lost in the narrow cobble stone streets. You get the feeling at times that you’re on some kind of movie set for a Robin Hood sequel. This wonderfully preserved town is filled with great shops and restaurants, and did I mention the view of the valley below?
Tonight we are near the German/French border in a small city called Karlsruhe and getting ourselves mentally prepared for the next big stop, a visit to the WW1 battlefield area of Verdun, France.