Binz
The Baltic seaside resort of Binz - the origins of bath architecture (Bäderarchitektur)Actually Binz was once a small fishing village with the name ‘Byntze‘, which was documented in the year 1318 for the first time.
Today Binz is the largest seaside resort on Rügen – the sunniest of Germany’s islands.
The beach has fine sand; the sea bed is stone free: that makes Binz a bathing paradise!
Beside the gentle sloping 5.5 km long sandy beach, extensive forest areas, the Schmale Heide and the Granitz can be found, which are ideal for ramblers.
Binz is the epitome of the Baltic Sea bathing culture. White villas adorned with balconies, gazebos, turrets and verandas line up along the beach front promenade like a string of white pearls. With over 10.000 guest beds, Binz is the largest seaside resort on Rügen.
The highlights at a glance:
- Beach front promenade along the entire Binzer bay with pier and art nouveau-styled Kurhaus (wellness & therapy centre).
- Concert place with pavillon and gallery
- Historical Binz-Museum
- Station for the ‘Rasender Roland’ small steam train
- Starting point for various ship round-trips along the chalk cliffs
- Diverse galleries: Gallerie Jahreszeiten, Galerie Utermann
- Glass blowing and ceramic workshop
- And lots of other tourist attractions: fun pool, tennis courts, bicycle hire etc.
Binz is one of the Baltic seaside resorts of Rügen, with the best maintained examples of seaside resort architecture. The idea of seaside resort architecture has its roots in the age-old desire of mankind to focus himself and to go “back to nature”, breathe fresh sea air and to explore the natural environment.
Seaside resort architecture takes these wishes into consideration. Along the Baltic coast, bathing areas were developed for townsfolk in need of recuperation. Around the turn of the 19th and 20th century, people from all over Germany acquired property and developed villas,
hotels, guest houses as well as therapy centres and piers to stroll upon and for mooring boats, in short – seaside resorts. At the same time Binz blossomed into a wonderful location for the thriving bathing culture.
In the last few years, the buildings developed at that time have been adapted to modern standards, without losing the outer charm of the seaside resort architecture, so that visitors strolling along the beach front promenade are once again fascinated by buildings that, in past years, fell into disrepair.
Each year in September the ‘seaside resort architecture’ buildings become the focus of attention. Annually, September is the ‘Month of seaside resort architecture (Bäderarchitektur)’. Numerous exhibitions, lectures and guided tours are dedicated to the different aspects of the typical and impressive Baltic Seaside resort architecture. The visitor can experience much more about this special architectural style.
Ulrich Müther
The Binz master builder Ulrich Müther, whose buildings receive world-wide attention, laid the foundation-stone for extravagant and delicate concrete shell constructions in the 1960's. Their features are impressive and unusual. The versatility of the buildings, like cantilever roof slabs, planetarium, mosques, bob sleigh runs etc., is also represented on Müther’s home island of Rügen with numerous salient examples: ‘Ostseeperle -Baltic pearl’ in Glowe, the music pavilion in Sassnitz, ‘Inselparadies’ in Baabe and many more.
In Binz, the former bus stop (small bowl as roof, dated 1967) located at the present day roundabout, as well as the life guard’s tower at beach entrance no. 6, can also be attributed to the master builder. In 1968 he developed a building reminiscent of ‘a UFO’. Today couples can get married here.
Wolgast houses
An architectural speciality: probably most beautiful of the three listed Wolgast houses on Rügen is the mansion ‘Undine’ dating from the year 1885 and located on the Binz beach front promenade. Also the Binz private house ‘Liliput’ and a house in Göhren belong to this group.
They received their name from a shipyard in Wolgast. At the end of the 19th Century, the master shipbuilder Heinrich Kräft had the idea to build finished unit houses which were even orderable by catalogue. High-quality woods from overseas were used. The Norwegian ‘dragon houses’ (with dragon heads at the ends of the supporting beams – which can sometimes still be seen) probably served as a model for them, as well as Nordic-Viking shipbuilding traditions and stave church traditions.
Park of the Senses
Man has been able to promenade along the beach at the Baltic seaside resort of Binz for over 100 years. In contrast to this, the Park of the Senses at the Schmachter See is new. Here you can be inspired by the fountains in the well system or enjoy the scent of the plants and enjoy the splendour of the other blooms. A world of experience with themed garden and play areas invites the whole family and all age groups to have all their senses stimulated.
All this is only a short walk away from the pier at the Baltic beach and the town centre of Binz with its Spa gardens. Just opposite to this park the ‘House of Guests’ can be found. It invites you to explore, with its fountains, playground and Kneipp area as well as quiet areas in which to linger and recuperate. The carefully planned environment of the gardens increases the recreational value of the Baltic resort of Binz in an ideal way. They supplement life in the Baltic resort with a very special world of experiences. Here, above all, you can enjoy idyllic peace and really soothe your soul on a park bench.
Fishing in Binz
The Kur administration of the Baltic resort of Binz will issue fishing permission on production of a valid fisheries identification document. This is valid for the territorial waters of Mecklenburg Vorpommern (except for the biosphere reservation areas and in private waters).
A day ticket costs 5, Euros, a week ticket costs 10, Euros.
Fishing from the Binz Pier is only allowed at certain times.
- High season - 10:00 pm - 9:00 am
- Low season - all day
Local government offices, Public Order Office, Jasmunder Straße 11, 18609 Ostseebad Binz
Phone: 038393-37432
Here, you can obtain year, week and day tickets, lifetime fishing licenses and tourist-fishing licenses.
More information at www.angeln-ruegen.de.
Prora – solid for eternity
Prora, as local part of Binz, attained its fame due to a less laudable building: in 1936, the National Socialists began to construct a holiday area, which was planned in theory, for more than 20,000 humans, but was never finished, as well as an enormous festival hall and an enormous wharf area..
In GDR times, Prora was promoted to the largest piece of military property belonging to the republic. All attempts to destroy this enormous, partially dilapidated building complex has so far failed, and so in the meantime part of it is used as a museum for railway and technology and another part documents the changing history of Prora.
