DISTANT PLACES
Travel tips by Bremen sehenswert far from the Hanseatic City of Bremen
Hanseatic City of Rostock - A Travel Guide
Warnemünde
Harbor on the Old River (Alter Strom)
On hot summer days, lying on the beach and jumping into the Baltic Sea to cool off? What sounds like a great plan for a vacation to most people is rather everyday life for the residents of Rostock. The S-Bahn takes less than 25 minutes from the main station in the city center to the final stop in Warnemünde. But the beach isn't everything, as a walk through the town and along the promenade "Am Alten Strom" shows. By the way, the yellow house on the left side beyond the bridge when coming from the train station is the oldest house in Warnemünde - the former Vogtei built in 1609.
From the train station to the town, with the old Vogtei on the left
In 1323, the city lords from the nearby prosperous Hanseatic city acquired the small village that had emerged around 1200 at the mouth of the Warnow. And it remained a comparatively poor and small fishing village until the 19th century. Since then, however, the town has grown into a seaside resort or perhaps into a large village with maritime industry like the Neptun shipyard and international shipping. A walk through Alexandrinenstraße might make one believe the latter.
Restored timber-framed houses in Alexandrinenstraße
The narrow street paved with granite stones is lined with partially protected, restored timber-framed houses. Since 1933, the house built in 1767 at number 31 at the end of the street has housed the local history museum. Old trees that repeatedly interrupt the footpath complete the village-like atmosphere. Until the 19th century, Alexandrinenstraße - then called Achterreeg (Low German for "back row") - was one of only two streets in Warnemünde.
In this house at Am Strom 53, the Norwegian painter Edvard Munch worked and lived for a time. Today, exhibitions are held in the house operated by an association.
Not far from there, you soon stand before Warnemünde's neo-Gothic brick church. The church, built from 1866 to 1871 and outwardly quite simple, houses small cultural treasures inside, including a restored Renaissance pulpit from 1591 and a Gothic carved altar from 1475.
Promenade on the Old River
Back at the waterfront, the promenade on the west bank of the Old River becomes distinctly more touristy. Until 1903, the Old River, which was dug out and fortified in 1423, was the only connection for shipping traffic from the Baltic Sea to Rostock Harbor. Today, seagoing ships dock at the harbor facilities further east, and fishing cutters, restaurant ships, and excursion boats for harbor tours are moored in the Old River. Cafés and restaurants have moved into the attractively restored captain's houses along the path above the quay, setting up tables outside so that you can watch the lively activity on nice days. Small shops and boutiques for well-off and less well-off customers invite browsing, and the smell of fried fish is in the air. The former atelier of Edvard Munch is also located on the Old River. The workplace of the Norwegian painter and graphic artist is now a meeting place for Norwegian and German artists and a cultural event venue.
Lighthouses at the harbor entrance
At the transition to the seaside promenade, you'll find one of Warnemünde's two landmarks: the "Teepott." The restaurant, built at the end of the 1960s for Rostock's 750th anniversary, owes its fame to its peculiar architecture designed by Ulrich Müther. On the round building with many glass surfaces sits an extremely stable hypar shell roof covering about 1200 square meters. The name is derived from a pot-shaped tea pavilion that was built in the same location in the 1920s but burned down in 1945 and was nicknamed "Teepott" by locals.
Teepott
Right next to the restaurant, the second landmark of the seaside resort rises nearly 37 meters into the Baltic Sea sky: the old lighthouse built in 1897/98. Its beacon still guides ships today. Thanks to the efforts of a support association, you can also enter the lighthouse from late April to early October. Inside, spiral staircases with a total of 135 steps lead to two balconies that encircle the tower on the lower half and below the beacon. From the very top, you have a wide view over Warnemünde to Rostock.
Historical lighthouse
At the base of the lighthouse begins a planet walk symbolized by a sun with a golden ball on a pedestal. It runs along the beach promenade, further through the adjacent coastal forest strip, and along the steep coast of Stoltera to Geinitz Ort. Employees of the Rostock Observatory have set up display boards with astronomical information about the planets along the route; the distance between the boards corresponds proportionally to the distance of the planets' orbits.
At the beach
After visiting the town, it's time for a break at the beach. The fine sandy beach stretches three kilometers along the Baltic Sea and, with a width of 150 meters, surpasses all other German Baltic Sea beaches. Warnemünde was first mentioned as a seaside resort in 1821; soon afterward, the number of visitors increased significantly, and even today, the town - beyond maritime events like Hanse Sail and Warnemünder Woche - does not suffer from a lack of guests, as hotels and pensions directly on the Old River and in the streets behind it prove.
A ferry from Scandinavia approaches the Rostock dock
Not only for fans of "big ships," but also for swimmers, kite flyers, and surfers, the large car ferries from Scandinavia are something special. The ships pass every two hours between the New River (Neuer Strom) and the Baltic Sea, creating waves for 20 minutes due to their water displacement - so reliably that watersports providers at the beach advertise a "ferry wave guarantee."
Primarily for automobile traffic, a ferry operates near the train station across the Warnow. From aboard, you can see the AIDA cruise ships, as the company has its headquarters here, although of course not always one of the floating hotels is docked at the quay. Nevertheless, a detour is worth it even for day visitors, as the other side offers a beautiful long beach called Hohe Düne.
Hohe Düne
By the way, a visit to Warnemünde can also be an experience in the depths of winter - for example, when ice floes pile up on the beach.
Ice floes on the beach © Marc Poels
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