Nazi Holiday Resort Germany

[Ane Neemann]

TheColossus of Prora, commonly known as simply "Prora", is a building complex in the municipality of Binz on the island of Rgen, Germany. It was built by Nazi Germany between 1936 and 1939 as part of the Strength Through Joy (Kraft durch Freude or KdF) project. It consisted of eight identical buildings and was 4.5 km (2.8 mi) in length parallel to the beach, with the surviving structures stretching 3.0 km (1.9 mi).

Although the buildings were planned as a holiday resort, construction was not completed, and they were not used for this purpose. Prora, as it was known, was however used largely by the Nazi Party for propaganda, with the supposed strength and power displayed in the construction effort of the complex likened by the party to that of themselves.[1] After World War II, the complex found various military uses, first by the Soviet Army, then by the East German Volksarmee, and then by the German Bundeswehr. Today, it houses a large youth hostel, a hotel, and holiday apartments.

Prora lies on an extensive bay between the Sassnitz and Binz regions, known as the Prorer Wiek, on the narrow heath (the Prora) which separates the lagoon of the Kleiner Jasmunder Bodden from the Baltic Sea. The buildings extended over a length of 4.5 kilometres (2.8 mi)[2] and are roughly 150 metres (160 yd) from the beach. The coast offers a long flat sand beach which stretches from Binz to the ferry port. This beach was thus an ideal location for the establishment of a seaside resort.

Hitler's plans for Prora were much more ambitious. He wanted a gigantic sea resort, the "most mighty and large one to ever have existed", holding 20,000 beds. In the middle, a huge building was to be erected, which would be a grand hall for speeches and concerts. At the same time, Hitler wanted the complex to have the ability to be converted into a military hospital in case of war. Hitler insisted that the plans of a giant indoor arena by architect Erich zu Putlitz were to be included. Putlitz's Festival Hall was intended to be able to accommodate all 20,000 guests at the same time. His plans included two wave-swimming pools, a cinema, and a theatre.[2] A large dock for passenger ships was also planned.

With the onset of World War II in 1939, building on Prora stopped and the construction workers transferred to the V-Weapons plant at Peenemnde. The eight housing blocks and the theatre and cinema remained empty shells. The swimming pools and festival hall never materialised. If the complex had been completed, it would have been the largest holiday resort in the world.[7][8]

During the Allied bombing campaign, many people from Hamburg took refuge in one of the housing blocks, and later refugees from the east of Germany were housed there.[2] By the end of the war, these buildings housed female auxiliary personnel for the Luftwaffe.[citation needed]

In the late 1950s, the East German military rebuilt several of the buildings. Since the buildings had been stripped to the bare brick in the late 1940s, most of the exterior and interior finish that can now be seen was done under East German control. After the formation of the German Democratic Republic's (GDR's) National People's Army in 1956, the buildings became a restricted military area housing several East German Army units. The most prominent were the elite 40. Fallschirmjgerbataillon Willi Snger (40th Parachute Battalion "Willi Snger") which was housed in block 5 from 1960 to 1982. Block 4 on the north side was used for urban combat training by the Parachute Battalion and others. Large sections remain as ruins to this day.[when?]

Also housed in the building from 1982 to 1990 was the East German Army Construction Battalion "Mukran", where conscientious objectors served as noncombatant Construction Soldiers (Bausoldaten) to meet their military service obligation. A part of the building also served as the East German Army's "Walter Ulbricht" convalescent home.

After German reunification in 1990, the National People's Army was absorbed into the West German Bundeswehr, that took over the building. Initially, consideration was given to demolishing the buildings, but it was later given landmark protection and a tax break offered to developers to renovate it.[5] Parts of the building were used from 1990 to 1992 by the Military Technical School of the Bundeswehr. From 1992 to 1994 a part of the building was used to house asylum seekers from the Balkans.

Beginning in early 1993, the facility was empty and the buildings were subject to decay and vandalism. An exception to this was Block 3, Prora Center, which from 1995 to 2005 housed a variety of museums, special exhibitions, and a gallery. Between 1993 and 1999 the site served as one of the largest youth hostels in Europe.

Since 2000, the Documentation Centre Prora has been located at the southern edge of the fairground buildings. This center documents the construction and use history of the building. Discussed here are both the background of the project and its appropriation for Nazi propaganda.

In November 2006, the Federal Agency for Real Estate purchased Block 5. With financial support from the federal government and the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern it planned to establish a youth hostel in the building. Located in the northernmost part of the complex, it was divided into five contiguous parts.

In late 2008, plans were approved to have Prora fill its original purpose and turn it into a modern tourist resort. The council set out plans to build enough living space to house 3,000 people, as well as a youth hostel, and amenities for tourists. Kerstin Kassner, a local councillor, compared Prora's shore with a "Caribbean beach". However, the decision met with some skepticism from Binz locals, who felt that there were already too many tourists in the region, and Heike Tagsold, a Prora historian, who said that the town's past made it an inappropriate location for tourists. Nevertheless, in 2011 the long-planned large youth hostel with 402 beds in 96 rooms opened; it is the largest youth hostel in Germany and has been popular. A possible expansion of the facility aimed toward budget-minded tourists has been proposed.[9]

A November 2017 update indicated that most of the units (flats) in Block 1 had been sold, having been marketed as summer homes for those who live in Hamburg and Berlin.[8] Many were listed by owners as short term rentals.

Prora was featured in the video game Civilization V, specifically within the expansion pack Civilization V: Brave New World. It appears in the game as a world wonder associated with the ideology of Autocracy.[14][15]

The wind from the sea cuts through our jackets. The clouds are dark, like the chain of ruins we're trudging along. Block after block, they line the coast for kilometers. It's like a bizarre dream in which you walk and walk and never arrive.

We skip ahead to the summer of 2019. There's dappled sunlight on the Baltic Sea. My hair is wet from swimming. I watch the children playing on Prora's beach with its fine golden sand, one of the loveliest on the Baltic. A little boy wants to save all the jellyfish by dragging them back into the shallow sea. Couples relax in roofed wicker beach chairs; families fly kites.

The new spa area has a sauna and indoor swimming pool. Children paddle in the two outside pools. The lobby is a new glassed-in extension. The walls behind the reception desk are covered in plants. A huge screen displays impressions of the Baltic Sea.

I can scarcely wait to rediscover the huge complex that has changed so much. But this time I want to go by bicycle. There is now a place to rent them, also in Block II, where a hairdressing salon, a boutique, an Italian restaurant, a bistro with fish sandwiches, a burger restaurant, a cafe and a bakery have now opened.

The promenade is so popular that I have to cycle carefully. I leave behind Block I, which houses another hotel, on my way northwards. Block III, where holiday apartments are also set to be built, is a mixture of unrenovated sections, whitewashed segments and construction sites.

Behind it lies the historical center of the KdF complex, where a festival hall, cafes, swimming, gymnastics and concert halls and theaters were planned. It's well worth taking a long break to see the permanent exhibition MACHTUrlaub, which the Prora Documentation Centre has been showing since 2004. Guided tours of the grounds also reveal exciting and surprising details about the architecture and history of the KdF complex.

That also interested vacationers from my hotel whom I met on the tour. "Actually, the beautiful location right on the beach brought us here, and the fact that it's accessible by train and was less expensive than comparable accommodation in Binz," says a couple from the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, who are here with their 13-year-old son. "But as we're already here, we wanted to know more about its history." They say they would recommend the exhibition and the guided tour.

Other parts of the colossus are large building sites: among other things, a supermarket and doctors' offices are planned in the historical center. In contrast, Block IV has been renovated to a great extent, with holiday lets and other apartments, along with assisted living for the elderly. In front of Block V, where the "world's longest youth hostel" opened in 2011, I meet a Swedish family who is here only because of Prora's history, like a number of other day-trippers from all over Europe. Holidaymakers who spend the night here, among them many young families, are attracted mainly by the lovely beach, which isn't as full as the one in Binz.

There is a lot of biodiversity in the flora and fauna that managed to settle in the abandoned complex. Rare bat species and European swallows, for which new nesting places have been created on the renovated sections, are a treat for the eyes and the best protection against mosquitos. The Prora Natural Heritage Centre's interactive exhibition, a 15-minute cycle ride from the colossus, informs visitors about habitats on-site and offers guided walks.

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