Baltic Sea and More, part 4 -- the Concentration Camp

January 2025 saw the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi concentration camps in Germany. We watched the tv coverage of the events, and when we were planning this trip, Norbert said he would like to visit one of the memorials.

So on the Thursday morning, we left the Müritz area and drove about an hour and a half south to Oranienburg, just north of Berlin.

The Gedankstätte and Museum Sachsenhausen is the site of the Sachsenhausen Kz (Konzentrationslager) a concentration camp. It was operated by the Nazis from 1933 to 1945. Overall it held more than 200,000 prisoners, with more than 30,000 killed on site. After the war, the Soviets took it over and used it until 1950. Around 60,000 people were held there over the five years, and at least 12,000 died of disease and malnutrition.

It is now operated by a foundation and is open free of charge. 

Guard tower.

The guard house and main entrance to the camp itself.

This the "neutral zone". Wikipedia tells us, "The neutral zone was located between the camp wall and the prisoners' camp. Between the zone and the wall was a trip wire, cheval de frise, barbed-wire obstacles, an electrified barbed-wire fence, and a sentry path"

And if that wasn't enough, this sign warns that anyone found there would be shot on sight,

Of the many barracks, only two remain. 

You can visit room Nr. 51, which is stripped to the walls. Eleven Jewish youths were held in this room for one year, as tests were conducted on them with such diseases as hepatitis. Surprisingly, most or all survived.

German law required an autopsy for every death. The sheer number of deaths made this difficult, so they resorted to short cuts, with most of the autopsies done by prisoners. 

Some of the photographs and descriptions on display may be disturbing, but on the whole there is nothing gruesome there. It is more a place of quiet and reflection on man's inhumanity to man.

it is also heavily visited by teen-aged students. There must have been several hundred there when we visited, and we heard at least three different languages. One can only hope that they understood the message of the camp.

The Baltic Sea and more, May 2025, part three

 We said goodbye to the Baltic and drove about an hour and a half south to the Müritz Seenplatte (Muritz Lake District). Lots of water! Our first stop was the city of Warem, more or less the main point of the area.

The attraction there is the Müritzeum, a museum which serves as a "visitor center and discovery center" for the area. It had various exhibits, and a small aquarium. On the whole, we found it rather small and disappointing, especially considering the entrance fee of 15 Euros per person.

We drove on and a bit further on we found a Rewe grocery store which had not only a bakery with cafe but also a small bistro. Perfect for lunch!

We continued south towards our hotel, but, it being too early to check in, we continued on to the town of Robel, pretty much on the southern end of this particular lake. It offered a large parking lot just across the street from the harbor.

There were various shops and food stands, of course, but this being a warm sunny day, there was only one thing that would hit the spot.

At last time to check in, so we did. The Müritzer Landhotel zur grüner Baum.

Friendly staff, nice room, good restaurant and lovely outside eating area next to, what else, a small lake. 

Local fish for me, and shrimp scampi for Norbert. Excellent food and a lovely atmosphere. 

The breakfast the next morning did not match the quality of dinner. It was completely adequate, though. After a lazy morning we drove around the lake to Rechlin. 

On the way, we stopped here. NETTO is a chain of discount supermarkets throughout Germany. We passed many NETTO stores like the ones we know, and were surprised to see NETTO stores with a totally different logo and color scheme. So of course we had to visit one!

We asked the cashier whether the two NETTO chains were related -- they are not. She told us that this NETTO is a Danish chain which had established itself in (the former East Germany). How they all cope with copyrights, etc., is beyond me.

Lunchtime! We found another outdoor cafe (covered, fortunately) and ate there. This was our view. It is hard to tell but there was a public harbor, and we could watch people unload their boats from the trailers and sail away. Except for one guy who couldn't really figure it out, and had to give up in disgust (and to the smirks of the harbor employees).

Naps in teh afternooon, and a quick dash to Robel for sandwiches from Aldi, which we ate in the room. Aldi Nord has excellent sandwiches!

On the whole, we were disappointed in the area. Lovely landscape, very little access to the water. Many of the "attractions" looked like cheap knock-up "make a quick Euro" type things. It's a large area, though, and perhaps we just weren't at the right area.

The Baltic Sea and more, May 2025: Part 2

 We decided to visit the Hanseatic City of Stralsund (given city rights in 1234) but not the neighboring island of Rügen, a popular tourist destination. The "new" bridge connecting the two is undergoing massive renovation, with long backups as everyone is forced onto the "old" two lane bridge.

Along the way we saw storks! It is hard to tell, but that is a stork nest on the chimney top. We also saw several flying. 

We also saw this. Graffii about the "local" football team is very common. 

We arrived in Stralsund and the major impression is of roadworks. Everywhere. We did manage to find the parking garage we were seeking, but it was definitely not easy.

We also learned something which proved true later as well. Just because a parking garage is named for an attraction, does not mean that it is actually near the attraction. Unless you consider a 10-minute walk near.

Our goal was the Ozeaneum (Ocean Musem), located in a lovely modern bulding on the waterfront. 

These may look like bird skeletons, but they are actually from whales!

They also have an aquarium.

We ate lunch at the museum cafe, and then admired the old buildings as we strolled back to the garage.

This was on the grounds of a pottery, made using shards. Love the eye!

We made our way back with difficulty out of the Old Town and Norbert decided we would, indeed, visit Rügen. Fortunately the traffic was very light and we had no back up.

It is a very large island! We avoided the beachy-resorty areas and headed to the Jasmund National Park, which feature the island's white chalk cliffs. There is a skywalk at one called the Königsstuhl (King's Chair). 

A lovely experience!

The afternoon traffic jam was apparently starting by the time we left, but fortunately for us it was backed up in the other direction. And I do mean backed up, quite a long way!

We topped off the day with a dinner of sandwiches from Aldi, which were quite good!

The Baltic Sea and more, May 2025

 On a Saturday in May, Norbert and I took off on a road trip to the former East Germany. His radio hobby group was having its annual get-together near Berlin, and we decided to combine it with visits to the Baltic Sea, which neither of us had ever visited, and the Meckleburgische Seenplatte (lake district), which we had long thought about visiting.

It was 7 hours or so to the sea, so we decided to cut the trip in half. Our firat night was at an Autobahn hotel just south of Hamburg. It was adequate, had everything one needed, even if it was an experience we probably won't repeat if it can be avoided,

The next day we continued on to the northeast. As we approached Wismar, with signs of its historic Old Town, we decided to take a look. We bumbled our way right to the town square, and easily found a parking place (Sunday morning made that easy.) 

History lesson: Wismar is a Hanseatic city, a major trading center of the Hanseatic League in the 14th and 15th centuries.

This building may look like a ruin, but it isn't. It was, however, built in 1380. It is called the "Alte Schwede" (Old Swede), in reference to the 17th and 18th centuries, when Wismar belonged to Sweden. There is now a restaurant in the building, bearing that name. 

Onward,

We soon arrive in our destination of Graal-Müritz, directly on the Baltic. It took us several tries to find out hotel, and frankly we never did figure out the direct way to get around in the town.

We stayed at the Hotel & Restaurant Kähler, which I can highly recommend. Great location, adequate parking, very nice room, and a great restaurant, Dinner and breakfasts there were wonderful,

It was right on a street which led not only to the beach but also directly to the pier, or "Seebrücke". The road is of course lined with shops, cafes, restaurants, hotels, and apartments. An easy walk and fun stuff to look at, like this giant waffle. 

One cones finally to the pier. 

Norbert walked all the way out to the end, but my knees did not think I should do the same. I was happy to sit and look around, 

Dinner in the hotel restaurant: fresh white asparagus with Hollendaise. Soooo good!