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It's not just the experiences that make a vacation special; the people also play their part. We visited four great hosts on the Baltic coast and four exciting vacation spots in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and present them to you here.
"At the time, I couldn't sleep for three nights," says Heike Wehr, looking out to sea with a quiet smile. Heike had only three days to decide whether to give up her secure job as a receptionist and start the beach chair rental business in Boltenhagen would like to take over. Where she now tells about it nine years later? In one of her pretty blue and white beach chairs. She decided to take the step into self-employment by the sea and has not regretted it on a single day. "I can't imagine a more beautiful profession," Heike enthuses, running her feet through the morning-cool sand. Now, every year from mid-May to mid-September, her 40 beach chairs stand at beach access 12.
"As a beach chair rental company, you are so much more than someone who just hands out the key. We are wish-fulfillers, psychologists and tourist information all in one," laughs Heike. Many of the visitors have been coming to her for years and already send the booking for the next vacation with the Christmas card. Heike Wehr makes her guests pause and take a deep breath after a stressful journey and also likes to place people traveling alone next to each other. "This has already resulted in friendships for life," Heike is pleased to say. And why is she also a tourist guide? "Because I like to tell people where they can get the most beautiful view of the sunset and where they can get the best fish sandwiches."
By train and bus comfortably to Boltenhagen: Plan arrival.
Entering the beautiful Gallery Café on the island of Poel, you don't know what you want to look at first. Claudia Drossert's shop near the harbor in Kirchdorf is a dream in light blue and white. Postcards hang in the large shop window, handmade items and stationery lie on the shelves and little tables - and Claudia's works hang and lie everywhere. Claudia is a photo artist. She photographs the sea, animals and landscapes and then digitally processes the images to make them look like paintings. "The more abstract, the better," Claudia says, laughing her bright, friendly laugh.
And although Claudia's gallery café fits perfectly into the idyllic village, it hasn't always been here. "I spent a lot of vacations on the island and only knew the business from the outside," says the Leipzig native. "When I dared to realize my dream of a gallery café on the island, the store owners responded to my newspaper ad. It was an absolute stroke of luck!" People come by to browse, have breakfast or a piece of Gugelhupf. Claudia bakes it fresh every day and always a little differently. Today, the pieces are served with a shot of eggnog and strawberries - and tomorrow? "Just come by," she says with a grin and carries the cake out to the waiting guests.
By train and bus comfortably to the island of Poel: Plan arrival.
A fine scent of incense floats through the air. Caty Ost bends over the large reservation book and goes through the entries for the next few days. In the winter garden of the feels Beach Club Hotel in Kühlungsborn it is quiet, many hotel guests are at this hour still in bed or already on the beach. Until a few minutes ago, Caty was also on the small section of beach that belongs to the hotel. She did her morning SUP lap on the water there. "I love and need the sea. That's why when we got the go-ahead for this property, it was a real dream come true." She and her husband Oliver took over what was then the Sailor's Inn water sports center in 2018 and completely remodeled it. Today, the feels is a Southeast Asian-inspired hotel. "A visit to our property is an all-around sensory experience," Caty tells us. Guests are handed a warm, lemongrass-scented towel to freshen up when they check in. The furnishings were chosen for a great feel, and the kitchen uses fresh and local ingredients.
Caty grew up in the hotel business. Her grandparents ran Pension Lotte in Kühlungsborn and her parents also worked in the hotel business. "I never really wanted to do the same thing as my parents," Caty says, laughing happily, "but then I found I liked it." Especially since she can implement all her ideas in her own business. "The environment is very important to us and we are currently in the process of becoming sustainably certified," Caty says proudly.
By train and bus comfortably to Kühlungsborn: Plan arrival.
"Even as a child, I admired the lifeguards," says André Rieckhoff, looking attentively over the beach and the Baltic Sea. "I've been with the DLRG since I was eleven and I still love it today, almost 30 years later," he proudly plucks at his red T-shirt, which goes well with his red swimming trunks. André is a lifeguard with the DLRG (German Life Saving Association) on the beach at Graal-Müritz. From the rescue tower, a modern wooden building that seems to merge with the dune landscape, he keeps an overview.
Today it's wonderfully warm and sunny, but "even when it rains it's beautiful here," Rieckhoff finds. "Despite the sometimes very exciting volunteer work, I feel decelerated here. There's no place more beautiful." He says he enjoys helping people. Thanks to André and his colleagues, vacation guests can also splash around in the waves without worrying, because help is never far away.
By train comfortably and without traffic jams to Graal-Müritz: Plan arrival.
Table tennis, mini golf and beach volleyball: On the natural beach of Zierow, a resort in the west of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, boredom is a foreign word. Young and old alike feel at home here, whether on the playground, in the shallow water or in the beach chairs, which are set up from mid-May to the end of September. Refreshments are available at various snack bars and in the red wooden house of the Café Strandhaus, which serves delicious sandwiches and fine cakes. Those who like it colorful should keep the weekend of August 26-28 free. Then, during the Show Kites Tour, kites up to 30 meters high decorate the sky and air sculptures up to four meters high adorn the beach.
By train and bus comfortably to Zierow: Plan arrival.
Whether in the movies or as a photo: In one form or another, almost everyone has seen the vampire Nosferatu. The film character with the hunched shoulders, the big googly eyes and pointed ears is world famous. Few people know that the vampire film "Nosferatu - A Symphony of Horror" was shot in Germany, or rather in the then Weimar Republic. And that exactly 100 years ago. In 1922, director Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau chose Wismar, among other places, as a filming location. For example, the scenes feature St. Mary's Church, the Water Gate and the harbor. The Vampire Jubilee will now be celebrated in the summer of 2022. Visitors can look forward to themed tours of the old town and the theater summer in St. Georgen Church Wismar with the horror comedy "Nosferatu - ein Drehtag des Grauens, Klappe die Zweite".
By train comfortably and without traffic jams to Wismar: Plan arrival.
For just 366 years, from 1186 to 1552, the monastery in Bad Doberan the home of the Cistercians. I wonder if the monks also noticed the beauty of their monastery church back then. Today, the mighty Doberan Cathedral is called the "Pearl of North German Brick Gothic" and is one of the most important High Gothic brick buildings in Europe. But the other monastery buildings are also impressive. On the almost two-square-kilometer site, for example, there is also the pretty old bailiwick with gatehouse and stables, which is the ideal starting and ending point for a visit to the monastery. Today, the visitor center is located in the Marstall, which houses, among other things, a large model of the monastery complex around 1550. However, one looks in vain for the neo-Gothic Möckelhaus on the model. It was only built in 1886 and today houses the town and spa museum.
By train comfortably and without traffic jams to Bad Doberan: Plan arrival.
There are not many places left in Germany where it gets really dark at night. The Mecklenburg ParkLand is one of them and thus offers the ideal conditions for observing stars. On the new astronomical nature trail "De Sternkieker" visitors can admire and explore the starry sky at six stations; information boards, telescopes, wide loungers and binoculars help. The six stations all have different thematic focuses. In the Wesselstorf Manor Park, for example, the formation of stars and supernovae is the theme, and in the Lühburg Castle Park everything revolves around the influence of the moon on nature and man.
Cover photo: Rieckhoff and his team keep a close eye on beachgoers in Graal-Müritz © TMV - Markus Tiemann
