Have the article read to you!

It originates from Rostock and has conquered the German coasts from there. To this day, the beach chair is a loyal companion on a beach vacation in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Because it offers a lot of protection and a piece of privacy.

Barefoot, I trudge with my children through the deep, fine sand. Our beach bag is not very heavy, because we have the sunscreens, the beach ball set and my crime novel yesterday simply locked in the beach chair number 25. That's ours for this week, and I'm unlocking it now, too, distributing the treasures stored there temporarily. A quick round of lotion, then my offspring are on their way - and I enjoy a moment of peace.

So: spread out a towel in the beach chair, put your legs up. And first take a look around: The view is clear, the horizon over the Baltic Sea blurs into the far distance, and the beach here in Heringsdorf at Usedom seems almost endless again today. Sometimes the other vacationers are almost a bit too close for my liking. That's why I love renting a beach chair. Because it's cozy to start your vacation from a sheltered spot, watching the waves from the solid (wicker) frame of a beach chair. Thomas Mann called this typically German invention a "peculiarly salvaging piece of seating furniture." And the writer, who loved to work on his novels while sitting in a beach chair, was probably right. 

A temporary home

A beach chair is like a temporary home - and one with a view of the sea. It protects you from the sun, from wind and cold, from prying eyes, and also from sandstorms, which are rare here. Probably it is also good against viruses. Above all, it is not already occupied when you arrive in the morning. So you don't have to sneak out of your room early in the morning to mark one of the loungers directly by the pool with your towel, as you do in southern climes. That's relaxing. And in the evening - or during the lunch break - you close up your mini beach cottage, stow a few more utensils in the drawers that serve as pull-out resting cushions for your legs during the day.

A beach chair for the living room

Some Baltic Sea vacationers like life in a beach chair so much that they order one for home afterwards. By the way, the beach chair was "invented" as early as 1882, when the first one was built by the Rostock master basket maker Wilhelm Bartmann. Today, people have long been spoilt for choice, for example at the Korbwerk, Germany's oldest beach chair manufacturer on the Usedom island. There you can stop by and examine many models. Would you like heated seats? A sound system or would you prefer a basket with massage function? Of course, the simple classic is also available there. And no matter which model you choose: A beach chair weighing 65 to 75 kilograms takes around 50 hours of manual work - and 500 meters of plastic tape for the look of the basket. 

For all cases

By the way: beach chairs from the manufactory enjoy a lifetime service. And: There are baskets for everyone, everything and everyone - as single-seater or 4-seater lounge, barrier-free, huge, for children, dolls and for dog, cat, mouse. Oh no, not for mice (yet).

For me, the beach chair is (so far anyway) a reliable vacation companion. And if it gets too cramped for me there, I say goodbye for a short time, go for a swim. Build a sand castle. Taking a stroll along the waves. With the endless horizon firmly in view.

Cover photo: A must for a beach vacation in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern: the beach chair © TMV/Tiemann

More articles from Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania