Binz is the largest seaside resort on the island of Rügen. The municipality is part of the Vorpommern-Rügen district in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. It bears the name Binz and the prefix Ostseebad. Binz forms a basic center for its surroundings. The seaside resort is known as a holiday destination for its variety of culture and events, splendid spa architecture, the Granitz hunting lodge, the “Colossus of Prora”, the fine sandy beach and the surrounding nature, which is also documented and made tangible in the Rügen Natural Heritage Center.
By plane
The journey to Binz with scheduled aircraft is quite
problematic due to the distance to commercial airports. The commercial
airport Rostock-Laage internet (IATA: RLG) is 160 km away and offers
only a few scheduled flight connections. Hamburg Airport (IATA: HAM) is
317 km away, Berlin Brandenburg Airport internet wikipediacommons (IATA:
BER) is over 340 km away.
Rügen Airport (IATA: GTI), Rügen Airport,
Güttin 66, 18573 Dreschvitz. Tel.: +49 (0)38306 12 89, fax: +49 (0)38306
211 59, e-mail: info@ostseeflugruegen.de . The Rügen airfield has a 900
m long asphalt runway and is approved for aircraft up to 5.7 t. It is
ideally located in the center of the island for both sport and business
flyers. It is about 24 km to Binz.
By train
Binz has four
train stations on 2 different routes:
Binz train station,
Dollahnerstr. 17, 18609 Binz. Terminal station of the DB, where some
Germany-wide ICE, IC and regional express trains end. A night train line
that starts in Zurich also ends in Binz.
Stop Prora Ost, Am Bahnhof,
18609 Binz. DB train station, about 3.5 km before the Binz terminal
station.
Prora train station, Mukraner Str. 1, 18609 Binz. DB train
station, about 5 km before the Binz terminal station.
Binz LB train
station, Bahnhofstrasse 54, 18609 Binz. The narrow-gauge railway (750
mm) "Rasender Roland" from Putbus to Göhren stops here. About 1.8 km
from Binz train station.
By bus
Flixbus drives to Binz. There
are two long-distance bus stops, the Binz long-distance bus stop is on
Dollahner Strasse, opposite the Binz train station. Another
long-distance bus stop Prora is in Prora.
In the street
Arrival via the A 20 to the exit for the feeder Stralsund/Rügen.
Continue on the feeder road to Stralsund, on the B 96 over the new Rügen
bridge and drive via Bergen on the B 196 via Karow and Prora
(alternatively via Zirkow, Serams) to the Baltic Sea resort of Binz. For
more see the article Rügen.
By bicycle
The Rügen circuit of
the Baltic Coast Cycle Path in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania also makes
a stop in Binz.
The best way to get around in Binz is on foot. Especially in the
center it is difficult to get around by bike due to the large number of
guests. Parking spaces are scarce.
Within the town, the Binzer
Bäderbahn runs from the Binz-Ost LB small station to the Dünenpark and
back via the main station, every 30 minutes from mid-May to the
beginning of October. · Fare: €1, children 5-11 years: €0.50, day
ticket: €2, children €1, free for spa card holders, no luggage
transport.
The Jagdschlossexpress makes a round trip from the pier in
Binz to the Jagdschloss Granitz from May 1st to the end of September. ·
Fare: €7.50, children 5-11 years: €4.
Parking: The largest parking
lot can be found on Proraer Chaussee south of the train station. The
parking lots of the supermarkets are strictly monitored, careless
parking there can quickly become quite expensive.
Bike rental
Pauli's bike shop, Hauptstr. 9a, 18609 Ostseebad Binz. Tel.: +49
(0)38393 66924, mobile: +49-177-5248035, fax: +49 (0)38393 66925, email:
paul700@web.de. Open: daily 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Price: Daily rates: €7.50
to €9, electric bike €20.
Two-wheeler house Deutschmann at the train
station (DB), Dollahner Straße 17, 18609 Ostseebad Binz. Tel: +49
(0)38393 32420. Open: Mon-Fri: 9-18; Sat+Sun: 9-12+17-18. Price: Daily
rates: €7.00 to €10, electric bike €20.
Zweiradhaus Deutschmann,
Proraer Chaussee 4, 18609 Ostseebad Binz (next to the gas station).
Tel.: +49 (0)38393 2927, fax: +49 (0)38393 13047, e-mail:
zweirad-Deutschmann@t-online.de
Jagdschloss Granitz from 1846 and Granitzhaus from 1901
Spa architecture in the whole place
Neo-Gothic evangelical village
church in Binz from 1913
Stella Maris Catholic Church
Museum
Ostseebad Binz, Bahnhofstrasse 54
boardwalk
Kurhaus Binz from 1908
Binz pier from 1994 with a length of 370 meters
Rescue station by
Ulrich Müther, built in 1968, today used by the Binz registry office
Promenade at Schmachter See, redesigned in 2003
Kurpark Park of the
Senses at Schmachter See
Prora
Former KdF and later Prora
barracks, begun in 1935/1939 according to plans by Clemens Klotz,
completed in 1950/56 in the core as a large barracks building, five
kilometers north of Binz, was never completely completed. It is
considered the longest building in the world.
Natural Heritage Center
Rügen with the "Adlerhorst" lookout tower, which offers a panoramic view
of Rügen at a height of 82 m
The fine sandy beach in Binz is about five kilometers long and up to 50 meters wide. The beach promenade with restaurants and hotels runs parallel to the beach. The beach merges into a narrower and somewhat stony natural beach towards the south.
Pool run (running competition)
Beachcup (Mecklenburg-West
Pomerania state championship in beach volleyball)
Blue Wave Festival,
Jazz Music Open Air[
Binz Castle Festival at the Granitz hunting
lodge with medieval market
CultureSummer
Senior Open Chess
Championship
Rügenclassics (vintage car rally)
Rügen circuit
(cycling marathon)
Sand Sculpture Festival
Traditional bathing
hiking spring
wine festival
Resort Architecture Week
Christmas
Market
1318 the place was first
mentioned as "Byntze" in a tax collection of the county Streu. The
core of the settlement was today's middle Bahnhofstrasse and
Rabenstrasse, alongside the individual farmsteads Granitz-Hof and
Aalbeck. The parish village and center of the parish was Zirkow.
A first hint of the later importance as a seaside resort emerged
as early as 1830, when guests of Prince zu Putbus bathed at the
mouth of the Ahlbeck (outflow of the Schmachter See). In 1835 a
one-class school was established. Around 1850, farmers in Binz were
allowed to buy the land previously leased from Prince zu Putbus.
The place was part of the Principality of Rügen until 1326 and
then the Duchy of Pomerania. With the Peace of Westphalia of 1648,
Rügen and thus also the town of Binz became part of Swedish
Pomerania. In 1815, Binz came to the Prussian province of Pomerania
as part of New Western Pomerania. From 1818 Binz belonged to the
local district of Rügen.
Bathing in the sea became fashionable around 1875. The
first guests came to the small town of Binz, took a liking to it and
recommended it to others. In the same year the first road connecting
the village to the beach (Putbuser Straße) was built. Ten years
later, Binz officially became a seaside resort, which resulted in a
lot of building work: the beach promenade, the pier, the Kurhaus, a
new network of paths and the small railroad connection. Around 1870
there were 80 bathers per year. In Binz and other seaside resorts on
the Baltic Sea coast, no large hotels were built at the end of the
19th century, but lodging houses in the villa style of the so-called
resort architecture. They were given names shaped by the zeitgeist:
nationalistic ones such as “Germania” or names of family members -
often the first name of the builder's wife. The first hotel was
built in 1876. In 1880 Wilhelm Klünder had the beach hotel built as
the first hotel near the beach. In 1888 the public limited company
Ostseebad Binz was founded, which opened the first Kurhaus Binz in
1890 and went bankrupt in 1891.
In 1892 Binz gained the
status of an independent rural community. From 1896 ships of the
Stettiner shipping company Braeunlich connected the places
Stettin-Binz-Sassnitz with each other. A brisk construction activity
followed. In 1893 the first Kurhaus and the Kaiserhof were built. In
1895 the Putbus-Binz small train line and the beach promenade were
built, and in 1898 the first post office was built (Kliesow house,
Hauptstrasse). Separate women's and men's baths have been created on
the beach. In 1902 a 600 meter long pier was built. Further
infrastructural measures were the drinking water supply and sewerage
(1903) and the construction of a power station (Jasmunder Straße).
Two setbacks were the destruction of the pier by a storm on New
Year's Eve in 1905 and the fire at the Kurhaus in 1906. After the
pier was rebuilt, a new Kurhaus was built in 1908. A family bathroom
was also created. In 1912, part of the bridge collapsed, killing 16
people, including two children. As a result, the DLRG was founded in
Leipzig in 1913.
In 1913 the Protestant church was
consecrated and in 1928 the new post office building on
Zeppelinstrasse was completed. Little by little, the bathing
establishments built on the beach disappeared. The Herrenbad was
demolished in 1922 and the last one was the family bath in 1932.
In 1937, extensive work began in Prora on
the KdF seaside resort of Rügen, which was to be expanded to become
the largest and most modern seaside resort in Europe. In the same
year the Kurplatz was rebuilt. The Binz station building (now DB)
was built in 1938, and the Lietzow – Binz railway line opened in
1939.
The pier was destroyed again by ice in 1942. After the
Second World War in 1945, refugees and resettlers were housed in
hotels, guest houses and villas.
In 1945 the district
of Rügen and thus also Binz was incorporated into the state of
Mecklenburg of the Soviet occupation zone and belonged there to the
district of Rügen. With the GDR territorial reform in 1952, Binz
became part of the newly created Putbus district, which was
dissolved again in 1955. Since then, Binz has belonged to the Rügen
district in the Rostock district.
1950 Binz Bad became the
SDAG Wismut. The interrupted work on the buildings of the KdF baths
continued after 1950 in order to create barracks for the People's
Police, which were later used by the National People's Army.
In 1952 the Lietzow – Binz railway was put back into operation.
In 1953, the "Rose Action" also took place in Binz. Owners of hotels, guest houses and houses were arbitrarily criminalized, arrested and expropriated. In 1956, the FDGB took over the first holiday home in Binz with the Seeschloß. From 1972 onwards, further holiday homes were built for the FDGB (e.g. Haus Arkona, Haus Rügen, Haus Rugard). A residential area in prefabricated construction was created north of the previous place, which affects the established appearance of the place. The Ahlbeck, which carries the water from the Schmachter See into the Baltic Sea, was piped in the 1950s. The "mouth" of the pipe section is on Binzer Strand and is now provided with a sign. From 1970 to 1985, a large residential area west with 736 prefabricated apartments was built.
In
1990 the Rügen district became part of the state of
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Since the district reform in 2011,
Binz has been in the Vorpommern-Rügen district.
With the
social change in the GDR and the German reunification, there were
also clear changes for Binz. Many of the old villas on the beach
promenade and throughout the village have been returned to their
previous owners. A wave of renovations, reconstructions and new
buildings began. The former FDGB holiday homes have also been
privatized and completely modernized. In addition, numerous new
buildings were built, both on the periphery and in the center. The
streets and sidewalks were extensively repaired and the beach
promenade was extended towards the Prora. The Kurplatz received a
new design.
In 1990 the tourist association Binz e. V.
founded, in 1994 the new, 370 meter long pier was inaugurated, which
replaces the bridge that was destroyed in 1942.
In 1998 the
new municipal administration building was inaugurated on Jasmunder
Strasse. The Haus des Gastes was opened in 2000 and the Kurpark Binz
in 2002. In 2003 the promenade at Schmachter See and the Park of the
Senses were opened. Since May 2007, the entire main street and the
splendid turning area have shone in new splendor.
Geographical location
Binz is located on the east coast of the
island of Rügen between the bay of Prorer Wiek and the Schmachter See.
The Schmale Heide stretches north of Binz, a tongue of land that
connects the Muttland of Rügen with the Jasmund peninsula. To the east
and south of the community the area is hilly, in the south-east there
are heights of just over 100 m above sea level in the Granitz.
congregational structure
The municipality of Ostseebad Binz consists
of the districts of Binz, Jagdschloss Granitz and Prora.
neighboring communities
Neighboring communities of Binz are (starting
from the north) Sassnitz, Bergen, Zirkow, Lancken-Granitz and Sellin.
Binz's economy is primarily geared towards tourism. There are
numerous hotels, inns and restaurants in the village.
Traffic
Binz is on the L 29 state road between Sassnitz and Putbus.
Ostseebad Binz station in the city center is the terminus of the
Lietzow–Ostseebad Binz railway, a branch of the Stralsund–Sassnitz
railway; it is the terminus of ICE and InterCity trains operated by
Deutsche Bahn. Hourly regional trains of the regional express line RE9
run to Stralsund with further stops in Prora and Prora-Ost.
A
second station Binz LB (LB = state railway) is located in the west of
the city on the Rügen small railway ("Rasender Roland") from Putbus to
Göhren (Rügen). It continues south via Sellin and Baabe.
In local
transport, Binz is served by the bus lines of the Verkehrsgesellschaft
Vorpommern-Rügen (VVR), e.g. connected to Sassnitz, Bergen and Göhren.
Throughout the year, buses run here at least every hour on the routes
Königsstuhl-Sassnitz-Binz-Göhren-Klein Zicker and Sassnitz-Binz-Bergen.
Buses run towards Göhren every 15 minutes in the mornings and afternoons
in the summer months and until midnight in the evenings. At the Binz DB
train station, the bus lines are linked to the train service.
The
so-called Binzer Bäderbahn, the use of which is free with the spa card,
opens up the town as a ring line.
The municipality is connected
to the Baltic Coast Cycle Route (EV10), which not only leads to
Stralsund, but also around the entire Baltic Sea as a European EuroVelo
route.
Binz has a primary school for grades 1-4 and the Regional School Ostseebad Binz for grades 5-10, an all-day school; there are also two day-care centers. Binz also has a small library.
The local sports club 1. FC Binz plays in the stadium of unity. The
sports facility with athletics facilities also includes an artificial
turf pitch.
There are three sports halls in Binz:
Sports Hall
Coastal Children (IV)
Sports Hall II
Sports Hall III
sons and daughters of the community
Franziska Dassow (around
1870–after 1902), theater actress
Adalbert Bela Kaba-Klein
(1895-1962), investor in the Binz Kurhaus (with Abraham Lemo, Armin and
Eugen Reichard), stumbling block in front of the Kurhaus
Ulrich
Müther (1934–2007), civil engineer
Sylvia Zacharias (1944–2022),
journalist
Monika Schaal (* 1945), politician (SPD)
Gudrun
Schnirch (born 1945), politician (CDU)
Peter-Michael Diestel (*
1952), politician (DSU, CDU), born in Prora
Gesine Skrzepski (born
1955), politician (CDU)
People related to the place
Otto
Spalding (1863-1945), architect of the Kurhaus Binz
Wolfgang Schnur
(1944-2016), politician (DA), worked as a lawyer in Binz between 1973
and 1978.
Thomas Wilhelm (* 1984), track and field athlete, grew up
in Binz