Den siste hele dagen på Rügen tok jeg en tur til Binz, den største badebyen på øya. Det plasket ned på starten av fredagen, men jeg hadde sett på værvarselet at det skulle bli bedre ut over dagen. Derfor tok jeg turen ut i håp om at regnet skulle gi seg og at det skulle lysne opp og bli ganske fint vær. Det regnet ganske mye, men allerede ved 13-tiden på formiddagen begynte det å lysne opp litt og det gikk sakte men sikkert den rette veien. Jeg tok en liten runde langs «strandpromenaden» i Binz og tok litt bilder i påvente at sola skulle bryte igjennom. Og det gjorde den etterhvert, og da ble det i grunn ganske fint. En del skyer og sola som bryeter igjennom og med litt innslag av blå himmel er utrolig fint! Men det aller beste når jeg skal ta bilder er at sola er delvis bak ei sky, ellers blir det fort problemer med strølys, ghost og andre optiske abnormaliteter.
Først litt informasjon om Binz fra wikipedia:
Binz is the largest seaside resort on the German island of Rügen.
It is situated between the bay of Prorer Wiek and the Schmachter See (a lake) in the southeast of the island. To the north of Binz stretches the Schmale Heide (the «narrow heath»), a tongue of land which joins the Muttland region of Rügen to the Jasmund peninsula. The land to the south and east of Binz is hilly, reaching a height of over 100 metres above sea level.
Binz is famous for its charming and well-kept historical resort architecture and the natural scenery, close to the Jasmund National Park and its chalk cliffs.
Binz lies on the eastern coast of the island of Rügen between the bay of Prorer Wiek and the lake of Schmachter See. North of Binz is the Schmale Heide, a neck of land that links the Muttland – Rügen’s central region – with the peninsula of Jasmund. East and south of the municipality, the land is rolling, in the southeast, in the Granitz, the land climbs to just over 100 m above sea level (NN). The resort of Prora belongs to Binz.
Fishing and farming village
In 1318 the places was mentioned for the first time, as Byntze , in a tax collection document for the County of Streu (Grafschaft Streu). The heart of the settlement was the middle of the present Bahnhofstraße and Rabenstraße. In addition there were the farmsteads of Granitz-Hof and Aalbeck. The church village and centre of the parish was Zirkow.
A first sign of its subsequent importance as a Baltic Sea resort arose as early as around 1830, when guests of the Prince of Putbus bathed at the mouth of the Ahlbeck (the outflow of the Schmachter See). In 1835 a one-classroom school was established. Around 1850 Binz farmers purchased the land hitherto rented to them by the Prince of Putbus.
Until 1326 the village was part of the Principality of Rügen and thereafter of the Duchy of Pomerania. With the Treaty of Westphalia of 1648 Rügen, and hence Binz, became part of Swedish Pomerania. In 1815 Binz became part of New Western Pomerania within the Prussian Province of Pomerania.
From 1818 to 4 September 2011 Binz belonged, apart from a short interruption (1952-1955 Kreis Putbus) to the county of Rügen.
Development as a Baltic Sea resort
Around 1875, bathing in the sea came into vogue. The first guests arrived in the small town of Binz, took a liking to it, and recommended it to others. That same year the first road was built connecting the village to the beach (Putbuser Straße). Ten years later, Binz officially became a bathing resort, which meant that building took off: the beach promenade, the pier, the spa house (Kurhaus), a new network of paths and a narrow-gauge railway connection were built. Around 1870, 80 bathers were counted in one year. No large hotels were built in Binz and other resorts on the Baltic coast in the late 19th century; instead lodging houses in a villa style were built in a style known as resort architecture They were given names associated with the Zeitgeist: nationalistic names like «Germania» or names of family members – often the first name of the wife of the builder. In 1876, the first hotel was built. In 1880, Wilhelm Klünder had the first hotel near the beach built: the appropriately named Strandhotel.
In 1888 die Binz Baltic Sea Resort Company (Aktiengesellschaft Ostseebad Binz) was founded, which in 1890 opened the first spa house, the Kurhaus Binz and went bust in 1891. In 1892 Binz was elevated to the status of an independent rural municipality.
Around 1896, the Bräunlich shipping company linked the settlements of Stettin, Binz and Sassnitz with one other. This was followed by a building boom. In 1893 the first spa house and the Kaiserhof were built. In 1895, the construction of the Rügen Light Railway from Putbus to Binz followed, as well as the opening of the beach promenade. In 1898, the first post office was built (Haus Kliesow, Hauptstraße). On the beach separate swimming pools were created for men and women. In 1902, a 600-metre-long pier was built. Other infrastructure projects included the construction of a drinking water supply and sanitation (1903) and the 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 burning down of the spa house in 1906. After the reconstruction of the pier in 1908, a new spa house was built. At the same time a family swimming pool was created. In 1912 a section of the pier collapsed, killing 17 people. Then in 1913 in Leipzig, the German Lifeguard Association was established.
In 1913 the Evangelical church was consecrated and, in 1928, the new post office building opened (Zeppelinstraße). Gradually the bathing areas on the beach were closed. In 1922 the men’s swimming pool was demolished and finally, in 1932, the family swimming pool followed suit.
Nazi era
In 1937 the construction of the KdF («Strength Through Joy») resort at Prora began. It was planned to be Europe’s largest seaside resort. The standard gauge Ostseebad Binz railway station was constructed in 1938, and the line from Binz to the junction at Lietzow was opened in 1939. During the winter of 1942 the pier was again destroyed, this time by ice.
GDR era
In 1950, the construction of the Prora complex was completed, and the buildings were used as barracks for the Volkspolizei (People’s Police). Later, they were used to house the Nationale Volksarmee (National People’s Army). The railway line between Binz and Lietzow was re-opened in 1952.
In 1953, the government of the German Democratic Republic (GDR), in which Binz was then situated, initiated «Action Rose». This was the name of the programme under which privately owned hotels, and guest houses were taken into social ownership. These businesses were transferred to the FDGB (the federal body of the East German trade unions), and included in their program of cheap holidays for union members.
After 1972, more holiday centres were built for the FDGB. Between the 1950s and 1985 estates of flats typical of the GDR (Plattenbau) were built both to the north and west of the town.
Following the reunification of Germany, Binz has undergone substantial change. Many of the villas were returned to their previous owners, and the town was restored and modernised. The former FDGB holiday centres were privatised and renovated. In 1994, a new pier, 370 metres long, was opened.
Points of interest
Apart from the numerous early 20th-century hotels and villas in the town centre and along the seaside promenade, its main attractions are its 370-metre-long pier, the mid-19th-century Granitz Hunting Lodge and the enormous Prora complex just north of the town.
Economy and infrastructure
Ostseebad Binz railway station stands at the end of the standard gauge Deutsche Bahn railway line from Stralsund via Bergen auf Rügen. Binz is also linked to the nearby towns of Putbus, Sellin, Baabe and Göhren by the narrow gauge steam railway the Rügensche Bäderbahn, known locally as Rasender Roland.
Jeg måtte jo selvfølgelig ta en tur ut på piren i Binz også, Seebrücke på tysk. Dagens pir er på 370 meter i Binz, litt kortere enn piren i Sellin med andre ord. Men også piren i Binz har vært lengre tidligere. Når den ble bygget første gangen i 1902 var den på 560 meter, da var det også bygd et spa-bygg helt i starten av piren. Men dette spa-bygget brant ned i 1906, men ble bygget opp igjen i 1908. I 1912 kollapset deler av piren og 17 ble drept. Det resulterte i at Deutsche Lebens-Rettungs-Gesellenschaft (livreddningsselskap) ble etablert i 1913. I løpet av vinteren 1942 ble piren ødelagt på grunn av is. Etter hva jeg har forstått, var det først i 1994 at dagens pir på 370 meter så dagens lys.
I tillegg til piren finnes det også andre turistattraksjoner i nærheten, Prora som jeg besøkte de to første dagene jeg var på Rügen og Jagdschloss Granitz. Men dette jaktslottet besøkte jeg ikke. Bare arkitekturen i seg selv er en turistattraksjon spør du meg. Men det er en del av dette langs kysten av Rügen. Når jeg var i Sellin fikk jeg ikke sett så mye på selve byen, da jeg primært var derfor å ta bilder av piren i Sellin. Rügens lengste pir. Men byen er nok verdt en lengre tur. Mens piren i Sellin er mer «spektakulær» eller hva jeg skal kalle det med restaurantbygget Seebrücke helt i starten av piren og deres Tauchgondel helt ytterst, er piren i Binz litt mer ordinær. Mens jeg var helt ytterst ankom båten MS Binz som går mellom Sellin, Binz og Sassnitz. Mulig denne også benyttes til turer utenfor kalkklippene nord for Sassnitz som er en del av nasjonalparken Jasmund. MS Binz lå bare til kai et sted mellom 10 og 15 minutter før den la avgårde nordover til Sassnitz.
Et av de virkelig store og spektakulære byggene langs kysten av Binz ligger rett nord for piren og er Kurhaus Binz. Dette bygget har historie tilbake til 1890, og overlevde andre verdenskrig. Men ble benyttet til å innkvartere soldater og flyktninger under krigen. Etter krigen ble det benyttet av NVA (Nationale Volkswarmee) som rekreasjonssenter for offiserer og soldater som hadde hatt en lang tjeneste. Det var først på 1960-tallet at Kurhaus Binz ble åpnet for turister/gjester igjen. I dag er det et luksushotell som drives av Travel Charme og har et litt høyere prisnivå enn hva jeg velger å legge i et hotellopphold. Men det er ikke værre enn at man betaler sånn ca det samme som de store hotellkjedene tar for et hotellrom her hjemme. Utenfor sesong vel og merke. Men når jeg kan booke et hotell til en brøkdel av prisen som fungerer helt greit, ser jeg ingen grunn til å kaste bort pengene.
Jeg var i Binz fire timer, men siden det plasket ned når jeg kom til byen, så tok det litt tid før jeg begynte å ta bilder. Det er gøy å se det forandre seg såpass mye i løpet av noen få timer. Ofte får man utrolig fine bilder når man går fra drittvær til at sola titter frem og man får se litt blå himmel. Som en ekstra liten bonus fikk jeg med litt kondensstriper på himmelen fra fly som hadde passert også. I motsetning til på turen til Lohme dagen før, var det ganske mange som var på tur på strandpromenaden og ut på piren i Binz denne dagen. Turen min var ikke over for dagen etter Binz, jeg hadde tenkt å dra enda lengre syd på Rügen for å se om jeg kunne få noen fine bilder av solnedgangen!
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