Hitler’s Holiday Camp – The Nazi ruin of a seaside resort in Prora!

Hitler?

Prora?

A holiday camp?

A what?

A holiday camp!

In Nazi Germany?

You’ve got to be joking?

PLEASE READ: None of my photographs feature forbidden or illegal illustrations however, some of the historical links that I have enclosed, might lead to offensive material that show NAZI symbols & Third Reich / National Socialism literature.

I live in Germany.

The significance or otherwise, of anything Hitler or Nazi related is controversial.

You can’t hide it.

You can’t ignore it.

And you certainly shouldn’t forget it.

So what’s this all about then?

Remember when I said we went on holiday.

To Rügen.

On the Baltic Sea.

Well, it’s got something to do with that.

Well, go on then.

Read on!

Hitler’s Holiday Camp!

Hitler’s Holiday Camp was a holiday resort project that was built by Nazi Germany between 1936 and 1939 on the island of Rügen.

The holiday camp was called Prora.

Prora, otherwise known as Der “Koloss” von Rügen / the Colossus of Prora, was a beach resort complex that consisted of eight (8) gigantic identical buildings, was 4.5 km / 2.8 miles long, stood right on the beach, and went on and on as far as the eye could see.

The seaside resort was built for the purpose of encouraging leisure and promoting the advantages of National Socialism to the ordinary every day German, via the motto of Kraft durch Freude (KdF) or Strength through Joy.

The ideology was so ingrained that it became a part of the Deutsche Arbeitsfront (DAF) or the German Labour Front so much so that in the 1930’s, it even became one of the largest tourism operators in the world!

However.

Prora was never actually completed!

The buildings were abandoned, the seaside resort fell into disrepair and it ended up being a historical ruin.

After the Second World War, Germany was divided by the Allied Forces and the USSR took over Eastern Germany.

As a result, the holiday camp was never actually used for the purpose for which it was created but employed for military purposes by the Soviet Army, the East German Army and later, by the Bundeswehr or the German Army!

Prora is classified as a heritage monument and like the Tempelhof Airport in Berlin, the Haus am Werderschen Markt or the former Reichsbank building in Berlin, the Detlev-Rohwedder-Haus in Berlin, and many other buildings dotted in the capital city and throughout Germany, a conspicuous example of Nazi Architecture!

Now I’ve been living the expat life in Germany for years, but until 2 years ago, I had never even heard of it!

And here’s why.

The holiday camp is being cleaned-up, renovated and converted into luxury holiday homes!

I have to tell you.

I’m not sure how I feel about it.

Actually, I do know how I feel about it.

I don’t like it.

It’s bonkers.

And weird.

Worst of all.

We went there and I have to tell you, the history was interesting, the idea that someone could even attempt such a feat of buildings was mind-blowing, the staff at Das Dokumentationszentrum Prora or the Documentation Centre Prora were really nice and friendly, and the beach was rather lovely!

In fact, one of the best!

Should you go to Hitler’s Holiday Camp in Prora?

Yes!

No!

I’m not sure!

It depends.

On what?

On why you want to see it.

As I said above, I’m uncomfortable with erasing history because when you do this, you forget everything that was bad, and glorify only the good.

As far as Nazi Germany is concerned, there is absolutely nothing good about it.

In any form or way.

But when you get rid of the embarrassment and put luxury homes and apartments, fancy pools and enticing restaurants in, it’s easy to forget who those people were and what they believed in.

And then we never get to learn and simply repeat mistakes of the past.

I’m a strong advocate of choice and making your own mind up as to what to do or not to do, unless it affects the lives of other people.

If you want to see what history has left us, go there and see these buildings as soon as you can.

We were there in July, there’s only a few of the original buildings left!

Go soon.

Anything else?

Obviously, you need to live in the EU at the moment or be one of the lucky nations allowed to send tourists to Germany.

If you’d like to go to the other parts of Germany, please do your research because like everywhere else in the world, things can change. Germany is brilliantly safe but nowhere on earth is by any means guaranteed as due to recent Covid-19 break-outs, some German destinations aren’t always allowing German native tourists either!

German federal states will now require negative COVID-19 tests from out-of-state visitors who live in areas hit by a coronavirus outbreak. https://t.co/Lbgmo8Esck

— DW News (@dwnews) June 27, 2020

Here’s some information about Prora:

1. Das Dokumentationszentrum Prora /The Prora Documentation Centre: Don’t worry, the info is in English & German!
2. The Virtual Tour of Prora – Hitler’s Holiday Camp: Don’t bother with the Berlin website that is given, as it doesn’t work! Go straight to the diagram that you see on the virtual tour. Click on the red dots in the graphics, to see photographs of the building complex as it is today. Pretty nifty!
3. The Permanent Exhibition – MACHT Urlaub / Make Holiday: The permanent exhibition at the moment is MACHTUrlaub / Make Holiday! We arrived 15 minutes before closing time. I really wanted to see the exhibition so the staff allowed us to buy tickets that were heavily discounted. It’s pretty good!

p.s If you’re booking hotels, houses and apartments, use this link to save 20% or more, between 5th January and 31st March 2021!

Booking.com

As much as I love train travel, I wouldn’t recommend using public transport at the moment and for goodness sake, try not to fly!

To be candid, the countries that we, as Germans and expat Brits, absolutely CANNOT travel to right now are the Balkan countries (minus Croatia), Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Turkey, Georgia, Moldova. And the rest of the entire world!

As far as the German Federal Office is concerned, the travel warning for the vast majority of the globe will continue until at least August 31st, although it might change and be lifted on a country-by-country basis.

Because as you might have already seen, NOT every country is allowing everyone in.

Some countries request that you self-isolate or entry is restricted or you might be asked to quarantine.

If you’re from the USA or a “third country” outside the EU, quite frankly, you’re buggered right now!

And besides, for most countries, and certainly in Germany, foreign travel isn’t recommended at all!

However if you insist, here’s a list of Europe’s country-by-country travel restrictions explained as well as the very reliable web platform created by the EU!

Obviously, no-one is going to tie you in ropes IF you do go abroad, but if anything goes wrong, you’re on your own!

The fact is that primarily tourists destinations are over-whelmed, and there’s a legitimate and very huge risk that if you DO travel far and wide, your destination might have a sudden increase in outbreak, your friends or family might get infected, you are forced into quarantine for a certain unforeseeable amount of time, and if you’re very unlucky, the borders might close.

Again!

If you’re tired of reading bad news or anything at all about covid19, check out my upbeat and funny posts here instead!

Is this the future?

The stark reality is, there is NO “business as usual.”

How can there be?

Until we get a vaccine, and perhaps, even beyond.

There’s only a “new normal.”

The simple fact is, the COVID-19 isn’t a conspiracy theory, it isn’t the end of time, and the stock market isn’t more important than people’s lives, but given the closeness, speed, reliance and ease in which we connect via global trade or travel, is a real legitimate worry.

Start thinking about a staycation as most regions around the world, are beginning to re-open.

In fact, this might be the time to jump in your car / on your bike, and explore where you live.

Yep!

It’s time to go local and explore!

But remember, no jumping on the nearest plane and causing havoc abroad!

Just ‘cos there’s a relaxation of lockdown doesn’t mean that Covid-19 has disappeared.

It hasn’t.

It’s still very much with us and likely to be around for quite some time!

So if you’re looking for a change of scenery, stay local!

Even better, stay home!

I mean, come on!

Is it just me?

See you next week!

Hitler’s Holiday Camp in Prora!

Stay on top of things by listening / reading the news, but don’t go mad. Watch or read once, then switch it off!

To be sure, life will NOT be what it was before and you can expect real change about the way we choose to live, and the political leaders you can trust.

Speaking of trust. As far as travel blogs are concerned, you can trust ME!

I do NOT write about places that I haven’t personally been to.

I do NOT get paid to write on my blog.

All content will continue to remain free of charge but if you feel like buying me a cup of tea, I will graciously accept!

Once again if you can, please do stay at home, keep your distance from others, and flatten the curve!

Better to be safe than sorry.

Don’t forget, please SHARE this post!

Hitler’s Holiday Camp – The Nazi ruin of a seaside resort in Prora!

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If you want to keep up with reliable news on what’s going on around the world, you can follow me here.

Don’t forget.

Click here!

And book your luxury hotel for 2021 right here!

Don’t judge me!

HITLER’S HOLIDAY CAMP – THE NAZI RUIN OF A SEASIDE RESORT IN PRORA!

This article is not sponsored, and all thoughts and opinions, are my very own!

A huge thanks goes to all the many doctors, nurses, healthcare staff, keyworkers and volunteers world-wide, who have and are still, putting their lives on the line in order to help others.

Thank you.

August is going to be something most of us have never ever seen in our lifetime before.

See you soon!

Watch this space!

Note! I never travel without insurance as you never know what might happen.

I learnt my lesson in Spain. And obviously, in countries like Qatar, where technically the risk is higher, I can’t imagine going that far beyond WITHOUT INSURANCE. No siree! You can get yours here, at World Nomads!

So what are you waiting for?

Thanks a million!

Did you know that Hitler had a holiday camp? Have you been to Prora? Let me know in the comments below!

See you in Berlin.

If you have any questions, send me a Tweet, talk to me on Facebook, find me on LinkedIn, make a comment below or send me an Email: victoria@thebritishberliner.com

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