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Week of Resort Architecture 2025

07. - 14. September 2025

Because we are proud of our past, we celebrate it accordingly - at the Week of Resort Architecture. With lectures, films and guided tours, tours, music evenings and light illuminations, painting courses, documentation and wind installations. The longing architecture of the imperial baths is illuminated from all sides. Literally.

Opening

19:45 Opening with Moderation & DJ
20:00 Presenting with nostalgic charm the gentlemen from the gas station Singing, dancing and acting from old UFA sound films.

Fascinating video mapping shows and static light projections
The historic facades of the Ahlbeck pier, the Ahlbecker Hof hotel and the Meereswelle hotel will be showcased. The installations will be until 15.09 September from 20:00 to 23:00 to be admired.

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Discover spa architecture

Even Berlin's elite were drawn to the island and the imperial spas at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century. The nobility, the upper middle class, civil servants, artists, scholars, entrepreneurs and bankers could not resist the maritime charm, the fine sand and the salty breeze. Famous people and important entrepreneurs had villas, guest houses and hotels built in Ahlbeck, Heringsdorf and Bansin in the styles of classicism, neo-renaissance, neo-baroque, art nouveau or a "mix of styles".

 

The style icons of spa architecture, with their whitewashed facades, small towers, curved gables and filigree ornaments, still stand today, strung like pearls on a chain. If you stroll along the kilometer-long promenade from pier to pier, you can still feel the splendor of the imperial spas' past. The buildings of the spa architecture are reminiscent of times when carriages still drove through the streets, the emperor himself came on a flying visit, there were still men's, women's and family baths and people still entered the cool water in their bathing suits.

Even back then, the “Grand Dame” in Ahlbeck, the oldest pier in Germany, was a magnet for visitors. And even today, its wooden planks lead weightlessly over the shallow surf of the Baltic Sea.

And because we are proud of our past, we celebrate it accordingly: During the annual week of spa architecture, the special buildings are illuminated from all sides - with lectures, films, guided tours, walks, music evenings, light illuminations, painting courses, documentaries and wind installations.

Our spa architecture is
Historical

The villas of the nobility and elite of the late 19th and early 20th centuries were built just a stone's throw from the Baltic Sea. Even today, you can stroll past them between the Baltic Sea and the coastal forest. This chapter of history can also be wonderfully discovered on a guided tour.

Unique

With their columns and bay windows, turrets and balustrades, stucco decorations and open staircases, the houses are reminiscent of a bygone era. But every house, every villa and every summer residence has its own story to tell. From Ahlbeck to Bansin, you can go on a unique search for traces in the imperial spas.

Diverse

Nowhere else is there such a wealth and variety of spa architecture as in Ahlbeck, Heringsdorf and Bansin. Whether villa, fairytale castle, guest house or hotel: in the imperial spas you will find a real smorgasbord of representative buildings of different styles, colours and construction methods.

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Jewels of spa architecture

With their many columns and bay windows, turrets and balustrades, stucco decorations and open staircases, the buildings of the spa architecture are reminiscent of a bygone world. The imagination of the clients and architects at the time of the last German emperor must have been running wild when they developed the ideas for the magnificent villas. Whether summer residences in classicist, historicist or Art Nouveau forms - all buildings are witnesses to a historical era that has become a valuable cultural heritage for the imperial spas.

The Kaiserbäder are also characterized by the wooden buildings constructed from prefabricated parts from the end of the 19th century onwards, based on the model of Swiss farmhouses or Nordic-Viking building traditions. Many of them were manufactured by the Wolgaster Aktiengesellschaft für Holzverarbeitung, which is considered the oldest German company in the production of prefabricated wooden buildings and began producing transportable houses before 1900.

Villas Carmen and Niedermeyer

These two houses embody different construction and style features that are typical of resort architecture. They have always exerted a special attraction on visitors. The artistic stucco facade of Villa Carmen is a real eye-catcher and contributes to the beauty of the surroundings. Several celebrities also moved into the villa as their summer quarters when the Ufa film stars discovered Bansin in the 1920s and 1930s. Villa Gradehand, built in 1888/89 and later known as Utkiek and Villa Niedermeyer, is a fine example of a prefabricated wooden house based on Nordic building traditions.

Villen Carmen und Niedermeyer

Villa Hintze

The "Pension Hintze" in Delbrückstrasse is one of the outstanding villas of historicist spa architecture. It was built at the end of the 19th century and, with its richly decorated facade, is one of the most representative houses of this era in the magnificent imperial spas. In 2000 and 2009, the facade of the villa was extensively restored. It now lets the house shine in new splendor. The building is located slightly higher up on a very well-kept plot of land in Delbrückstrasse, just 150 meters from the Heringsdorf promenade and the fine sandy Baltic Sea beach.

kaiserbaeder baederarchitektur villa hintze

Hotel sea wave

At the beginning of the 1850s, Ahlbeck gradually developed into a seaside resort. As it developed into a seaside resort, businessman Albert Wendicke had the town's first hotel, "Wendicke's Hotel", built in 1875. The villa, which was built in the early seaside resort architecture, still accommodates guests today, albeit under the name "Hotel Meereswelle". In front of the hotel there is a public square with a fountain and it is only about 300 metres to the beach promenade.

Hotel Meereswelle

Ahlbeck pier

Our "Grande Dame" is the oldest surviving pier in Germany and a landmark of Ahlbeck. The front platform was built in 1882, followed by the pier in 1898, which is now 280 meters long. Its wooden structures were later expanded and given a permanent roof. The pier has often served as a backdrop for films and television. For example, the end of Loriot's famous film comedy "Pappa ante Portas" was shot on the pier.

ahlbeck g614707293 640

Ahlbecker Hof

The hotel, built in 1896, was not only the first hotel on the square, but was already a top-class visitor magnet at the turn of the century. The first owner had big dreams. The hotel's architecture was to be extraordinary, the rooms elegant and comfortable. Over time, the building accommodated well-known personalities such as Queen Silvia of Sweden, Prince Consort Henrik of Denmark, former Federal President Horst Köhler and conductor Kurt Masur.

Seetel AhlbeckerHof A94R3740 Seetel Ahlbeck

Villa Oppenheim

The Berlin banker Benoit Oppenheim had one of Heringsdorf's most beautiful seaside villas built directly on the beach promenade, based on the buildings of the famous Italian Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio. The villa, which was built in the early 1870s, became a favorite motif of the German-American painter Lyonel Feininger, who sketched it repeatedly between 1908 and 1912 and later reproduced it in woodcuts.

Villa Oppenheim Heringsdorf

Bleichroeder residence

The pursuit of relaxation and recognition prompted Hans von Bleichröder to build his eponymous villa directly on the beach promenade in Heringsdorf at the beginning of the 20th century. His father, the banker and financial advisor to Bismarck, Gerson von Bleichröder, placed great value on status and an upscale lifestyle. When Hitler came to power, the family had to flee Germany in 1938. Since then, the villa has served as a convalescent home for Nazi leaders, then as a sanatorium for the Red Army and finally as a guest house for the Free German Trade Union Federation (FDGB).

Residenz Bleichröder

Villa Irmgard

On the massive desk is an open notebook, full of thoughts, ideas, visions; from the first floor, quiet piano cascades trickle down the old, crooked wooden staircase - the two-storey Villa Irmgard takes its visitors on a journey through time into the life of one of the most famous Russian writers of the early 20th century. Maxim Gorky lived, worked and relaxed here for several months in 1922. Changing exhibitions and events take place in what is now the Villa Irmgard Museum.

Villa Irmgard klein

Cafe Asgard

The wooden interior of the oldest café on the island of Usedom is still reminiscent of the 1920s. The beach villa, built in 1898, was a meeting place for famous stars of Universum Film AG (UFA) such as Heinz Rühmann and Willie Fritsch. After the café was owned by the GDR's trade organization (HO) for 1956 years from 34 onwards, it was restored to its historic splendor after a year-long renovation in 1991. Café Asgard offers a fine example of the production of prefabricated wooden buildings based on the model of Swiss farmhouses.

Café Asgard

White Castle

The first guest house in the town, today's White Castle, stands on Heringsdorf's local mountain, the Kulm. In 1825, the chief forester Georg Bernhard von Bülow had the building erected on the 34-meter-high sand hill. The architect of the classicist building is said to have been Karl Friedrich Schinkel. Not only the writer Kurt Tucholsky stayed in the guest house, but according to the chronicler Erich Hartwig, Crown Princess Victoria of Prussia also stayed in 1866 with her sons Prince Wilhelm - the later Emperor Wilhelm II - and Prince Heinrich.

Weißes Schloss

Villa Oechsler

The villa, which was built in 1883 in neoclassical style, belonged to the commercial councillor and entrepreneur Hermann Berthold. In the triangular gable of the portico, a mosaic depicts bathing graces, a typical motif of Renaissance art. It comes from the workshop of Antonio Salviati in Murano. The villa has had a varied history, and before 1945 there were a number of different owners. The current name goes back to the owner Elise Oechsler, the wife of a Nuremberg businessman, who bought the prestigious summer residence in 1922.

Villa Oechsler

Villa Staudt

The villa, built in 1873, was probably purchased shortly before 1900 by the consul and merchant Wilhelm Staudt. He had the house rebuilt in the then modern "style mix" of neo-baroque and Art Nouveau forms. When he died in 1906, his wife, Elisabeth Staudt, continued her husband's business. From 1909 to 1912, she received Kaiser Wilhelm II, who came to Heringsdorf every year during his trip to the north, for tea in the villa. In the garden there is a monument to Kaiser Wilhelm I created by Georg Ferdinand Howaldt.

Villa Staudt Heringsdorf

Villa Paula

The oldest villa in Bansin, the Holzhaus Waldesruh, was acquired in 1920 by Friedrich Archenhold, director of the public observatory in Treptow. He actually wanted to call 115 acres of land his own and acquire the area from Schloonsee to Langen Berg, but this transfer to a private individual was not legally possible. Archenhold was known as a colorful personality, so he was said to come to social dances at the posh Hotel Atlantic in pajamas instead of tails.

Villa Waldesruh

Villa Heimdall

The oldest villa in Bansin, the Holzhaus Waldesruh, was acquired in 1920 by Friedrich Archenhold, director of the public observatory in Treptow. He actually wanted to call 115 acres of land his own and acquire the area from Schloonsee to Langen Berg, but this transfer to a private individual was not legally possible. Archenhold was known as a colorful personality, so he was said to come to social dances at the posh Hotel Atlantic in pajamas instead of tails.

Villa_Heimdall

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Our contemporary witnesses

The contemporary witness series of the imperial baths was created in 2023 and includes 10 videos. Each video documents the exciting and multifaceted history of the imperial baths in its own way. Some videos are commented on by historians and experts, while in others the focus is on images and music. In keeping with the theme of spa architecture, a video was created on the Bleichröder Residence and the Villa Irmgard in the Imperial Baths' Contemporary Witness Series.

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