Brick-Gothic and Resort Architecture

If you want to follow the tracks of the gothic brick along the Baltic Sea coast of Mecklenburg, the European route of Brick Gothic is highly recommended, especially the section between Wismar and Bad Doberan.

The historical town of Wismar has been twinned with Stralsund’s old town since 2002, as part of UNESCO world heritage. This appointment has given the Hanseatic city a place in the worldwide list of unique cultural and natural monuments, which includes over 980 towns and cities. Among renovated residential homes and impressive brick churches you can explore a variety of historic testimonials that pertain to the Hanseatic time. The St. Nikolai, St. Marien and St. Georgen Churches of Wismar tower high, mighty and proud. In the St. Marien church you can explore the permanent exhibition 'Paths of the Brick Gothic' which will give you an insight in the art of Gothic Brick architecture and the medieval craft. The St. Georgen church regularly hosts events such as concerts and exhibitions.

The route also leads to the spa resort of Bad Doberan where a medieval exhibition awaits the visitors of the town’s cathedral. Beside the regular guided visitor tours of the cathedral you can also join one of the daily more in-depth tours, which explore the arched ceilings, or the cathedral’s bells and tower.

Further information is available on www.eurob.org, which is the official website of the association of the European brick gothic e.V.

The lightness of the resort architecture

In contrast to the warm red of the brick architecture dominating most cities, you can experience the immense variety of the resort architecture within spa resorts. No house looks exactly like the next when you walk down the promenade of Kühlungsborn that is almost four kilometres long. The unique variety to be found within close proximity is one of the most characteristic features of so called ‘resort architecture’. Typical features of all of the buildings are loggias, bays, open balconies, turrets and filigree porches of the buildings. White is the dominating colour, which makes the spa resorts seem light and airy, giving them a feeling of ease.

Bathing was invented in the ‘white city by the sea’. In the first seemingly unremarkable Heiligendamm, communal bathing was first started in 1793. Duke Friedrich Franz I of Mecklenburg- Schwerin assigned master-builder Karl Theodor Severin the construction of a whole ensemble of representative Guesthouses.