Today, I am showing what I was up to in the Port of Warnemunde, Germany. If you have been following along, hubby and I parted ways, and went on different excursions. He was off to the city of Schwerin and all it’s delights and I explored Warnemunde! It’s overcast this morning, but I think we are in for a beautiful day!

To get to that side of the port one must take a ferry…..we are not going to that side……..we’re walking into Old Town…..down the lane, past the souvenir shops and the big, big sculpture made of sand…..(that is the FEATURED photo) past the strawberry market, past the train station, under the tunnel……..gee, I hope I can find my way back!

and here I am walking across the wooden bridge into Old Town………..the boats are all lined up…….

to get a glimpse of the Old Town buildings along the water’s edge…………..

I am told, that originally, the fishing boats would come in and line up at the fish market, on the right side, where the women would be waiting for them. The fish were hauled off the boats, cleaned and sold from the baskets or from the little stalls. Now, there are restaurants on the left side and shops all along the right.

Yep, we’re on the restaurant side………….but beer can probably be found ANYWHERE here.

It’s early morning and the bars are open for business………….

Glancing at a menu………….herring or sausage…….

Let’s stroll down the pier………We are getting our morning walk in…………… all the way to lighthouse at the end. Past all the interesting boats ………….this is called the  Warnemünder Seepromenade.

and lots of tidy restaurants………….

and more restaurants………

and a restaurant on a boat…………

A row of shops start at the adorable pink houses………

The houses get larger and are on higher ground to get a better view of the sea………. they have terraced gardens and zimmers for rent…..

Keep walking……….

and look at the swans in a row…….

We can look back to see, where we have come from and also the industrial side of Warnemunde. I don’t know about this fellow…….What is he doing? Covering his mouth during a sneeze? That man standing behind the statue, did he just take his shoes off? Did he take more than his shoes off? Is he naked? Ha ha!I ‘ll never tell!

Finally, the lighthouse.

Looking this way at the wide open beach…………

and looking this way, another lighthouse. What is that building? We must go over there and investigate……..back down the pier……

From 1925-1926, a “Tea Pavilion,” was built on the beach in Warnemunde. The round circular building included a large terrace on the beach side. The owner was given a license to operate as a pub, as long as he met all construction, fire, customs, security, and health laws. There was trouble keeping peace from the start, so eventually the building was sold. From July 1925 to July 1932, the new owner’s wife, operated a pastry shop, café and dance hall, there.

By 1942, the “Tea Pavilion” was closed again. Employees of the Heinkel Flugzeuwerke Machinery Company were housed in “the Tea Pavilion” and the building was no longer open to the public. Across the pier on the other side, the Heinkel Company was one of the largest aerospace companies in the 20th century. Ernst Heinkel Flugzeugwerke held 1352 patents in the field of aviation and 587 property rights in engine design.  They manufactured aircraft (at first a sea plane) and engines for airplanes. Machines were sold to Denmark, Finland, Sweden, the Soviet Union and Asia. The number of employees rose from 1,000 in 1932 to 9,000 in mid-1939 and around 16,000 by the end of 1944. This plant made this part of Rostock a modern city with a high-tech location. On May 2, 1945, one day after the end of the war in Warnemunde, the “Tea Pavilion” went up in flames and burned to the ground. In the 1950’s a kiosk was built on the foundation.

In the mid-1960’s money was granted to re-build a pavilion on the old foundation. The new building was to be based on the contemporary style of the West Berlin Congress Hall. The roof was designed by civil engineer, Ulrich Müther and the base-restaurant by architect, Erich Kaufmann. It was noted for its innovative design, new-age materials and sustainability architecture.  It then became known as “the Teepott.” Over the years the building became one of Warnemunde’s landmarks, due to its special roof construction and was included in the city’s list of monuments. After the fall of the Berlin Wall the restaurant was closed and the building was vacant. In 2017, a prospective buyer came forward, but a building survey revealed that a complete renovation would cost 20 million euros. The buyer said he would take on the building development with the condition that the land would be sold to him also. The city council said no. After a review of the building and its architecture the city’s monument authority stated, “the basic structure of the building is undamaged and there is constructive safety in the building.” Hmmmm…..I don’t know…….. we were not offered a tour of the insides. But, it is a very interesting looking building……..

Sitting in front of “The Teepott,” were these beach chairs. They are called Strandkorbs. We all wanted to more about these!  In 1882, this beach-chair was invented by German basket maker, Wilhelm Bartelmann, in Rostock. A customer, who suffered from rheumatism, had requested a seating for the beach that would provide shelter from the sun, wind and sand gusts. Bartelmann’s beach-chair became so famous among the other beach goers that the demand for his “Strandkorb,” grew. He opened his own basket weaving shop and became the appointed basket maker to the Grand Duke! By 1883, Bartelmann and his wife opened the first “Strandkorb” rental service near the Warnemunde lighthouse. The first models were single seaters, constructed from wicker, wood panels and canvas, but soon afterwards the two-seater was developed.  Later, other built-in details included, headrests, extendable footrests, sun awning, side folding tables and storage space…………. Since 1910, the design and construction of the two seater model has had little change.

Right across from the Teepott is another lighthouse. In 1862, it was decided that the original “storm lamp” had to be replaced. A new lighthouse was built and the new lamp used petroleum and later gas to generate its light. To begin with the rotating lens was propelled by clockwork, driven by a heavy iron weight sliding down a steel tube in the center of the tower. Every evening the lighthouse keeper had to first pump 24 gallons of petroleum up to the tank at the top, and then wind up the weight every two hours…….. Since 1927, the light has operated electrically. In the 1960’s, the walls of the lighthouse started to show cracks. Restoration of the lighthouse began in 1969, but was not completed until 1993.

Until 1978, the lighthouse light was managed by a keeper, who climbed the granite spiral staircase daily. Now the service has been centralized and is managed by the Sea Traffic Control Center. Imagine my surprise, when the door to the lighthouse opened and the lightkeeper came out. I couldn’t even get a picture! He took one look at us and went back in………The lighthouse is again open to visiters and you may climb to the top. The lighthouse has a very active support group, the Warnemunde Lighthouse Society, and most of it’s members act as voluntary guides for tourists. I think the shock of seeing us so early in the morning sent him scurrying back in.

We have a lot more to see and do today so we better get a move on………See you back here tomorrow!