The Seaside Resort at Heiligendamm

The seaside resort between Warnemünde and Kühlungsborn is not very large in area, yet it contains a myth that continually inspires not only visitors but also connoisseurs to explore it. In his new book about the white city by the sea—as this lyrical name for the place goes—author Joachim Skerl tells how an unremarkable spot by the sea became a magical place.
Blue sea, a gentle beach, majestic backdrops of trees and white villas—for many, that may sound like the Caribbean, and therefore far away. Yet paradise is close at hand, in a place with a fitting name: Heiligendamm.
From 1793 onward, not only did Germany’s first seaside resort take shape on the Baltic coast, but also a magical realm. The harmony between nature and architecture quickly made Heiligendamm a place of pilgrimage for those seeking relaxation—a place that continues to exert a powerful appeal to this day. Alongside the Grand Hotel, it is above all the villas that make the architectural ensemble so distinctive.
Joachim Skerl, who knows Heiligendamm better than anyone, tells how the place where he worked for many years became a stage for life’s celebrations. He sets the resort’s distinctive story of the interplay between landscape and architecture within the context of art, literature and philosophy.
Joachim Skerl, born in Forst/Lausitz in 1933, was a professor at the Halle-Burg Giebichenstein art college from 1971 to 1972. He then directed the College of Applied Arts in Heiligendamm (FAK) until 1991. He has already published several books about the seaside resort, including with the renowned Rostock-based Hinstorff publishing house.


112 pages, hardcover
Format: 28.0 x 22.0 cm
€32.00
ISBN: 978-3-356-02361-9
Hinstorff 2021