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| The Abbey in the Oakwood (Wikipedia) |
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Our next stop would be a very dark chapter of German history: The Peenemünde Army Research Center. A fishermen's town was erased, its people removed, and a military zone and test site with restricted access established in 1937, built by slave labourers, inmates of a concentration camp and prisoners of war.
This location pretty much became the birthplace of rocket science and spaceflight. It was here, where the first guided missiles were developed to be used for maximum mass destruction. The majority of the rockets were aimed at London killing thousands of people.
Ironically its inventor, Wernher von Braun and select members of his team continued to work for the US government without ever being punished for their deeds, on contrary, von Braun received a medal for his accomplishments in the NASA space program.
Today the whole area is being kept as a museum and a reminder that these events must not ever happen again. The museum currently also hosts a special exhibitions about Operation Crossbow.
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| V2 cruise missile |
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| Top Secret |
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After this nightmarish experience we needed to find something lighter, and visited a few more of the ever so present ocean resorts, also in quest for a cake and coffee.
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| Zinnowitz |
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| The sea bridge of Ahlbeck |
And since we were so close to the Polish border we thought, let's have a look at the other side. The last time we visited Poland was long before it belonged to the European Union. There were borders, and barriers and passports being controlled. Today... no customs control, you just drive through. Hello, Poland! There and back. From Nazi Germany and WWII to a world without frontiers in a united Europe. We have come a long way.
Today's trip into history wouldn't be complete without the early settlers of this area: Vikings. A mile away from Menzlin lies an old Viking camp. The site was close to the river Peene, and supposedly an important trading post in its time (the 9th century). The actual name of the site remains unknown but remnants of bridges and stone ships (grave yards), and other archeological findings had been discovered proving its regular use.
Given that the day started dull and grey, it was rich of educational experience. We certainly learned a lot today about ancient and recent history.
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| Viking grave site |
Today's trip was 260km.
love it :-). Eldena I've visit during a class fieldtrip in grade 6 and Peenemünde we also visited with Dominik shortly before we moved to Canada. Ahlbeck (or better all three of the "Kaiserbäder") we really love and have spent lots of vacations there. We got married on the pier of Heringsdorf :-). Thanks again!!!!
ReplyDeleteWhat a georgous trip you make ...
Thanks for your kind words, Yvonne. I'm glad you like our little trip, which seems to stir lots of good memories ;-)
Delete... and even a little tear. I'm looking really forward to our visit in November to Berlin. It will be nice seeing some of our family and friends and actually talking to them. It's not that I would like to move back, but I need a little dose of "1. Heimat".
DeleteI hear you. Normally a few days of family fix was needed for us as well before returning to Canada. But usually it lasted a while, at least that was until Roland got homesick, and we had to move back to Germany...
DeleteSonja, thanks for sharing your pics! It is always an awesome way for me to spend a few moments dreaming of where you live and taking a break from the work on my desk.
ReplyDeleteDar, my favourite pastime (at work) is traveling somewhere else, even if it just happens in my mind, following somebody else's journey... I am honoured that you like traveling with us.
DeleteWow, that's a lot to take in...Cake and coffee indeed!
ReplyDeleteSo, where is the cake and coffee...
ReplyDeleteReally interesting photos of a time that should never be forgotten. It's too easy to for history to repeat.
Of course the situation for Von Braun and his team and how things worked out was a matter of Realpolitik wasn't it? Would the German rocket scientists working for the Russians capture space before the German rocket scientists working for the Americans? 1940's American leadership may not have been as offended by the idea of slavery as we all are. Only 80 years before, Americans had owned slaves. Now how those slaves were treated is another issue.
ReplyDeleteWhat an interesting and educational day. I enjoyed the pics of the Abby ruins.
ReplyDeleteHi, interesting, nice blog of yours!
ReplyDeleteWe've seen some of these places, too in the past.
Currently we are contemplating to removing back to Germany after 6 years living in Canada.
Too bad, there's no possibility to catch that beautiful Canadian landscape into our bags and taking it with us. We can only keep that great country into our minds and banned on our photographs.
The gorgeous geography, nature and weather will be something what we are going to missing, included hunting on our farmyard.
Going back means not going to our old place, no. We'll settle in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. MV is the most spacious province in Germany with the slightest population, coincidently having the cheapest costs for living and it has a big value when it comes to killing leasure time. Property can be very affordable in MV, while the lots are not too small. (;-))
Our move back will be for ever. We'll never come back again to Canada, not even as tourists.
The country is awesome, but...
Naja, dann will ich hier mal aufhören damit, weil das nur die Laune verdirbt.-
Tschau und mit Merkels Worten: "Weiter so"