Travemünde horizons

Count Adolf III. von Holstein built a castle on the estuary of the Trave as a bulwark against enemies. Craftsmen and fishermen later settled within the protection of the castle, and a church is mentioned in the records for the first time in 1235.

Lübeck buys the fishing village of Travemünde with two dozen houses and 250 residents. The purchase price was 1,060 Lübeck Marks. As a result, the “Queen of the Hanseatic League” secured the location and access to the sea.

Travemünde’s first lighthouse is built although a fire beacon on the Trave estuary had already been mentioned in earlier documents such as an Imperial Charter dated 1226 and in an invoice from 1316. The classical red-brick tower in its present form dates back to 1827.

Recognition of Travemünde along with Norderney and Heiligendamm as Germany’s third seaside resort. The “private seaside resort near Travemünde” was set up on the initiative of some residents of Lübeck in order to “alleviate the sum of physical ailments and increase general well-being”. It was unseemly simply to go swimming in the open sea.

Technical progress gives Travemünde its first steamship line. The side-wheel paddle steamer “Princessia Wilhelmine” brought visitors across the Baltic Sea from refined Copenhagen to Travemünde on a weekly schedule. Connections to and from Saint Petersburg, Riga and Reval followed soon thereafter.

Gambling was a magical draw for high society and had a decisive impact on Travemünde's reputation as a fashionable seaside resort. It was first officially approved in the spa house – the A-ROSA Resort today – in 1833 and had a magical effect on well-heeled guests from all over the world until its closure in 1872. Gaming operations reopened in 1949, this time in the “Kursaal” dating from 1914. In 2012, the casino moved to Lübeck.

The station was built by the Lübeck-Büchener Railway company. The line initially ended at the harbour station and in 1898, it was extended to the beach station. A station building made of wood was built which was replaced in 1911/1912 by a new building with Art Nouveau stylistic elements. In 1991, the railway station was made subject to a preservation order.

After the racecourse was completed, the first horse races were held on the Priwall peninsula to entertain the guests. In 1940, it gave way to the construction of a submarine base, today’s “Passat Harbour”, which is now used as a harbour for sailing ships.

Travemünde Sailing Week is set up by Hamburg businessmen Hermann Wentzel and Hermann Dröge when they raced each other off Travemünde. The winner received a bottle of Lübecker Rotspon. Today, it is the second largest sailing event in the world.

Fixed berth for the four-master PASSAT on the Priwall side It was taken out of service in 1959 after its sister ship of the same design “Pamir” sank in 1957. It has been subject to a preservation order since 1978. Since returning from the shipyard for a general overhaul in 1998, its bow points to the Baltic Sea in order to greet passing ships.

The Scandinavia Quay in Travemünde is today the largest German ferry port on the Baltic Sea and is among the most important RoRo and ferry ports in the whole of Europe.

The new light beacon on the 36th floor of the Maritim high-rise replaces the signal in the historical lighthouse and at a height of 115 m, it is one of the highest beacons in Europe.

Around three months after the fall of the wall, the inner German border on the Priwall peninsula was opened. A memorial stone with the inscription “Nie wieder geteilt” (never divided again) commemorates this historic date. The demarcation line ran here in 1945, and as a result, this became the inner German border between the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic, and after reunification it become the border between the federal states of Mecklenburg Western Pomerania and Schleswig-Holstein.

The old Travemünde lighthouse becomes a maritime museum offering insights into the history of lighthouse technology over its eight floors. 142 steps will take you up to lofty heights.

The Seebadmuseum (resort museum) is opened in the social centre opposite St. Lorenz church and invites visitors on a journey through time through Travemünde’s history.

Inauguration of the newly designed beach promenade after two years of construction work. The elegantly curved promenade raised around 1.70 metres above the beach as well as its generous width of up to 20 metres are unique in this form on Schleswig-Holstein’s Baltic coast.

The Maritim high-rise – built in 1971 – is included in the list of the Hanseatic city of Lübeck’s cultural monuments.

Redesign of Trave promenade begins and the circular promenade is created as a new USP for Travemünde. The fishermen's harbour has also been redeveloped with a new promenade as a harbour walk with restaurants and shops and around 200 freehold apartments.