Ribnitz-Damgarten - The Amber Town

is located between the Hanse towns of Rostock and Stralsund, and is connected with the Baltic Sea by a shallow chain-like sea inlet, the links in which are called Bodden. Lying on the southern shore of the inlet, it is the gateway to a delightful coastal region.

The town and its districts, which have retained their rural character, are surrounded by a unique landscape full of beauty, colour and variety. To the north of Ribnitz-Damgarten is West Pomeranian Bodden National Park. To the west, the Ribnitz Great Moor meets the Rostock Heath, and to the south lies the Recknitz valley. All these areas are designated nature reserves, providing rare and endangered species of plants and animals with a protected habitat.

The municipal forest in the district of Neuheide offers guided tours of the Ribnitz Great Moor, which covers 274 hectares. This wetland moor was designated a nature reserve as early as 1939, its coastal location and unique composition making it especially valuable. In 1995, a regeneration project was initiated with the support of a conservation group. In the same district, a museum dedicated to mushrooms and fungi was opened in 1999, the first of its kind in Germany. The exhibition not only shows interesting details about edible and poisonous fungi, but also illustrates the colourful diversity of domestic and exotic insects and butterflies, and provides informative displays on the life of forest animals and the reintroduction of the Little Owlet to this area.

And of course there is the sea - brought a little closer to the town by the inlet - which can be reached via the cycleway/footpath from Langendamm along the Saaler Bodden to Neuhaus, keeping well away from the noisy main road. It is no surprise that many visitors choose Ribnitz-Damgarten as their starting point for tours by car or bicycle, or on foot. Urban culture, an idyllic rural setting and an abundance of natural beauty create the ideal conditions for a holiday at any time of year.

That is why amateur sailors and top sailing experts meet here on the Bodden several times a year - and not just for competition. Both parts of the town have moorings for boats and Damgarten harbour also has a picnic area for water tourists. The "Zum Fischland" golf club welcomes all guests, whether beginners or handicap players, to its course in the district of Neuhof. The provisional 9-hole course with driving range, practice bunker, and pitch and putting green will challenge even the most experienced golfer. Its design is based on that of a left course on the coast of Scotland. In the near future, work is to begin on an additional 18-hole course with a par of 72, a club-house in the Fischland style, and commodious guest apartments.

On warm summer days you can bathe in the sea, go sailing or windsurfing, riding, cycling, hiking or skateboarding, or enjoy a game of golf. Open-air activity in autumn and winter is conducive to good health and relaxation. Do you dream of gliding along on glistening runners over a vast expanse of ice, like the legendary Till Eulenspiegel? No problem. When the water of the Bodden has frozen over, the land is covered in a blanket of snow, and the air is crisp and clear, that is the time for ice-sailing, ski-ing and skating. The return of the cranes and other birds from their winter quarters hails the advent of Spring, later the fields are adorned with the yellow flowers of the rape-seed plant. Like the bees, the people swarm out to enjoy the vernal warmth.

The eventful history of the two towns that make up Ribnitz-Damgarten began at the time of the migration of peoples (200 - 500 A. D.). Independently of each other, two groups of Slav settlers erected their huts on the banks of the Recknitz. Ribnitz, founded by Mecklenburg princes, was first mentioned in a document dated 1233. In 1258, Damgarten was associated with Lübeck and granted municipal status by Jaromar II, prince of Ruegen. In the centuries that followed, both towns were repeatedly devastated by war, fire, siege and troop movements. The chronicles show that even the foundation of a convent in Ribnitz by the Duke of Mecklenburg, Heinrich II - known as Heinrich the Lion - turned out to be problematical. Following the Reformation, the convent of the Order of St. Clare was awarded to the Knights of Mecklenburg and converted into a charitable foundation for "the unprovided-for daughters of the land". The women have long since moved out, and the convent has now been given a new lease on life.

 

 

Culture, history, art and communication - an elixir of life for time-honoured walls.

 

If the hunters after the "Gold of the Sea" are to be believed, there is no better place for amber in northern Germany than the "German Amber Museum" in Ribnitz-Damgarten. As well as displaying fantastic inclusions (plant and animal remains preserved inside amber), delightful jewellery and works of art from various periods, the museum shows the various amber hues and explains how these stones, which are in fact not stones at all, came into being some 50 million years ago.

Replica of a section of panel from the base of the missing Koenigsberg Amber Room.

In a small workshop, visitors are even invited to try their hand at processing a piece of amber. In the same building there is also an equally informative exhibition on the history of the town, as well as the Gallery of Contemporary Art run by the Art Society. Here, artists of the region not only give an insight into the art scene in this part of Germany but show their unbounded openness to all artistic genres. The choir hall of the Convent Church houses the Ribnitz Madonnas and other valuable medieval works of art. In summer, concerts take place here. After walking about, why not rest in the museum café. Also to be found here are the municipal library for the bookworms among us, and the adult education centre for those who wish to exercise their creativity in art courses.

When two hearts beat as one and the love is found to be enduring, the happy couple can proceed to the registry office here in the Convent. And so to bed - in one of the many beds: comfortable, soft, big, small, brightly coloured, white or honeymoon beds in the town's friendly and hospitable hotels and B & Bs. There are also plenty of opportunities for eating, drinking, shopping, relaxing and having fun.

The painter Lyonel Feininger came to Ribnitz on holiday in 1905 and 1921. His sketches depict the two churches, the Rostock Gate - the sole survivor from among the five town gates that once existed and an impressive testament to the town's 13th-century fortifications - as well as what were then quiet streets. Feininger produced images of Ribnitz using various techniques and even used them on wooden toys. Perhaps the most beautiful - an oil painting entitled "Ribnitzer Klarissenkirche" (Ribnitz Church of St. Clare) - is painted in bright colours.

In exile far away in America, one of Albert Einstein's loving memories of the German countryside was of Ribnitz in Mecklenburg. He was impressed by the expanse of the Ribnitz marketplace and the vastness of St. Mary's Church, whose history goes back to the 13th/14th century. Having been ravaged by fire several times, the interior of the church was restored in Baroque style in the 18th century. Of particular note are the interesting reconstruction of the nave and the sound quality of the new Jehmlich organ. Visitors can climb the church tower, which is now 55 m high but was formerly twice that height, serving as a landmark for sea-farers.

The "people's professor" Richard Wossidlo had a very different relationship with the small town of Ribnitz. Whilst visiting his uncle in nearby Körkwitz, this teacher from Waren was motivated to start collecting sayings and expressions, rhymes, customs, riddles and sagas. He eventually collected a quarter of a million items. His life's work is brought together in the "Mecklenburgisches Wörterbuch" (Mecklenburg Dictionary). A lime-tree and memorial stone erected in his honour are to be found in the district of Körkwitz . He was laid to rest beside his mother in the Old Cemetery in Ribnitz.

There is now an additional attraction in the Amber Town, in the enterprise zone called Gewerbegebiet/Ost on the B 105. The Schaumanufaktur Ostsee-Schmuck is a display workshop in which Baltic jewellery is manufactured. It offers visitors the unique opportunity to observe at first hand the main steps in the design and production of jewellery. There is also a large shop selling amber products and a bistro on the ground floor. The car-park is especially suitable for coaches.

 

 

Other places of interest nearby:

 

Open-Air Museum Klockenhagen,

 

the museum with a difference, opens its gates every year in Spring. Its 200 to 300 year-old North German thatched farmhouses, cottages and barns radiate an irresistable charm. Come and experience at first hand the rural life of yesteryear. The old oven, which is still in working condition, is lit every second Saturday to bake delicious traditional bread. Pigs, sheep, geese and other farm animals love to be admired and stroked. The annual harvest festival culminates in the election of the most beautiful Harvest Crown of the season.

 

 

Gelbensande Hunting Lodge - approx. 6 km

 

Marlow Bird Park - approx. 18 km

 

 

Everyone is welcome to take part in the Divided Bodden Hundred - a three-part hike - or in the Cycle tour around the Bodden (sea inlet). Or you might like to attend  the International Folk-Dance Festival, the Fishermens' Festival, a gymkhana or barrel-opening ceremony, a marksmanship contest, a Children's Day, or a sailing or trawler regatta on the Bodden. There are also various concerts, theatre performances, musical events both classical and modern, and exhibitions in the galleries and museums.

 

 

For further information contact:

Tourist Information Office

Am Markt 1

18311 Ribnitz-Damgarten

Tel./Fax: (0 38 21) 22 01