Mecklenburg Vorpommern Attractions

Located in the Hanseatic town of Stralsund is North Germany’s most visited museum - the German Oceanographic Museum. It’s set across numerous buildings, including the Nautineum, the Natureum and the Ozeaneum, with the main Oceanographic Museum housed within a former hall of St. Catherine’s Church.

The main Oceanographic Museum features exhibits detailing Germany’s marine environment, including its fishing industries, the flora and fauna of the Baltic Sea and ongoing conservation and research projects. Around 600 living marine crea-tures are on display in its dozens of aquaria, including a vast range of tropical fish and giant tortoises.

The Ozeaneum on Stralsund's harbor island is the main attraction of the German Oceanographic Museum and is one of the largest aquariums in Europe. It boasts around 7,000 marine animals, with a focus on sea life of the North Sea and the Baltic Sea, and is renowned for having the world’s largest whale exhibition...

Home to the largest chalk cliffs in Germany, the Jasmund National Park is located on the Baltic Sea island of Rügen. It’s the smallest national park in Germany and features ancient beech forests that have been dated to more than 700 years of age, forming part of the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and the Ancient Beech Forests of Germany.

Follow the 8.5-kilometer-long Jasmund National Park Walking Trail that winds through the beech forests and along the white chalk cliffs, with magnificent views of the Baltic Sea. Keep an eye out for orchids such as the lady’s slipper and rare white-tailed eagles that can often be seen soaring in the skies above.

Cyclists can hit the Hamburg-Rügen Cycle Route, which extends for 100 kilometers through the diverse landscapes of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Schleswig-Holstein. Alternatively, opt for the spectacular Baltic Coast Cycle Route that leads from the Bay of Lübeck through quaint seaside resorts and fishing villages...

Situated within an observation bunker of Peenemünde’s former power station, the Historical Technical Museum explores the development of rockets and missiles here in the lead up to and during World War II. It has become a landmark stop on the European Route of Industrial Heritage, following the history of the Peenemünde Army Research Centre and the Luftwaffe test site of Peenemünde-West that once formed the largest armaments center in Europe.

Around 12,000 people worked here between 1936 and 1945, creating guided weapons and the world’s first cruise missiles, together with large-scale rockets. Today the Peenemünde Historical Technical Museum delves into the creation and use of these weapons, as well as the lives of those who worked on these cutting-edge weaponry projects.

The museum’s permanent exhibition is housed within the former transformer an-nex of the Peenemünde power plant and showcases the history of German rocket technology, as well as the developments made in Peenemünde during the Cold War years...

Situated on an island in the middle of the Schweriner See lake, Schwerin Palace is the opulent former home of the dukes and grand dukes of Mecklenburg. It’s regarded as one of the most important works of romantic Historicism and has been nicknamed the "Neuschwanstein of the North”. Schwerin Palace has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and today serves as the seat of the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern state parliament.

While the earliest records of a castle at this location date to 973 AD, much of the current Schwerin Palace was constructed during the mid-19th century as a collaboration between the renowned architects Gottfried Semper, Friedrich August Stüler, Georg Adolf Demmler and Ernst Friedrich Zwirner. It boasts 635 separate rooms, with elegant balustrades, columns and ornamental figures scattered throughout.

Part of the castle is open as the Schwerin Castle Museum for visitors wanting to wander through its luxuriously appointed reception rooms, drawing rooms and living rooms that are decorated with period furnishings, sculptures and artworks...

Founded in 1899, Rostock Zoo sprawls across 56 hectares to the southwest of the city center. It is one of the largest zoos in Northern Germany, with around 4,500 animals across more than 350 species, including orangutans, gorillas and polar bears. Its animal enclosures are set within a landscaped park that’s dotted with sculptures and artworks while featuring a vast range of plant species from across the globe.

The Rostock Zoo was subjected to heavy air bombings during World War II and many of its buildings and animal enclosures were destroyed. In 1951, rebuilding work began, with many people from the town volunteering to work on the project that led to the enlargement and renaming of the zoo as the Zoologischen Garten Rostock.

During the 1960s, the zoo became the largest breeder of Arabian horses in East Germany and the first polar bear was born here in 1963...

Established in 1882 by Frederick Francis II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, the Staatliches Museum Schwerin is a renowned art gallery and museum. When the gallery opened to the public in the late 19th century, it was considered a pioneering piece of modern architecture, with anti-burglary and fire-protection measures installed, together with a state-of-the-art lighting system. It’s particularly noted for its medieval collections that include the Neustädt Al-tarpiece, as well as an impressive collection of 17th-century Dutch and Flemish paintings.

Admire the works of famous masters such as Jan Brueghel the Elder, Paulus Pot-ter and Peter Paul Rubens that hail from the so-called “Golden Age” of Dutch and Flemish painting. The museum also features iconic works by the French animal painter, Oudry, who was commissioned by the Versailles and Marly castles, as well as pieces by Antoine Pesne and Christian Wilhelm Ernst Dietrich who worked in the artistic hubs of Berlin and Dresden during the 18th century...

Located at the northern tip of Rügen Island, Cape Arkona forms part of the Wittow Peninsula that stretches to the north of Jasmund National Park. It’s home to two historic lighthouses and the Baltic temple fortress of Jaromarsburg, as well as a navigation tower and two military bunker complexes.

Admire the brick architecture of the Schinkelturm, an early-19th-century light-house that stands as the second oldest lighthouse on the German Baltic Sea coast. It’s now home to a small museum where you can learn about the history of Cape Arkona. The Schinkelturm stands near the 35-meter-high New Tower that was built atop an octagonal granite base in 1901 and lies adjacent to the old nav-igation tower of Peilturm that now houses the amber studio of Wiesbaden artist, Nils Peters.

Wander around the ruined ramparts that perch on the edge of Cape Arkona’s cliffs and are all that remain of the Jaromarsburg fortifications...

The second largest lake in Germany, Lake Müritz sprawls across 117 square kilometers in the south of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. It’s fed by the River Elbe and descends to a maximum depth of 31 meters, with its surrounding forests and wildlife-rich wetlands protected as the Müritz National Park. It’s easily accessed from the town of Waren on its northern tip or Röbel, which overlooks the Binnensee on the lake’s western shores.

A good first port of call is the Müritzeum visitor center and nature discovery center that is situated near the town of Waren. It explores the region’s history, as well as the native flora and fauna of the Müritz National Park. It boasts the larg-est aquarium for native freshwater fish in Germany, as well as themed exhibi-tions detailing Lake Müritz's underwater world, birdlife and the 1000-year-old oaks of nearby Ivenack. If you’re traveling with kids, they can let off some steam in the adventure playground and garden or step into the cinema to get an insight into the fascinating history of Mecklenburg...

Featuring historic steam locomotives and coaches, the Rügen narrow-gauge railway chugs its way from Putbus to Göhren on the island of Rügen. The first stretch of the railway was originally opened in 1895, with the network being extended to more than 100 kilometers by the end of the 19th century. The Rügensche BäderBahn railway (nicknamed the “Rushing Roland”) is all that remains of this former narrow gauge railway, allowing visitors to explore the magnificent countryside of southeast Rügen in vintage comfort.

Admire the natural beauty of Rügen as you soak up views of the Granitz hills and spot stork eyries in Posewald, with the option to hop on and off along the route to visit Rügen’s historic residences and spa towns. Those wanting to explore on two wheels can bring their bicycles with them, with a dedicated storage area behind the locomotive.

The railway has changed hands multiple times since it was founded by the Rügensche Kleinbahn-Aktiengesellschaft in the late 19th century...