Resort architecture () is an

architectural Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...

style that is especially characteristic of spas and

seaside resort A seaside resort is a city, resort town, town, village, or hotel that serves as a Resort, vacation resort and is located on a coast. Sometimes the concept includes an aspect of an official accreditation based on the satisfaction of certain requi ...

s on the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

Baltic Baltic may refer to: Peoples and languages *Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian *Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originatin ...

coast. The style evolved since the foundation of

Heiligendamm Heiligendamm () is a German seaside resort founded in 1793. It is the oldest seaside spa in continental Europe. Heiligendamm is part of the town Bad Doberan in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and historically belongs to Mecklenburg. The ...

in 1793, and flourished especially around the year 1870, when resorts were connected to big cities via railway lines. Until today, many buildings on the German coasts are built in the style or feature distinct elements of resort architecture. Single free-standing

mansion A mansion is a large dwelling house. The word itself derives through Old French from the Latin word ''mansio'' "dwelling", an abstract noun derived from the verb ''manere'' "to dwell". The English word ''manse'' originally defined a property l ...

s featuring resort architecture are called ''Bädervilla'' (plural ''Bädervillen''), translating as Resort Mansion or Spa Villa.''Binz: Pforten der Bädervillen stehen offen''
/ref> The architecture of inland health spas in Central Europe (i.e. those away from the coast), in

Thuringia Thuringia (; officially the Free State of Thuringia, ) is one of Germany, Germany's 16 States of Germany, states. With 2.1 million people, it is 12th-largest by population, and with 16,171 square kilometers, it is 11th-largest in area. Er ...

, the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

for instance, is generally referred to as spa architecture (''Kurarchitektur'').

History

The architectural style of resort architecture was initially developed since the foundation of

Mecklenburg Mecklenburg (; ) is a historical region in northern Germany comprising the western and larger part of the federal-state Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The largest cities of the region are Rostock, Schwerin, Neubrandenburg, Wismar and Güstrow. ...

in 1793, the first continental European

, as a style mixture that should appeal to the upper class, like the aristocracy and businessmen of Europe. The style especially received a boost with the railway lines connecting the then booming seaside resorts of Germany to European

metropolitan area A metropolitan area or metro is a region consisting of a densely populated urban area, urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories which share Industry (economics), industries, commercial areas, Transport infrastructure, transport network ...

s in the late 19th and early 20th century. It can be a variation of several styles with new elements, including

historicism Historicism is an approach to explaining the existence of phenomena, especially social and cultural practices (including ideas and beliefs), by studying the process or history by which they came about. The term is widely used in philosophy, ant ...

and

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau ( ; ; ), Jugendstil and Sezessionstil in German, is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. It was often inspired by natural forms such as the sinuous curves of plants and ...

, for instance. It is often characterised by two to four storey buildings whose

façade A façade or facade (; ) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a loanword from the French language, French (), which means "frontage" or "face". In architecture, the façade of a building is often the most important asp ...

s are often decorated with

balconies A balcony (from , "scaffold") is a platform projecting from the wall of a building, supported by columns or console brackets, and enclosed with a balustrade, usually above the ground floor. They are commonly found on multi-level houses, apartme ...

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

s and verandas. In larger villas there are occasionally central avants-corps. Arched or rectangular windows predominate, occasionally flanked by half-columns or blind

pilaster In architecture, a pilaster is both a load-bearing section of thickened wall or column integrated into a wall, and a purely decorative element in classical architecture which gives the appearance of a supporting column and articulates an ext ...

s. Triangular gables and occasionally also curved gables or small turrets close off the ends of the attics. What is special about this form of architecture is its basic composition in classical styles that are very freely combined and which may be mixed with

ornamentation, for instance on the

capital Capital and its variations may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** Capital region, a metropolitan region containing the capital ** List of national capitals * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Econom ...

s. The most common colour is white, which is why the health spas are occasionally described as "white pearls". As a result, the rare examples in colour, for example, painted in Bordeaux red, olive green, beige or blue, set amongst their white counterparts, are very striking. Overall the buildings appear rather delicate and are often built of wood with a core of stone. Among the best-known examples today are those found on the Baltic coast on the island of

Rügen Rügen (; Rani: ''Rȯjana'', ''Rāna''; , ) is Germany's largest island. It is located off the Pomeranian coast in the Baltic Sea and belongs to the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The "gateway" to Rügen island is the Hanseatic ci ...

, for instance in Sellin, Binz or Göhren.

near

Bad Doberan Bad Doberan () is a town in the district of Rostock, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It was the capital of the former district of Bad Doberan. In 2012, its population was 11,427. Geography Bad Doberan is situated just west of Rostock's city c ...

is the oldest German seaside spa; numerous buildings from the early spa era can be found there. Entire ensembles in white with occasionally coloured buildings are found in the parish of

Heringsdorf Heringsdorf is a semi-urban municipality and a popular seaside resort on Usedom Island in Western Pomerania, Germany. It is also known by the name Kaiserbad ('). The municipality was formed in January 2005 out of the former municipalities of H ...

on the island of

Usedom Usedom ( , ) is a Baltic Sea island in Pomerania, divided between Germany and Poland. It is the second largest Pomeranian island after Rügen, and the most populous island in the Baltic Sea. It lies north of the Szczecin Lagoon estuary of the ...

. As well as in Kühlungsborn. One of the oldest buildings featuring the resort style was built by Georg Bernhard von Bülow in 1845 in Heringsdorf, Villa Achterkerke. One of the art-historically most important buildings (due to its glass mosaic), is the Villa Oechsler in Heringsdorf, built in 1883 by Antonio Salviati. The Wolgaster Holzbau company was internationally known for their chalet-inspired resort architecture wooden mansions. They were the first in the world to build prefabricated houses in the 19th century, in places such as Ahlbeck, Bansin, Binz and

German seaside resorts with notable resort architecture

Most important coastal areas with

s in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

: *

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

: islands of Fehmarn, Hiddensee,

;

Rostock Rostock (; Polabian language, Polabian: ''Roztoc''), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (), is the largest city in the German States of Germany, state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the sta ...

, peninsula of Fischland, Darss and Zingst *

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

East Frisian Islands The East Frisian Islands (, ; ; ) are a chain of islands in the North Sea, off the coast of East Frisia in Lower Saxony, Germany. The islands extend for some from west to east between the mouths of the Ems and Jade / Weser rivers and lie about ...

and

North Frisian Islands The North Frisian Islands (, ; ''Öömrang'' and ''Fering'' ; ''Söl'ring'' ; ) are the Frisian Islands off the coast of North Frisia. The term covers both the North Frisian Islands in the narrow sense (in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany) and the Dan ...

Selection of German seaside resorts along the

and the

coastlines, with major ensembles of resort architecture:

Baltic Sea

* Ahlbeck (Usedom) * Ahrenshoop * Bansin * Binz * Boltenhagen * Fehmarn *

Glücksburg Glücksburg (; ) is a small town northeast of Flensburg in the district of Schleswig-Flensburg, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is Germany's northernmost town. It is situated on the south side of the Flensburg Fjord, Flensborg Fjord, an inlet ...

* Göhren * Graal-Müritz *

* Kühlungsborn *

Laboe Laboe () is a municipality in the district of Plön, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is situated on the Baltic Sea coast, approximately 10 km northeast of Kiel. The Laboe Naval Memorial is located within the municipality, as is the U-boa ...

Lubmin Lubmin () is a coastal resort in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Lubmin is situated near Greifswald and on the Bay of Greifswald. Apart from tourism, Lubmin is a major transport and industry hub and investment location in the German e ...

Sassnitz Sassnitz (, before 1993 in ) is a town on the Jasmund peninsula, Rügen Island, in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. The population as of 2012 was 9,498. Sassnitz is a well-known seaside resort and port town, and is a gateway to th ...

* Sellin *

Timmendorfer Strand Timmendorfer Strand (Timmendorf Beach) is a municipality in the district of Ostholstein, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is situated on the Bay of Lübeck (Baltic Sea), approximately northwest of Lübeck, and southeast of Eutin. Notable Pe ...

Travemünde Travemünde () is a borough of Lübeck, Germany, located at the mouth of the river Trave in Bay of Lübeck, Lübeck Bay. It began life as a fortress built by Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony, in the 12th century to guard the mouth of the Trave, an ...

Ueckermünde Ueckermünde () is a seaport town in northeast Germany, located in the district of Vorpommern-Greifswald, Pomerania, Western Pomerania, near Germany's border with Poland's Police County. Ueckermünde has a long and varied history, going back to ...

Warnemünde (, literally ''Mouth of the Warnow'') is a seaside resort and a district of the city of Rostock in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Mecklenburg, Germany. It is located on the Baltic Sea and, as the name implies, at the estuary of the river Warnow (river ...

* Zingst * Zinnowitz File:Bansin.JPG, Resort architecture in Bansin File:Villa Undine.JPG, ''Villa Undine'' in Binz, built in 1885 by ''Wolgaster Holzbau'', one of the first

prefabricated building A prefabricated building, informally a prefab, is a building that is manufactured and constructed using prefabrication. It consists of factory-made components or units that are transported and assembled on-site to form the complete building. Vario ...

s in the world - and an example of

chalet A chalet (pronounced in British English; in American English usually ), also called Swiss chalet, is a type of building or house, typical of the Alpine region in Europe. It is made of wood, with a heavy, gently sloping roof and wide, well-su ...

-inspired resort architecture File:HeingsdorfVillaAchterkerke.jpg, Villa Achterkerke in

, built 1845 File:HeringsdorfVillaOechsler.jpg, Villa Oechsler (1883) in Heringsdorf with glass mosaic by Antonio Salviati File:Seebad Sellin Wilhelmstrasse Villa Vineta.jpg, Villa Vineta from the year 1902 in ''Wilhelmstraße'' in the seaside resort of Sellin ( Rugia)

North Sea

Cuxhaven Cuxhaven (; ) is a town and seat of the Cuxhaven district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. The town includes the northernmost point of Lower Saxony. It is situated on the shore of the North Sea at the mouth of the Elbe River. Cuxhaven has a footprint o ...

* Nebel * Spiekeroog *

Sylt Sylt (; ; Söl'ring North Frisian: ) is an island in northern Germany, part of Nordfriesland district, Schleswig-Holstein, with a distinctively shaped shoreline. It belongs to the North Frisian Islands and is the largest island in North Fris ...

Wangerooge Wangerooge (; ; Wangerooge Frisian: ) is one of the 32 Frisian Islands in the North Sea off the northwestern coast of Germany. It is a municipality in the district of Friesland (district), Friesland in Lower Saxony in Germany. The island is also l ...

* Westerland * Wyk auf Föhr

Other seaside resorts with notable resort architecture

The formerly mostly German regions of eastern

Pomerania Pomerania ( ; ; ; ) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The central and eastern part belongs to the West Pomeranian Voivodeship, West Pomeranian, Pomeranian Voivod ...

Pomerelia Pomerelia, also known as Eastern Pomerania, Vistula Pomerania, and also before World War II as Polish Pomerania, is a historical sub-region of Pomerania on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in northern Poland. Gdańsk Pomerania is largely c ...

and

East Prussia East Prussia was a Provinces of Prussia, province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1772 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 1871); following World War I it formed part of the Weimar Republic's ...

are part of

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, the

Baltic states The Baltic states or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term encompassing Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, and the OECD. The three sovereign states on the eastern co ...

and

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

today. Notable examples of resort architecture are to be found in seaside spas all along the Baltic coast in these regions.

Latvia

Jūrmala Jūrmala (; "seaside") is a state city in the Vidzeme region of Latvia, about west of Riga. Jūrmala is a resort town stretching and is sandwiched between the Gulf of Riga and the Lielupe River. It has a stretch of white-sand beach and is the ...

Liepāja Liepāja () (formerly: Libau) is a Administrative divisions of Latvia, state city in western Latvia, located on the Baltic Sea. It is the largest city in the Courland region and the third-largest in the country after Riga and Daugavpils. It is an ...

Lithuania

Juodkrantė Juodkrantė (literally: ''Black Shore'', Kursenieki: ''Šatnūrta'' or ''Šatnūrte'', German: ''Schwarzort''In German, ''schwarz'' means "black" and ''Ort'' means "place", but an older meaning is "tip, point", preserved in mining jargon and place ...

(Schwarzort) *

Klaipėda Klaipėda ( ; ) is a city in Lithuania on the Baltic Sea coast. It is the List of cities in Lithuania, third-largest city in Lithuania, the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, fifth-largest city in the Baltic States, and the capi ...

(Memel, with Mellneraggen) * Neringa (Preil) * Nida (Nidden) *

Palanga Palanga (; ; ) is a resort town, resort city in western Lithuania, on the shore of the Baltic Sea. Palanga is the busiest and the largest summer resort in Lithuania and has sand, sandy beaches (18 km, 11 miles long and up to 300 metres, 10 ...

(Polangen) Zoppot Kurhaus um 1900

Estonia

Pärnu Pärnu () is the fourth-largest city in Estonia. Situated in southwest Estonia, Pärnu is located south of the Estonian capital, Tallinn, and west of Estonia's second-largest city, Tartu. The city sits off the coast of Pärnu Bay, an inlet of ...

Haapsalu Haapsalu () is a seaside resort town located on the west coast of Estonia. It is the administrative centre of Lääne County, and on 1 January 2020 it had a population of 9,375. History The name ''Haapsalu'' derives from the Estonian words ' ...

Poland

* Dziwnów (Dievenow) *

Łeba Łeba (, ; ) is a seaside town in the Pomeranian Voivodeship of northern Poland. It is located in the region of Gdańsk Pomerania ( Pomerelia), near Łebsko Lake and the mouth of the river Łeba on the Slovincian Coast of the Baltic Sea. History ...

(Leba) *

Kamień Pomorski Kamień Pomorski (; ; or ''Kammin'') is a spa town in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship of north-western Poland, on the Baltic coast. It is the seat of an urban-rural gmina (administrative district) in Kamień County which lies approximately 63&n ...

(Cammin in Pommern) *

Kołobrzeg Kołobrzeg (; ; ) is a port and spa city in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in north-western Poland with about 47,000 inhabitants (). Kołobrzeg is located on the Parsęta River on the south coast of the Baltic Sea (in the middle of the section ...

(Kolberg) * Międzyzdroje (Misdroy) *

Mielno Mielno ( ; or ) is a resort town in Koszalin County, West Pomeranian Voivodeship, in north-western Poland. It is the seat of the gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Mielno. It lies approximately north-west of Koszalin and north-east ...

(Groß Möllen) *

Sopot Sopot (; or ) is a seaside resort city in Pomerelia on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea in northern Poland, with a population of approximately 40,000. It is located in Pomeranian Voivodeship, Pomerania Province and has the City with powiat ri ...

(Zoppot) *

Świnoujście Świnoujście (; ; ; meaning " Świna ivermouth"; ) is a city in Western Pomerania and seaport on the Baltic Sea and Szczecin Lagoon, in the extreme north-west of Poland, mainly on the islands of Usedom and Wolin, and Karsibór island, once ...

(Swinemünde) *

Ustka Ustka (, , ) is a spa town in the Middle Pomerania region of northern Poland with 17,100 inhabitants (2001). It is part of Słupsk County in Pomeranian Voivodeship. It is located on the Slovincian Coast on the Baltic Sea. It is a port town and po ...

(Stolpmünde) *

Ustronie Morskie Ustronie Morskie () is a village in Kołobrzeg County, West Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland. It is the seat of the gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Ustronie Morskie. It lies approximately north-east of Kołobrzeg and north-east of th ...

(Henkenhagen) *

Władysławowo Władysławowo (Kashubian language, Kashubian/Pomeranian language, Pomeranian: ''Wiôlgô Wies'' �vʲɞlɡɞ ˈvʲɛs ) is a city on the south coast of the Baltic Sea in Kashubia in the Pomerelia region, northern Poland, with 9,363 inhabitant ...

(Großendorf)

Russia

* Jantarny (Palmnicken) * Rybachy (Rossitten) * Svetlogorsk (Rauschen) * Zelenogradsk (Cranz, with Priboi/Rosehnen)

Romania

* Baile Herculane (Herkulesbad) * Borsec (Bad Borseck) * Buziaș (Bad Busiasch) * Govora *

Sinaia Sinaia () is a town and a mountain resort in Prahova County, Romania. It is situated in the historical region of Muntenia. The town was named after the Sinaia Monastery of 1695, around which it was built. The monastery, in turn, is named after ...

* Slanic Moldova (Moldenmarkt) * Sovata

References

Literature

* Susanne Grötz, Ursula Quecke (Hrsg.): ''Balnea. Architekturgeschichte des Bades.'' Jonas Verlag für Kunst und Literatur, Marburg 2006, . * Reno Stutz, Thomas Grundner: ''Bäderarchitektur in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.'' Hinstorff, Rostock 2004, (''Edition Kulturlandschaft Mecklenburg-Vorpommern''). * Wolfgang Schneider, Torsten Seegert: ''Pommersche Bäderarchitektur. Entstehung und Entwicklung. Ostseebad Binz.'' Heimat-Bild-Verlag, Gifhorn 2003, . * Wilhelm Hüls, Ulf Böttcher: ''Bäderarchitektur.'' Hinstorff Verlag, Rostock 1998, .

External links

Seaside Resorts in MV - 200 years of bathing culture
(Official tourism website) * * {{Revivals German architectural styles Historicist architecture in Germany * Destination resorts