Prora

Prora on the island of Rügen is the huge, never-completed Nazi seaside resort near Binz, and today one of the most visited sites of contemporary history on the Baltic coast. The complex originally stretched for around 4.5 km along the Baltic beach. Today the Prora Documentation Center explains its plans, its propaganda and what happened to the site afterwards, while hotels, apartments and a youth hostel occupy parts of the blocks.

History: a resort for 20,000 vacationers

The Nazi organization "Strength Through Joy" (KdF) planned a resort here from 1936 for 20,000 vacationers at the same time. Designed by architect Clemens Klotz, it was to consist of eight identical blocks, each about 550 meters long and six floors high, with around 10,000 guest rooms. The foundation stone was laid on May 2, 1936, and a model won the Grand Prix at the 1937 World Fair in Paris. When World War II began in 1939 only the shells were finished, and the swimming halls and festival hall were never built.

After 1948 the Soviet army blew up several blocks, and five were converted into barracks. In East German times Prora was a restricted military area and home to the National People's Army. The complex has been a protected monument since 1994, and blocks were sold individually from 2004.

What to see

• Prora Documentation Center in Block III: the permanent exhibition "MACHTUrlaub" places Prora in the Nazi regime's leisure and social policy, with a special exhibition on the plans, a 33-minute film (German with English subtitles), a computer animation and media stations.
• The complex itself: on a guided walk you see renovated and unrenovated blocks, the portico of the planned reception hall and the quay wall.
• Beach: a long, flat sand beach runs from Binz to Sassnitz-Neu Mukran.

Allow two to three hours for the exhibition and a tour.

Tickets and opening hours (as of October 2026)

• Opening hours: March to October daily 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; November and February daily 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; closed December 1 to 25; December 26 to January 3 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Entry ends 30 minutes before closing.
• Admission: adults 7 EUR, reduced 3 EUR, family ticket (two parents with minor children) 15 EUR, single-parent family ticket 8 EUR, children up to 12 free.
• Tours: public tours of the planned resort run April to October daily at 11:15 a.m. and 2 p.m. for a 3 EUR surcharge, no registration needed. Group tours in English can be arranged in advance.

Getting there from Berlin and Hamburg

The center is at Dritte Straße 4 in Prora. By train, take the regional line from Stralsund or Binz to Prora (Nord). Buses 22 and 27 stop at "Dritte Straße", about 300 meters from the entrance, and the Prora-Express stops at the parking lot. By car, it is about 310 km (around 3.5 hours) from Berlin, about 315 km from Hamburg and about 40 km from Stralsund. The parking lot in front of the building charges a fee set by the owner.

Accessibility

The center is only partly wheelchair accessible: the exhibition and film room are reachable without steps via a separate ground-floor entrance, but the first floor with the model and café needs stairs. Dogs are welcome in the exhibition.