Heringsdorf is a semi-urban municipality and a popular

seaside resort A seaside resort is a town, village, or hotel that serves as a vacation resort and is located on a coast. Sometimes the concept includes an aspect of official accreditation based on the satisfaction of certain requirements, such as in the German ' ...

Usedom Island Usedom (german: Usedom , pl, Uznam ) 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 is north of the Szczec ...

Western Pomerania Historical Western Pomerania, also called Cispomerania, Fore Pomerania, Front Pomerania or Hither Pomerania (german: Vorpommern), is the western extremity of the historic region of Pomerania forming the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, West ...

, Germany. It is also known by the name Kaiserbad ('' en, Imperial Spa''). The municipality was formed in January 2005 out of the former municipalities of Heringsdorf,

Ahlbeck Ahlbeck is a village (''Ortsteil'') of the Heringsdorf municipality on the island of Usedom on the Baltic coast. It is the easternmost of the so-called ''Kaiserbäder'' ("Imperial Spas") seaside resorts on the German part of the island, situate ...

and

Bansin Bansin forms the westernmost part of the seaside resort town of Heringsdorf in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany, on the east coast of Usedom island, about five miles by rail northwest of Świnoujście. Bansin is one of the most popular resor ...

. Until January 2006, the municipality was called ''Dreikaiserbäder'', literally meaning ''Three Imperial Spas'', a reference to several vacation visits of the German emperor Wilhelm II until 1918. For the same reason, the fine sandy beach stretching about 12 km (7.5 miles) from

over Heringsdorf to

and Swinemünde (nowadays a Polish spa), is also called ''Kaiserstrand'' (Imperial Beach). The continuous

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...

beach of

has an overall length of exactly 40 km (25 miles) and an average width of 40 m (130 feet). Tourism is the dominant economical sector of the Imperial Spas, with an increasing number of hotels and vacation homes every year.

Overview

Heringsdorf is located on the

coast of the island of

Usedom Usedom (german: Usedom , pl, Uznam ) 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 is north of the Szczeci ...

, about 10 km as the crow flies northwest of

Świnoujście Świnoujście (; german: Swinemünde ; nds, Swienemünn; all three meaning "Świna ivermouth"; csb, Swina) is a city and seaport on the Baltic Sea and Szczecin Lagoon, located in the extreme north-west of Poland. Situated mainly on the islands ...

. Heringsdorf has been one of the most popular resorts on the German Baltic shore since its foundation. It consists of three parts:

on the Polish border, Heringsdorf proper (central part) and

in the west. These three ''Kaiserbäder'' were the favourite spas of the German Emperors, and also called the ''bathtub of Berlin''. They feature clean beaches and numerous scenic houses and mansions in the distinct style of ''

Bäderarchitektur Resort architecture (german: Bäderarchitektur) is an architectural style that is especially characteristic of spas and seaside resorts on the German Baltic coast. The style evolved since the foundation of Heiligendamm in 1793, and flourished espe ...

'' (resort architecture).

Partner municipalities

Heringsdorf is partnered with other towns and municipalities, namely Beckum in North Rhine-Westphalia (Germany),

Folgaria Folgaria ( Cimbrian: ''Folgrait'', from the Latin ''filicaria'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in Trentino in the northern Italian region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, located about southeast of Trento. As of 31 December 2013, it had a populatio ...

in Italy, La Celle-Saint-Cloud in France; as well as

Grodków Grodków (; szl, Grodkōw) is a town in Brzeg County, Opole Voivodeship in Poland, the administrative seat of Gmina Grodków. It is located in the Silesian Lowlands of the Oder basin, in the historic Upper Silesia region, about south of Brz ...

Tolkmicko Tolkmicko (pronounced , german: Tolkemit) is a town in northern Poland, on the Vistula Lagoon, about 20 km northeast of Elbląg. It is located in Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, in Elbląg County. Its population is 2,766 (2004). History Midd ...

and the neighbouring

in Poland. In addition, Heringsdorf is in frequent contact with Djerba in Tunisia and the embassy of Morocco in Berlin.

Transportation

The area is served by Heringsdorf Airport. Heringsdorf Station is the hub and headquarters of the

Usedomer Bäderbahn The Usedomer Bäderbahn (UBB) with its head office in Heringsdorf, northeastern Germany, is a 100 percent-owned subsidiary of the German national railway, Deutsche Bahn and the owner and operator of the railway network on the island of Usedom U ...

Images

Image:Seebruecke Ahlbeck 2.jpg,

Ahlbeck pier Ahlbeck Pier (German: ''Seebrücke Ahlbeck'' Polish: ''Molo w Czerninie'') - a pier located in Ahlbeck, on the island of Usedom; it is the oldest pier in Germany. The pier stretches from the ''Imperial Beach'' for 280 metres into the Baltic Sea ...

Image:Usedom-Heringsdorf-Okt2004.jpg, Beach of Heringsdorf Image:Bansin Usedom Seebruecke pier.jpg,

promenade seen from the pier File:Usedom Karte Map Heringsdorf Ahlbeck Bansin Swinemünde.png, Map of Heringsdorf including

and

and neighbouring city of Swinemünde/Świnoujście in Poland

References

External links