Tom`s travels: Zinnowitz, Wolgast & Anklam (19/05/2023)

On yet another sunny yet chilly May day, I decided to head towards the Baltic coast and explore some places in the area. My first stop was the beach town of Zinnowitz, which I reached in over three hours' train ride from Berlin. Once there, I got off the train and headed towards the beach, passing through the lovely city center, with the typical houses and villas facing the sea, protected by it and by the wind by a long line of pines and low sand dunes. Despite being still quite cold and windy there were quite some people on the beach, and the promenade was already quite full of people walking by. From there I then walked over to the pier and headed up its entire length of about 315m. Originally, there used to be a bridge built in 1908, however, the current one dates to a reconstruction from 1993. After reaching the end of it and admiring the view of the coast and beach from there I then headed back towards the shore and on through town to reach the station once again. Here I then took the next ride which took me to the town of Wolgast. Once there I crossed the Peenebrücke, over the Peenestrom strait, and entered town. I first reached the nice main square, the Rathausplatz, with nice old buildings all around it including the historic town hall. a two-story building dating to the early 18th century with a late baroque lantern tower. Next up was the nearby church of St Peter, the town's main religious building. It was erected between 1280 and 1350 in the Gothic style with a large albeit quite empty interior. Quite interesting was the 16th-century crypt with the sarcophagi of the last seven members of the ducal family of Pomerania-Wolgast. Even better was the climb up to the top of the 50m high bell tower, from where I had a great 360-degree view of the town below and the surrounding landscape. After the visit, I then headed back down to street level and had a walk around the rest of the old town admiring its nice architecture. Heading back to the train station I then caught the next train that brought me to the city of Anklam. Though a large and prosperous city for most of the Middle Ages, the city suffered greatly during the Thirty Years' War, the Seven Years' War, and most recently during the Second World War and the East German period. Nowadays most of its historic center is gone, replaced by tall unbecomingly soviet style plattenbaus. As I approached the city from the east, I came by one of the surviving old elements of the city, the Steintor, the 15th-century 32m high eastern city gate once part of the walls encircling the old town. Not far from it I then reached the large central square, the Markt, once surrounded by the main old buildings and now mostly modern-looking. To the south of it, a couple of blocks away, was the Pulverturm, another of the surviving old defensive fortifications. As I continued on my walk I eventually reached the western end of town where the church of St Mary is set. I found it open and proceeded to visit its interior. Originally dating to the 13th century, this three-aisled brick gothic hall church was later mostly rebuilt in the 15th century. Largely spared during WWII, its interior was quite nice with its well-preserved painted walls and columns revealing floral and geometric patterns, the 14th-century baptismal font, and a late 15th-century figure of the Virgin Mary part of the altarpiece which unfortunately burned down during WWII. Moving on from St Mary's, I then reached the other main church in town, St. Nicholas, unfortunately unlike St. Mary, largely destroyed during the war. Its appearance is that of a 14th-century brick gothic style and was just finished rebuilding in 2010. It was closed at the time of my visit, but it is generally only open for events and exhibitions. From there I walked on through the rest of the city, passing by the small church of the Holy Spirit, and reached a nice promenade along the Peene River. It was then time to go, heading back to the station where I eventually took the next ride into Berlin.