86 Best Sights in Schleswig-Holstein and the Baltic Coast, Germany

In an old 19th-century boiler house, this popular information center documents the HafenCity urban development project. In addition to changing photographic and architectural exhibitions, the center also has an impressive 1:500 scale model of the HafenCity. Free two-hour walking and cycling tours of the HafenCity are also available. Tours in English are offered for groups of 10 people or more and can be booked ahead of time on the center's website.

Take a look inside the entrance hall of this Gothic building. It was built in the 13th century by the town's rich merchants and was one of the country's first hospitals. It still cares for the sick and elderly.

Just 5 km (3 miles) off the northwest corner of Rügen is a smaller, sticklike island called Hiddensee whose undisturbed solitude has attracted such visitors as Albert Einstein, Thomas Mann, Rainer Maria Rilke, and Sigmund Freud. As Hiddensee is an auto-free zone, leave your car in Schaprode, 21 km (13 miles) west of Bergen, and take a ferry. Reederei Hiddensee ( 038300/210  reederei-hiddensee.de) makes the 45-minute trip from Schaprode on Rügen to Vitte on Hiddensee up to thirteen times a day, with other departures from Stralsund. They also serve the towns of Kloster and Neuendorf on Hiddensee. Fares start at €22.80 return. Vacation cottages and restaurants are on the island.

Peenemünde, at the northwest tip of Usedom, is the launch site of the world's first ballistic missiles, the V-1 and V-2, developed by Germany during World War II. At the Historisch-Technisches Museum you can view these rockets as well as models of early airplanes and ships. One exhibit, in particular, covers the moral responsibility of scientists who develop new technology by focusing on the secret plants where most of the rocket parts were assembled, and where thousands of slave laborers died.

The fishing village comes alive in the Holm neighborhood, an old settlement with tiny and colorful houses. The windblown buildings give a good impression of what villages in northern Germany looked like 150 years ago.

Until the 20th century, German beer consumption was a regional thing. A thirsty German would walk in to a pub and say, "Grosses Bier, bitte," and a large beer simply appeared. There was no need to request a certain brand because there was only one or, if you were lucky, two to choose from. In Hamburg's case it was Holsten and Astra, which are still brewed in the city, although both brands are now owned by the Danish brewery giant Carlsberg. To learn more about how these brews are made and how they taste, Holsten brewery offers guided tours of the factory, with a complimentary beer or two at the end.

The town of Hörnum is bordered on three sides by a rock-free, fine-white-sand beach that is perfect for paddling, quick dips in the sea, or simply lounging in one of the ever-present Strandkörbe beach chairs. The main beach is one of the most family-friendly on the island, and it's easily accessible from the promenade. A magnificent red-and-white lighthouse looms over the beach. Hörnum is the best place to take long walks along the Wattenmeer. Amenities: food and drink; lifeguards; parking; showers; toilets; water sports. Best for: surfing; swimming; walking; windsurfing.

The listed Kaispeicher B, built in 1878/79, houses the world’s largest private maritime collection. On nine exhibition decks ship models, including ivory and amber ones, merchant shipping, naval history spanning three thousand years of seafaring, and marine research are on display.

Standing on the highest point of East Rügen, 2 km (1 mile) south of Binz, is the Jagdschloss Granitz, a hunting lodge built in 1837–1846. It offers a splendid view in all directions from its lookout tower and has an excellent hunting exhibit.

From Sassnitz, it is an easy walk to the Jasmund Nationalpark, where you can explore the marshes, lush pine forests, and towering chalk cliffs. The most famous cliff, the so-called Königsstuhl ("king's chair" in German), can be explored on a skywalk at 42 m (138 feet) high. This is where the national park's visitor center is located. The skywalk can be busy, especially between 11 and 3 in the summer and requires a timed ticket, which can be purchased online.

The Kaiserbäder Strand stretches for more than 12 km (7½ miles) along Usedom Island's northeast coast from Bansin to Heringsdorf to Ahlbeck. A promenade connects the three towns which charm with a mix of 19th-century beach architecture on one side and beach-chair relaxation on the other. A stroll through the windy sea air is said to have magical recuperative powers and locals claim that when the conditions are right, the sand actually sings when the grains rub together. The wide beach bustles with weekend Berliners and long-term visitors in summer. Amenities: food and drink; lifeguards; parking; showers; toilets; water sports. Best for: partiers; sunrise; swimming; walking.

The Sylt island's unofficial capital is the main destination for the wealthier crowd and lies 9 km (6 miles) northeast of Westerland. Redbrick buildings and shining white thatch-roof houses spread along the coastline. The real draw—aside from the fancy restaurants and chic nightclubs—is the beaches.

Marking the northernmost point in eastern Germany is the lighthouse at Kap Arkona, a nature-lover's paradise filled with blustery sand dunes. The redbrick lighthouse was designed by Karl Friedrich Schinkel, the Prussian court-architect responsible for so many of today's landmarks in Berlin.

At Germany's largest passenger-shipping harbor, you can always catch a glimpse of one of the many ferries leaving for Norway from the Oslokai (Oslo Quay) or for Göteborg from the Schwedenkai (Sweden Quay).

Hamburg is a city of great beauty but also tragedy. On the southeastern edge of the city, between 104,000 and 106,000 people, including children, were held at Neuengamme concentration camp in its years of operation from December 1938 to May 1945. It was primarily a slave-labor camp, not an area focused on extermination, where bricks and weapons were the main products. Neuengamme held German political prisoners, Europeans pushed into slavery, gays, Roma (gypsies), and Jews. Jewish children were the subjects of cruel medical experiments; others worked with their parents or simply grew up in prison. To keep people in line, there were random acts of violence, including executions, and atrocious living conditions. Officials estimate that as many as 43,000 people died at Neuengamme. A memorial opened on the site in 2005. Where the dormitories, dining hall, and hospital once sat, there are low pens filled with large rocks. The main area has exhibits describing working conditions in an actual factory as well as a museum with interactive displays about the prisoner experience. Firsthand accounts, photographs from prisoners, furniture, clothing, and possessions make the experience even more affecting.

The grocers' guild built this tightly packed group of courtyard houses between 1620 and 1626 for members' widows. The half-timber, two-story dwellings, with unusual twisted chimneys and decorative brick facades, were restored in the 1970s. A visit inside the Kramer-Witwen-Wohnung—part of the Museum of Hamburg History—gives you a sense of what life was like in these 17th-century dwellings.

Hamburgers and tourists flock to the city's impressive port—Germany's largest—to marvel at the huge container and cruise ships gliding past, pick up maritime-themed gifts from souvenir stores, and treat themselves to something from the many snack and ice-cream stands. It's best to take a tour to get a complete idea of the massive scale of the place, which is one of the most modern and efficient harbors in the world. Barge tours leave from the main passenger terminal, along with a whole range of ferries and boats heading to other destinations on the Elbe and in the North Sea. There's frequently a breeze here, so it's worth packing something warm, particularly if you're planning on taking an open-top harbor tour.

Burned down during the air raids of World War II, the ruins of the neo-Gothic church serve as a memorial for the victims of war and persecution from 1933 to 1945. The museum features an exhibition on the air raids and the destruction of Hamburg and other European cities. A glass elevator on the outside of the building takes visitors 250 feet up to the steeple, which offers magnificent views of the surrounding historic streets.

All that remains of the oldest sacral building in Wismar is the 250-foot tower. Although only partially damaged in the war, the East German government demolished the hall of the church in 1960. At noon, 3, and 7, listen for one of 14 hymns played on its carillon.

The impressive redbrick Gothic structure, which has the highest brick nave in the world, looms behind the Rathaus. Look for the old bells, as they are still in the spot where they fell during the bombing of Lübeck.

One of the largest and best-preserved squares in Germany is framed by patrician gabled houses. Their style ranges from redbrick late Gothic through Dutch Renaissance to 19th-century neoclassical. The square's Wasserkunst, the ornate pumping station built in Dutch Renaissance style, was constructed between 1580 and 1602 by the Dutch master Philipp Brandin.

No visit to this part of the country would be complete without a ride on this narrow-gauge steam train that has been chugging its 16-km (10-mile) route through the streets of Bad Doberan to the nearby beach resorts of Heiligendamm and Kühlungsborn since 1886. The train was nicknamed after a little local dog that barked its approval every time the smoking iron horse passed by. In summer Molli runs 11 times daily between Bad Doberan and Kühlungsborn.

This broad street of shops, which cuts through the city's Altstadt, is one of Hamburg’s major thoroughfares. Built between 1908 and 1911 to connect the main train station to the town hall, but only open to taxis and buses, the street is perfect for a stroll. Home to the GALERIA department store, electronics megastore Saturn, mindblowing buildings such as the Levante Passage, as well as a host of global brand stores from Adidas to Zara, it swells with local and out-of-town shoppers on Saturday. The best cafés and restaurants tend to be found on side streets off Mönckebergstrasse, where the rents for shop space are generally not as high.

The museum houses a wide range of exhibits, from 15th- to 18th-century scientific instruments to an art nouveau interior complete with ornaments and furnishings. Its founder, Justus Brinckmann, amassed a wealth of unusual objects, including ceramics from around the world.

This is one of the finest beaches on Rügen, and there's probably not another place like it in the world—think fine white beach bordered by a dense pine forest sitting in the shadow of the ruins of a monstrous Nazi beach resort. Prora actually sits in the Prorer Wiek, a pleasant cove with shallow water and plentiful sandbanks. Amenities: food and drink; lifeguards; parking; showers; toilets; water sports. Best for: nudists; sunset; swimming; walking.

Since 1895 this narrow-gauge steam train has run across the island of Rügen connecting a number of sea resorts with each other. Trains run every two hours from Göhren to Putbus and back. From May to October the Rasender Roland runs every hour from Binz to Putbus, and beyond Putbus to Lauterbach Mole. The ride takes 75 minutes each way.

Dating from 1240, the Rathaus is among the buildings lining the arcaded Marktplatz, one of Europe's most striking medieval market squares.

This majestic 19th-century sailing ship once traveled as far as Cape Town. Now it's permanently docked at Hamburg's piers, where it serves as a museum and site for painting and photography exhibitions.