Koserow

coat of arms	Germany map
	Coordinates: 54 ° 3 '  N , 14 ° 0'  E
Basic data
State :	Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania
County :	Vorpommern-Greifswald
Office :	Usedom-South
Height :	4 m above sea level NHN
Area :	6.04 km 2
Residents:	1692 (Dec. 31, 2019)
Population density :	280 inhabitants per km 2
Postal code :	17459
Area code :	038375
License plate :	VG, ANK, GW, PW, SBG, UEM, WLG
Community key :	13 0 75 066
Office administration address:	Markt 1 17406 Usedom
Website :	www.amtusedom.de
Mayor :	René König
Location of the community Koserow in the Vorpommern-Greifswald district

Seebad Koserow ( Low German Kausro ) is a municipality on the island of Usedom directly on the shores of the Baltic Sea and the backwater . It is administered by the Usedom-Süd office based in the city of Usedom. Until 2005, the municipality was the seat of the Usedom-Mitte office.

Geography and traffic

Koserow Church

Koserower salt hut

Koserow is located at the narrowest point of the isthmus between north and south Usedom on federal highway 111 . Most of the Baltic coast of Koserow is steep coast , with the densely wooded Streckelsberg (approx. 58 meters above sea ​​level ) as the highest point on the slopes of which the place is located. Only in the north-western section, towards Zempin, where the main beach and the pier are located, does the coast level off.

Koserow's neighboring communities are Zempin in the west and Loddin in the east. The seaside resort of Ahlbeck is about 16 kilometers east of the community and Zinnowitz is six kilometers to the west . Koserow can be reached by rail via the Züssow – Wolgaster ferry – Swinoujscie route. From 1911 to 1945 there was a rail link from Ducherow via the Karniner Bridge in the south of the island, which was partially destroyed at the end of the war .

Districts

• Koserow

Desolations and living spaces in the community area

• Damerow (desert)
• Lüttenort (living space)
• Forsthaus Damerow (living space)

history

Koserow

Koserow was first mentioned in 1347 as "Cuzerowe" and "Kuzerowe", but the church is older. The name comes from Slavic and means something like "sandy soil on which only goats (= Koze) can live".

The place was looted during the Thirty Years War and the church bells were carried away - they were later found in the Swine . With the Peace of Westphalia of 1648, Vorpommern and thus also the place Koserow came under Swedish rule, after the place previously belonged to the Duchy of Pomerania . After the Treaty of Stockholm on February 1, 1720, the island of Usedom and thus also the place Koserow became Prussian property. After the administrative reform in 1815 Koserow came to the Prussian province of Pomerania and belonged to the district of Usedom-Wollin from 1818 to 1945 .

The Streckelsberg was largely cleared after the war until 1810 for the firewood needs of the Koserower. The mountain, consisting of sand, then eroded heavily, and the sand blew into the village. From 1818 to 1819 the population was obliged to reforest. Little by little, the Bürgerpark and Kurpark was created. Extensive hiking trails and beautiful viewpoints were created, and by 1827 the cliff hinterland was also planted.

The 1020 m long west pier and the 1372 m long east pier were built in front of Swinoujscie, masterpieces of hydraulic engineering; the shell was completed in 1823 and finally completed in 1829. For these jetties, from 1818 flat fishing boats and stone tongs were used to lift the ice age stone thrusts that were present in large quantities on the Vineta reef off Koserow-Damerow and to bring them to Swinoujscie to be built. According to legend, it was the walls and foundations of the sunken city of Vineta.

In 1820 the first salt works were built to preserve the caught fish. At that time Koserow was one of the poorest communities on Usedom. Several storm surges hit the place, such as the devastating Baltic storm flood of 1872 on the night of November 12th to 13th, the island of Usedom between Zempin and Koserow was broken through. The Vorwerk Damerow was badly damaged. When a weaker flood set in in February 1874, the Vorwerk Damerow was completely destroyed and abandoned because large amounts of quicksand were also washed up from the dunes to the hinterland. The breakthrough was eliminated immediately and a dam from Zempin to Koserow was later built, but it was only recently that the dyke was reinforced and raised in view of the flood height of up to 3.5 meters at the time. Only then was a forester's house built in place of the former Damerow farm (today a hotel complex).

According to PUM 1835 (Preußisches Urmestischblatt) Koserow was an anger village, which was limited to today's old village around the church. It had a Dutch windmill and the boat place on the coast, where the salt works were also built. By 1880 the place developed into a street village in the direction of Salzhütten. The beach hall was built near the huts and the ladies and gentlemen's baths were designed.

On Streckelsberg many groynes had been broken up by 1880, but then in 1895 a protective construction for the cliff as a surf wall was started, this was modernized and extended from 1914 to 1915. In the 1930s it was rebuilt in a compact concrete construction, but after this concrete and field stone wall was broken in and washed away, it was completely renewed after 1996 to 1998 using the old components. Pre-washing of beach sand and the erection of the upstream surf barriers made of split stones completed the protection of the cliff on the Streckelsberg.

On June 1, 1911, Koserow received a rail connection and a train station in the direction of Achterwasser at the end of the village.

During the time of National Socialism there was a NSV Gau school in Koserow . During the Second World War , the former pier was destroyed in the ice winter.

In 1940 two bunkers for the HVA Peenemünde were built on the Streckelsberg. One bunker was built as an observation and measuring bunker for the A4 rockets (V 2) fired in the direction of Leba and the second as a high-level anti-aircraft bunker to protect the HVA. Both were blown up in 1945, but the demolitions only caused the bunkers to sink. The front (to the cliff) observation bunker crashed on the cliff around 1970 and the anti-aircraft bunker around 1980. Both were destroyed on the beach and removed.

From 1945 to 1952, the municipality, with the part of the district of Usedom-Wollin that remained in Germany after the Second World War , formed the district of Usedom in the state of Mecklenburg . This was in 1952 in the district of Wolgast in District Rostock on.

In the 1970s, a bypass road for the B 111 was built for Koserow from Lüttenort to Koserow station. This relieved the place considerably, as the local road was very narrow, with many intersections and branches.

Since 1993, the community has had a new pier with an expanded promenade. In the same year Koserow received the title "State-approved seaside resort" after the place had already advertised with the slogan Koseow - the jewel of the Baltic Sea in GDR times . The listed salt huts were prepared for tourism (restaurants, shops, etc.).

The community has belonged to the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania since 1990. From 1994 to 2011 it belonged to the district of Ostvorpommern , which was added to the district of Vorpommern-Greifswald on September 4, 2011 .

Damerow (desert)

→ Main article : Damerow (Usedom)

Damerow was first mentioned as such in 1500. It was on the boggy narrow isthmus between Zempin and Koserow. On the night of November 12th to 13th, 1872, the storm surge broke through the isthmus and divided the island. The place Damerow was badly damaged. 14 months later, another flood completely destroyed the unprotected place.

After the breakthrough was closed and the large dike was built in stages, a forester's house called Damerow was built in the direction of Koserow. In 1911 the Wolgast - Ahlbeck railway parallel to the road and dike through the desert area was completed.

The artist Otto Niemeyer-Holstein built a homestead with a studio and a small harbor in the area of ​​the former desert area of ​​Damerow and called it "Lüttenort". Today his homestead is a museum.

At the site of the former forester's house in Damerow, a large and very popular restaurant was built in GDR times, called the “Forsthaus Damerow”. A company holiday facility was built in the vicinity, which was modernized and expanded after 1990, as was the restaurant. This facility, like Lüttenort, does not count as existing residential spaces, but are fully integrated into Koserow.

politics

Logo from Koserow

Coat of arms, flag, official seal

The municipality has no officially approved national emblem, neither a coat of arms nor a flag . The official seal is the small state seal with the coat of arms of the region of Western Pomerania . It shows an upright griffin with a raised tail and the inscription "GEMEINDE OSTSEEBAD KOSEROW * LANDKREIS VORPOMMERN-GREIFSWALD".

The municipality only uses a coat of arms-like logo.

tourism

The (mostly seasonal) tourism is the most important economic factor in the municipality. The wide, fine-grained sandy beach and the up to 60 meter high cliffs make the place particularly attractive for bathing tourists. The 261 meter long pier has a shipping pier from which ships of the Adler Line operate. A cycle path runs parallel to the coast and connects Koserow and the other coastal towns. Many hotels and restaurants are based in the community. In addition, many households in the community operate private room rentals. Together with Ückeritz , Loddin and Zempin, Koserow belongs to the Usedomer Amber Baths Association , the aim of which is joint tourist marketing. The municipality levies a tourist tax .

Postcard Koserow: Beach with a ladies pool

The first beginnings of bathing tourism in Koserow date back to the middle of the 19th century. The first seaside resort opened in 1853 - but it was destroyed again in 1857 by a storm surge. When travel opportunities improved with the construction of the highway and the connection to the railway network in 1911, the number of bathers steadily increased, even if the community did not represent any serious competition for the imperial baths in the east of the island. During the GDR era, Koserow, like the other coastal towns on Usedom, was a very popular holiday destination for all walks of life, especially in the context of trade union tourism. Koserow was also very popular with bathers from Czechoslovakia with its large campsite . After the fall of the Berlin Wall, tourism initially declined. Especially tourism from Czechoslovakia came to a complete standstill. In the meantime, however, the community can register high visitor numbers again in the bathing season. There is a campsite in the eastern part of the municipality, in the direction of Loddin (Kölpinsee district). This has been greatly reduced after reunification and today mainly offers parking spaces for mobile homes.

A first Usedom amusement park based on the concept of Karls Erlebnisdorf was built in 2015 and 2016 in Koserow, the opening took place on March 19, 2016.

Coastal defense

Koserow is located on the narrowest part of the island. At the former Vorwerk Damerow , which is now part of the municipality, the isthmus between the Baltic Sea and the Achterwasser is only about 300 meters wide. At this point there were repeated breakthroughs with a division of the island, so that the Damerow Vorwerk had to be abandoned. In addition, the cliffs, which are up to 60 meters high, are threatened by erosion. The rate of decline here is around 90 meters in 100 years - compared to an average of 34 meters / 100 years on the coast of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Coastal protection is therefore of particular importance on this part of the coast. Coastal protection is implemented through a range of measures.

In the Schorre wooden are groynes rammed ranging in up to 80 meters into the sea. The rows of groynes extend to Zinnowitz in the northwest and Ückeritz in the southeast. They should shift the surf currents seaward, reduce the wave energy and prevent sand from being washed away or accumulate sand.

Old surf wall on Streckelsberg, 1954

The Streckelsberg was almost completely free of forests until the beginning of the 19th century. Since there is sand near the surface, wind-related relocation of sand occurred, which posed an increasing problem for the site. This problem was permanently solved by the foresting of the Streckelsberg from 1818 to 1819.

At the end of the 19th century, a bank protection wall several hundred meters long was built at the foot of the Streckelsberg to counteract the sharp decline in the coast. However, this selective solution led to increased erosion on the adjacent coastal sections and to a disruption of the natural profile of the Schorre. Nevertheless, the structure lasted for a century. It was not until the 1990s that the now heavily damaged wall was removed. As an alternative solution, which should take more account of the dynamics of the entire coastal area, three breakwaters, each 200 meters long, were built at a distance of 200 meters from the coast. Sand was washed up below the Streckelsberg and a 615 meter long flat heavyweight wall was built. This enabled the coastal decline to be halted, although sediment deficits persist in the adjacent coastal areas. Another advantage over the old surf wall is that this stretch of beach can now be used for tourism again.

See also : Streckelsberg

Attractions

→ Main article : List of architectural monuments in Koserow

• Brick and field stone church from the 13th century, see Koserow church
• Salt huts on the beach (for preserving fish)
• Pier (261 meters long)
• Streckelsberg (one of the highest elevations on Usedom, approx. 60 meters). There were two four-story concrete towers on top of it. Before 1945 they served as a high-level anti-aircraft bunker and to observe the trajectory of the rockets launched from Peenemünde to Łeba . After the end of the war, both towers were blown up, but they were not destroyed but only overturned. For decades they formed a characteristic ruin monument. The coastal bunker fell down the cliff in the 1970s and was disposed of. At the end of the 1990s, the remaining bunker was removed for security reasons, and it too threatened to crash.
• Halfway to Zempin : Lüttenort , former home and studio (today a museum with a sculpture garden) of the painter Otto Niemeyer-Holstein
• Between Koserow and Zempin the large Riegeldeich at the point where the Baltic Sea broke through the island to the backwaters in 1872. On it the Usedom cycle path.

Personalities

Sons and daughters of the place

• Wilhelm of Gaza (1883–1936), surgeon
• Michael Jansen (* 1947), architectural historian and archaeologist
• Barbara Wieck (* 1951), track and field athlete and Olympic participant
• Regine Lück (* 1954), politician (Die Linke)

People related to the place

• Wilhelm Meinhold (1797–1851), writer, 1821–1827 pastor in Koserow
• Otto Niemeyer-Holstein (1896–1984), painter
• Franka Dietzsch (* 1968), discus thrower, grew up in Koserow

Web links

Commons : Koserow  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Wikivoyage: Koserow  - travel guide

• Koserow municipality on the website of the Usedom Süd office

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Statistisches Amt MV - population status of the districts, offices and municipalities 2019 (XLS file) (official population figures in the update of the 2011 census) ( help ).
2. ↑ ^{a b} Manfred Niemeyer: Ostvorpommern I . Collection of sources and literature on place names. Vol. 1: Usedom. (= Greifswald contributions to toponymy. Vol. 1), Ernst-Moritz-Arndt University of Greifswald, Institute for Slavic Studies, Greifswald 2001, ISBN 3-86006-149-6 . P. 11 ff
3. ↑ Main Statute, Section 1, Paragraph 4 (PDF).
4. ↑ http://www.usedomer-bernsteinbaeder.de/
5. ↑ Koserow: Planned opening of Karls Erdbeerhof in Koserow postponed to 2016 due to archaeological finds , Ostsee-Zeitung, September 26, 2014
6. ^ Koserow children storm "Karls" on Usedom , Ostsee-Zeitung, March 19, 2016
7. ^ ^{A b} Gösta Hoffmann, Reinhard Lampe: The island of Usedom - Spätpleistozäne and Holozäne landscape development, in: Reinhard Lampe, Sebastian Lorenz (Ed.): Ice Age Landscapes in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Geozon Science Media publishing house, 2010. ISBN 3941971050 . P. 99.
8. ^ Gösta Hoffmann, Reinhard Lampe: The island of Usedom - Spätpleistozäne and Holocene landscape development, in: Reinhard Lampe, Sebastian Lorenz (Ed.): Ice Age Landscapes in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Geozon Science Media, 2010. ISBN 3941971050 . P. 100 f.