Zingst

The title of this article is ambiguous. Further meanings are listed under Zingst (disambiguation) .

coat of arms	Germany map
	Coordinates: 54 ° 26 '  N , 12 ° 41'  E
Basic data
State :	Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania
County :	Western Pomerania-Ruegen
Height :	1 m above sea level NHN
Area :	50.41 km 2
Residents:	3113 (Dec. 31, 2019)
Population density :	62 inhabitants per km 2
Postal code :	18374
Area code :	038232
License plate :	VR, GMN, NVP, RDG, RÜG
Community key :	13 0 73 105
Address of the municipal administration:	Hanshägerstrasse 1 18374 Zingst
Website :	www.gemeinde-zingst.de
Mayor :	Christian Zornow ( CDU )
Location of the municipality of Zingst in the district of Western Pomerania-Rügen

The Ostseeheilbad Zingst is an official municipality in the north-west of the district of Vorpommern-Rügen in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania , part of Western Pomerania . Almost the entire peninsula and the islands of Kirr and Barther Oie offshore to the south belong to the municipality . The community has been a state-approved seaside spa since 2002.

geography

Geographical location

Aerial photo of Zingst from 2006

The peninsula Zingst or the Zingst is the eastern part of the peninsula Fischland-Zingst between the cities of Rostock and Stralsund on the southern Baltic coast lies. The Zingst joins the Darß peninsula in a length of almost 20 km and a width of 2 to 4 km from west to east and is bordered to the north by the Baltic Sea and south by Barther Bodden and Grabow , which form the Darß-Zingster Bodden chain belong. Due to silting up, the formerly offshore island Großer Werder has become a peninsula on the Zingst.

The connection to the Darß in the west is only about 100 m wide land bridge directly on the Baltic Sea. At this point the Prerower Strom , which had previously connected the Bodden and the Baltic Sea, was artificially closed in 1874 after the great Baltic storm flood in 1872 . Only since then is Zingst no longer an island.

The center of the settlement of Zingst lies between the Freesenbruch in the west, the Baltic Sea in the north, the Alte Straminke, a former arm of the sea with a marshland surrounding it, in the east and the Zingster Strom in the south. The community is barely above sea level, so that the place is enclosed by dykes to protect against storm floods. Müggenburg is located east of the main town on the Zingster Strom . To the east of the community lies a larger, very wild forest area, the Osterwald . This is followed by the Sundian Meadows . The easternmost point of the peninsula is the Pramort .

Community structure

The area of ​​the municipality is not divided into districts. The settlement of Klein Kirr on the island of Kirr belongs to the Müggenburg location southeast of the main town on the Zingster Strom.

geology

Beach dunes

The original island of Zingst is geologically very young. The formation process began around 12,000 years ago with the end of the Vistula Ice Age , which left a young moraine landscape here . By defrosting the ice sheet is lifted and the land underneath the sinks were filled with water, the predecessor of the later Baltic Sea, the Ancylus Lake was created. So only the protruding ridges remained as islands. The large forms of the coasts in the southern area of ​​the Baltic Sea were formed by the Littorina transgression about 7,000 to 2,500 years ago. About 5,000 years ago the sea level reached its present level, the cores of today's Darß and Zingst became islands. 4,500 years ago, the influx of salt water from the North Sea was severely restricted. The Baltic Sea has been slowly sweetening since then. Due to coastal erosion (land erosion , drifting and sedimentation), the islands of that time acquired their present shape over time. About 1,500 years ago, the increasingly longer spits cut off the bays behind them, so that the Darß-Zingster Boddenkette was created. In 1874 the Prerower Strom between the Darß and the Zingst was artificially closed. Towards the end of the 20th century, the former island of Großer Werder was temporarily connected to the Zingst by silting up the strait. This area represents a windwatt . The process of land formation continues in the east of the peninsula today. Zingst lies between the landfall areas Darßer Ort and Bock, which means that sediment is transported in a west-east direction, and the beach in front of Zingst loses 40 cm every year. The loss was mostly caused by storm floods, so that this process has been greatly weakened today.

Flora and fauna

Ancient sequoia trees in the Osterwald

The Osterwald is the only rain bog in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania , which has been partially dried out by human intervention. The trees here include birch , English oak , beech and pine, among others . Other tree species settled by humans are alder , spruce and fir . The sequoia trees planted in 1955 are a special feature . In terms of animal species, there are populations of tawny owl , fork harrier and short-eared owl . Also pine marten are more common.

Bog birches north of the Sundian Meadows

This is followed by the Sundian Meadows to the east . This part of the peninsula as well as the surrounding Baltic Sea and Bodden waters and the bird islands Kirr and Barther Oie south of the village of Zingst belong to the Vorpommersche Boddenlandschaft National Park . The area of ​​the Sundian Meadows is even designated as protection zone I. At the beginning of the meadows there is a station of the National Park Office with a small exhibition. In the dunes grow beach grass and beach rye with their long deep roots in moist Spülsaumgebieten salt herb and Salzmiere . In the area north of the driveway, dwarf shrubs such as crowberry and heather dominate . There are a few pine forests. In the south-lying areas on the coast Bodden growing Bodden-rush , flood bent grass , thrift , samphire and Salzmiere.

In the area of ​​the Sundian Meadows and the surrounding bank areas, 9 of the 15 known geese species and 35 different coastal bird species rest during the bird migration period .

East of the Zingstes is one of the largest resting places for cranes in Europe, which rest here for up to a few weeks. The cranes from Scandinavia or Northern Russia migrate across the peninsula in larger resting groups from mid-August. The number of resting birds peaked between mid and late October with several 10,000 birds. The withdrawal of the cranes takes place between mid-August and mid-October, occasionally in November. There is an observation point in Pramort on the eastern tip of the peninsula. Access to the Pramort is regulated during the time of the crane migration in autumn. There are also some observation sites near the village of Zingst opposite the island of Kirr.

history

Beginnings until 1700

The Zingst around 1700

The first traces of settlement on the original island date from the Middle Stone Age 5000 to 6000 years ago. At the end of the Vistula Ice Age, the sea level was lower and the island was therefore connected to the mainland. In the current location of Müggenburg, on the Sundic Meadows and on the Hohe Düne, flint tools from this time were found. In the Younger Stone Age, the sea level reached today's level. Finds near Prerow date from this time. After that, the demonstrable settlement of the island broke off. However, it was still used economically by the Slavs living near Barth . The name Zingst means hay island and is derived from the Slavic Zeno (hay).

In the swampy area around the Prerower Strom are the remains of a Slavic rampart , the Hertesburg.

The subsequent German settlement as part of the eastern colonization began very hesitantly. Until 1292 the island belonged to the Principality of Rügen. The Prince used Hertesburg, which is located on the Prerower Strom, as a customs office. In the same year Wizlaw II von Rügen sold the island to the Cistercian monastery Neuenkamp for 2000 Sundian marks . This began to settle the first farmers on Zingst. The eastern part of the island has belonged to the city of Stralsund since 1290. A few boundary stones in the Osterwald still bear witness to this. Stralsund mainly used the land as pasture for cattle, from which the name "Sundische Wiesen" is derived. In the 15th century, the Likedeelers were active around the Zingst. Until 1441 large parts of the island were owned by the monastery on Hiddensee , then it was sold to Duke Barnim VIII . With the consent of his cousins, he later pledged the Zingst region together with the Barth and Damgarten states for 20,000 guilders to his niece Katharine von Werle .

In 1532 the two districts of Zingst, Pahlen and Hanshagen, as well as the princely cattle yard Rothem Haus, were first mentioned in a document. Other sources suggest that Pahlen and Hanshagen were mentioned as German-Slavic settlements as early as the 13th century. The name Pahlen is of Slavic and Hanshagen of German origin. In 1578 there was a border dispute between Stralsund, Barth and Zingst, as a result of which boundary stones were set on the island. Today you can still find a stone at the so-called "Dreiländereck" in the Osterwald. In 1660 the farming village of Pramort was founded on the eastern tip of Zingst. Other settlements were Müggenburg, Bey den Wiesen and Straminke (later a forest farm). Except for a few houses, the Straminke settlement fell victim to the storm flood in 1625. In 1648 Zingst, like all of Western Pomerania , came under Swedish rule as a result of the Thirty Years' War . Even after the end of the Great Northern War , the Zingst belonged to Swedish Pomerania until the Peace of Kiel on January 14, 1814 . From 1815 the area became Prussian and belonged to the province of Pomerania .

Zingst maritime history (1700-1914)

Old fishing boat on Zingster beach

The main sources of income around the year 1700 were, besides timber and peat extraction, fishing and, to a lesser extent, agriculture. Due to its island location, seafaring also played a major role for Zingst at an early stage. The fishing and the connection to the mainland were essential. In the 16th and 17th centuries, timber and cattle were added. There were ship connections to the owners of the island, the Hanseatic city of Stralsund and the city of Barth. These used the forest and also the meadows on the island. Shipping traffic increased sharply in the course of the 18th century. Ship sizes and seaworthiness increased with the increase in the flow of goods. Thanks to its favorable location on the Bodden and the two entrances to the Baltic Sea (Prerower Strom and over the Enge at Barhöft), Zingst had ideal conditions for ship trading. In most cases, wood (mostly valuable crown wood) and grain were shipped to Scandinavia. In the 18th century, Zingst even managed to outperform Barth in the goods trade. For Zingst the "golden age of sailing" began. Ships and crews from Zingst sailed the Baltic Sea, the North Sea, the Mediterranean and the oceans. The economic importance of trade increased sharply.

In the Zingster Werftstrasse, ships with a length of up to 40 m were built in three shipyards. Some of them were completely rigged up in other ports. The surrounding larger port cities were aware of the increasing competition from the "shipbuilders" and tried to convince the Swedish king to take back the seafaring privileges granted to the small towns, but in vain. The king preferred to use the well-trained seafarers as “Kraunmaatrosen” in his own navy. Due to the external factors, such as the elimination of the navigation files in England and the favorable location, shipping became the dominant industry in Zingst. The shipping companies were mostly in Barth (there was enough money here), while the crews were at home in Zingst. Another part of the ships was operated by the partner shipping companies. In 1862 63 boatmen and 53 helmsmen lived in Zingst. Around 1880 over 80 captains lived in Zingst. Fishing, like agriculture, sank into insignificance.

Due to the decline in the flow of goods in the Baltic Sea in the 19th century, the Zingst boatmen also increasingly sailed the oceans. Some of the teams or ships did not return to their home ports for years. Between 1781 and 1823 76 ships were built in Zingst, including four barques , 19 schooners and 14 galeasses . In the area of ​​the lagoon landscape with Ribnitz and Barth 909 ships were built. In comparison, only 600 ships were built in Rostock. The largest ship ever built on Zingst was the Bark Nordpol , built in 1864 with 367  register tons . The ship was 36 meters long and had a considerable draft of 5.2 meters. In 1844 the navigation pre-school opened in Zingst, which served the basic training of future captains and helmsmen.

With the emergence of steam shipping and the increasing size of ships, the steady upward movement came to an end. The modern tall ships and steamships could no longer be operated profitably in the region. In addition, there was the protective tariff on grain introduced by Otto von Bismarck in 1879 , which sold many Scandinavian trading partners. At the end of the 19th century there was again a higher volume of freight due to the feeder traffic for the ports in Rostock, Stettin, Stralsund and Barth. This upswing passed Zingst by. Many Zingst seafarers emigrated, so that the population fell from 2,170 in 1879 to 1,272 in 1912. After the First World War , shipping on the Zingst became meaningless. The emerging tourism, however, partially compensated for the lost jobs.

The Zingst shipping was not spared from accidents either. On May 13, 1867, many seamen died in the Zingster Roadstead when their anchored ship broke loose when a storm came up and crashed into a sandbank. The captain on shore leave helplessly watched the sinking of his ship and the crew.

Zingst as a seaside resort (1800 to World War II)

Tourism advertisement from 1881

Map of Zingst around 1900

Beach around 1890

Beach restaurant around 1900

Zingst town map 1920

The two main towns of Zingst, Pahlen and Hanshagen, were counted as one municipality as early as 1700 and had only one Schulzen . Pahlen was in the southwest of the present town and Hanshagen in the area around the port. In 1823, the current town of Zingst was created by merging the towns of Pahlen, Hanshagen and Am Rothem Haus.

After Georg Christoph Lichtenberg pointed out the healing properties of seaside baths in 1793 and, following the English model, also called for them in Germany, the first German seaside resort opened in Heiligendamm in 1794 . A little later, other seaside resorts were built along the Baltic Sea coast.

Due to the remote location of the then island of Zingst, the first vacationers came to Zingst in the middle of the 19th century. The storm floods of 1872 made headlines across Germany, and interest in the island grew. In 1880 the road from Barth to Bresewitz was built. From there there was a short ferry connection to Zingst to Timmort (at today's Meiningen Bridge). In 1881 the so-called bathing committee was founded in Zingst. The founding fathers were the innkeeper Christian Rammin and the ship's captain Rudolf Parow. Rammin also opened the first beach restaurant on the Baltic Sea. The stock corporation founded in the same year built a men's and women's pool on the Baltic Sea beach. However, the two baths were more than a kilometer apart. This division lasted until the First World War . In 1898 the community took over the stock corporation and now managed the pool itself. The chairman of the pool administration was the respective community leader. The two co-founders of the bathing industry were responsible for the warm bath (Parow) and the cold bath (Rammin). The warm bath was opened in 1898.

After consideration had been given to opening a family bath as early as 1906, it could not open until 1913 after being rejected by the district administrator. In 1913 the guests were accommodated in five hotels, nine pensions and 50 percent in private houses in Zingst. There were twelve restaurants and cafes to provide supplies. The number of guests in 1913 more than doubled the number of residents. The increase in the number of overnight stays was also a result of the opening of the Barth-Zingst-Prerow railway line in 1911, through which the town could be reached from Berlin or Hamburg in less than five hours. However, a further increase was prevented by the high prices. The overnight stay in a guesthouse cost between 3.50 and 5 marks , while the monthly wage of a worker was 25 to 30 marks. The outbreak of the First World War brought bathing operations almost completely to a standstill.

After the war, the bathing system recovered very quickly. One no longer bathed in separate baths, but together (men and women) from the beach chair or the sand castle . That is why the men's and women's baths were demolished in 1925. The family bathroom existed until 1937. In the years after the Great Depression , the number of overnight stays increased sharply. In 1939, over 8,000 overnight stays were counted. The character and the size of the town hardly changed. In 1937 Zingst became a Wehrmacht base and a KdF bath. In the same year, seven special trains brought 3,538 KdF vacationers to Zingst. However, the outbreak of World War II brought bathing operations to a complete standstill. From 1940 to 1945 was on the Flakschießplatz a POW camp whose occupants in the works of Heinkel of Barth forced labor do had.

GDR period (1945–1990)

The community was part of the Franzburg-Barth district until 1952 and then belonged to the Ribnitz-Damgarten district in the Rostock district until 1990 .

After the war, Zingst became a place of refuge for many expellees from eastern Germany; all holiday accommodations were required for them. Due to the new residents, the population increased from 2,100 in 1938 to 3,340 in 1946. In the beginning, therefore, a holiday business was out of the question, but already in 1946 1,269 holidaymakers stayed overnight in Zingst, in 1949 over 10,000 holidaymakers.

The FDGB , founded in 1947, increasingly took over recreation for political reasons. Most of the FDGB vacationers were still accommodated in private accommodations. In 1948, however, a new Kurhaus was opened at the main crossing to the beach, for which the foundation stone was laid in June 1946.

In 1950 the entire place was connected to the drinking water network. In 1952, the municipality of Müggenburg and its district Sundische Wiese were incorporated into Zingst.

Welsh black cattle reared at the end of the GDR era near Zingst

In the 1950s, the number of overnight stays rose continuously. Since there were not enough FDGB hotels available for this requirement, in 1953 - as on the entire Baltic Sea coast - many private owners were illegally expropriated under false accusations ( Aktion Rose ). In the 1960s, a large number of children's holiday camps and company holiday homes were built . In 1970 the FDGB home “Claus Störtebecker” was inaugurated. It offered space for over 200 holidaymakers.

Since the 1960s there was a not particularly productive production site for high-quality crude oil in the Sundian Meadows. This oil was transported by tanker truck and later by rail to the Soviet Union , where it was used as fuel for space travel. Presumably, therefore, it was also referred to as “white oil”.

The reinforced sea dike was released as a promenade in the local area in 1972. In 1979 Zingst became a state-approved resort. While the number of residents remained almost constant, the number of guests rose to over 65,000 per year. The highest number of overnight stays was in 1989, of which around two thirds were FDGB vacationers. The population also rose slightly, so in 1989 there were 3,500 people in Zingst. This is the highest number of inhabitants reached to date.

Zingst military base (1937–1993)

During the rearmament before the Second World War , the newly established air force lacked a bomb dropping and firing range. The choice fell on the Sundian Meadows . On June 30, 1937, the residents of Pramort and the Sundian Meadows were forcibly relocated. In Zingst itself, a flak unit garrison was built in the east of the community, and an anti-aircraft firing range , a makeshift airfield and a bombing site in the Sundian meadows.

After a short break after the Second World War, the Sundian Meadow and areas near Zingst continued to be used for military purposes. The barracked People's Police maintained a firing range in the area of ​​the Hohe Düne near Pramort . After the founding of the NVA , the area of ​​the northern Sundian meadows was again used as an anti-aircraft firing range. A training unit for anti-aircraft missiles SA-4 Ganef and a marine radio station of the People's Navy were located on the barracks site . The southern part of the peninsula was also a restricted military area. Various experiments with sounding rockets were carried out on the training area between 1970 and 1992 . The NVA troop base existed until December 31, 1990.

After the NVA Flaraketenausbildungszentrum 40 (FRAZ 40) was dissolved, Zingst became the location of a Bundeswehr garrison . Further use of the military training area on the Sundian Meadows was also considered. At the end of 1991, however, the German Armed Forces gave up their location on the Sundische Wiesen and on May 31, 1993 the barracks in Zingst also closed their doors. After the site was closed, all military and agricultural buildings in the area of ​​the Sundian Meadows were dismantled except for the guard building (now the National Park Information Center). In the village itself, part of the barracks area has been redesigned as a camping site, part of which is used by water protection and the local government.

Zingst rocket launch site (1970–1992)

• Article: Rocket experiments on Zingst

From 1970 to 1992, various experiments with sounding rockets were carried out from the former NVA training area in the Sundian Meadows.

At the beginning of the 1970s, five rockets of the Polish type Meteor 1E were launched here. From October 21, 1988, Russian MMR06-M missiles were launched. Even after the fall of the Wall , the experiments were initially continued. Between February 14, 1992 and April 10, 1992, another 19 Russian MMR06-M rockets were launched in Zingst . Although other missiles were still available, the launch of MMR06-M missiles in Zingst had to be stopped in April 1992, as the Bundeswehr needed to secure the restricted area cleared the area.

Since 1991

Zingst pier

In 1991 all holiday facilities of the FDGB and the Bundeswehr location were closed. The result was a high number of unemployed in the village. Due to the expansion of the infrastructure and the construction of hotels and holiday homes, the number of overnight stays began to rise again. The former barracks area was converted into a campsite. In 1991 the local history museum moved to its current location in the "Morgensonne House".

As early as 1992, Zingst was one of the few bathing resorts in the new federal states to receive the “European Blue Flag” for its excellent bathing water quality.

In 1993 the new Zingst pier was inaugurated at the main crossing next to the Kurhaus. In 1994 the "mother-child health clinic" of the Barmer Ersatzkasse opened and in 1996 the privately operated health resort center. A water pipeline from the Baltic Sea was built for this in 1997. The old Kurhaus was demolished in 1998 and replaced by a new building in the same place in 2000.

Board at the house on Strandstrasse 57

Coastal groynes as a protective measure

In 2001, over half a million overnight stays were registered for the first time. In 2002, the Ostseebad Zingst was awarded the state-recognized title of "Baltic Sea Spa". According to the State Statistical Office, there were 525,757 overnight stays by 93,066 holidaymakers in 2006 and 836,060 overnight stays by 141,018 holidaymakers in 2010.

Zingst is the location of a DGzRS station on which the Zander lifeboat is stationed.

From 1990 to 1994 Zingst belonged to the Ribnitz-Damgarten district in the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania . In 1994 the community was incorporated into the Northern Pomerania district. Since the district reform in 2011 , it has been in the Vorpommern-Rügen district .

Storm floods and coastal protection

A storm flood is when the water level is 1.5 meters above the mean water level. Fifty storm floods have been registered in Zingst since 1308. Between 1596 and 1881 alone, Zingst was hit by 15 severe storm floods, which left deep traces in the landscape in the form of partly water-filled depressions, such as Ellerbeck, Alte Tief, Hundetief and Alte Straminke (which arose in 1625). The worst was the Baltic storm flood of 1872 with 2.92 meters above sea ​​level . Seven storm floods were registered in the 20th century.

At the beginning of the 19th century, the first coastal protection measures began. In 1848 the entire village was diked. After the bad experiences in 1872, the local dike was strengthened and in 1874 a dike was built up to Prerow. In 1913 this dyke was breached because it had lost some height over the years. After 1900 a protective forest was created behind the dike. In the years from 1924 to 1930 over 400 groynes were built and renewed from 1964 to 1971. In 1964 the sea dike was renewed and raised to four meters above sea level. The dike on the bottom side was increased to three meters from 1976. The dike renewal on the bay is still taking place. In addition to its original protective function, the current dike system is also a popular cycle and pedestrian path.

Population development

Since the local merger in 1823, the population rose steadily until 1879. Due to the decline in the shipping business and the associated restrictions, the number of inhabitants fell sharply in the following years. It only rose again in 1890 with the rise of tourism and exceeded the 2,000-inhabitant mark before the Second World War.

Due to the expulsion and resettlement of Germans from the former eastern areas , the number of residents in Zingst rose briefly to 3,340 in 1946. By 1965 the population decreased again to 3,000 inhabitants, and then rose continuously to a high of around 3,500 until 1989.

After the reunification , the number of inhabitants remained almost constant, as no large industrial companies were closed, which meant that emigration remained low.

Population development in Zingst from 1700 to 2017

year Residents 1700 approx. 200 1782 260 1879 2,170 1890 980 1912 1,272 1938 2,100 1946 3,340

year Residents 1990 3278 1995 3157 2000 3230 2005 3215 2010 3163

year Residents 2015 3077 2016 3097 2017 3120 2018 3089 2019 3113

from 1990: as of December 31 of the respective year

politics

Community representation

The Zingst municipal council consists of 15 members. The local elections on May 26, 2019 led to the following result:

Party / group of voters	2014	2019
CDU	11	11
SPD	02	01
The left	02	01
Individual applicant Lutz Weber	0-	01
FDP	0-	01

mayor

• 1994–2019: Andreas Kuhn (CDU)
• since 2019: Christian Zornow (CDU)

Zornow was elected in the mayoral election on May 26, 2019 with 90.3% of the valid votes for a term of nine years.

coat of arms

The coat of arms was approved by the Ministry of the Interior on March 16, 1994 and registered under number 16 of the coat of arms of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.

Blazon : "Half-split and divided by a wavy cut, a golden trident in blue at the top, three black cranes soaring up in piles in silver at the back, a red griffin with a red knocked-out tongue and golden reinforcement in the claws below."

The heraldic symbols of the coat of arms and flag indicate both the location by the sea and the earlier belonging to the historical region of Pomerania .

Sights and culture

Attractions

Peter and Paul Church

→ See also the list of architectural monuments in Zingst

The neo-Gothic Peter and Paul Church from 1862 was completed by Friedrich August Stüler after preparatory work by Pomeranian architects . The church is one of the younger church buildings in the region. In addition to Martha Müller-Grählert's grave, there are also some captain's graves in the cemetery .

The Zingsthof is a church rest and refurbishment home of the Berlin City Mission . The "Bonhoeffer Chapel" with a memorial plaque reminds us that the theologian and resistance fighter stayed at the Zingsthof twice in the 1930s. Zingst is therefore visited by many people who follow up Bonhoeffer's story.

The new Kurhaus stands on the site of the old Kurhaus, which replaced the beach restaurant in 1948. It was rebuilt in 1998 and opened in April 2000. It houses a tourist information office , a restaurant and an area for information and cultural events.

Max Hünten House

The Max-Hünten-Haus is a building built in 2011 which, in addition to a library, also has a tourist information office and a print studio for photographs. In addition, participants from the photography school also located there present their works in changing themed exhibitions.

Harbor with Zeesenboot

The Zingster Hafen is a small harbor on the Zingster Strom with the dock for the White Fleet and a fish shop. It has 42 berths and a slipway . The traditional ship Mona Lisa and a resting place for water hikers are located next to the harbor . The rescue shed used to house the rowing lifeboats and their equipment. Today there is a traditional cabinet of the German Society for the Rescue of Shipwrecked People , which shows the work and history of the Zingst ambulance. The Zingst section was founded in 1868 and the first rescue shed was built in the same year. It was destroyed in the storm flood in 1872, but was replaced by the current building in 1873. Today the company is located on Müggenburger Weg at the corner of Hägerende.

The 270 meter long and 2.5 meter wide Zingst pier was inaugurated on May 22, 1993. Before the Second World War there was a landing stage for ships. A previous building, a footbridge, was ripe for demolition in 1947 due to storms and ice. Since June 2013 there has been a diving gondola at the end of the pier , the fourth of its kind. With it it is possible to explore the Baltic Sea three meters below the surface of the water.

The Hertesburg was a former Slavic castle and medieval customs post on the Prerower Strom. Today only the remains of the castle wall are preserved.

The Meiningenbrücke is a railway swing bridge from 1911. It was used by the Darßbahn on the Barth-Zingst-Prerow line until 1947 . The railway line was dismantled in 1947 and the bridge was used for road traffic until 2012. Since then, traffic has been rolling over a temporary bridge built west of the Meiningen Bridge. There are plans for a new building for road and rail traffic.

The Sundian Meadows are a renatured heather and wet meadow area in the eastern part of the peninsula. An information point of the Vorpommersche Boddenlandschaft National Park is located in a former guard building. The "Hohe Düne", which is up to 14 meters high, is located on the northeast corner of the Zingst peninsula. There is a viewpoint nearby, which can be reached from the Pramort. The Osterwald is the largest forest area on the Zingst. It is located between the town of Zingst and the Sundian Meadows and has a valuable population of trees ( sequoias ).

Pramort is the easternmost part of the Zingst peninsula and the former district of Zingst. Today there is a crane observation post here.

Museums and exhibitions

Pommernstube on the museum courtyard

Kurhaus

The local history museum with Pommernstube, formerly Haus Morgensonne , was built as a captain's house in 1867. The use of the house changed from the captain's house to the guesthouse and dependance (accommodation for young people in training) and has been used as a local museum and museum bakery since 1991. The first captain's houses were built in Zingst in the middle of the 17th century. These houses were mostly larger than the other buildings in the village and were mostly painted white to distinguish them from the helmsman's houses (mostly blue or colored). They had a fully developed attic and usually a red tile roof. Typical captains houses are the houses at Strandstrasse 47 and Hafenstrasse 12.

In the Experimentarium exhibition designed for children, the laws of nature in the fields of mechanics , optics and electrical engineering are illustrated using 25 to 30 interactive play devices and experiments . There is also an adventure playground.

Regular events

Photo festival Horizons

• The port festival in Zingst takes place on the third weekend in April. The start of the shipping season is celebrated with a folk festival in the harbor and various ships.
• Mostly in June the Zeesen boats meet in and in front of the harbor to carry out their traditional regatta.
• On the second weekend in September, a shanty-choir meeting will take place in Zingst on the open-air stage at the Zingster Kurhaus.
• The Zingster Klaviertage was launched by Lutz Gerlach in 2001 and has now developed into a festival with international and national artists that is well known throughout Germany. At different venues in Zingst, visitors to this festival can enjoy all facets of piano music, from jazz to classical. The aim of the festival is to show the versatility of this instrument.
• At the Zingster Kunstmagistrale, professional and amateur artists from all over Germany meet and exhibit their work.
• Well-known photographers as well as regional photographers present their works at the Horizonte photography festival. The focus is on people and their relationship to the landscape, flora and fauna.
• Zingst is one of the three locations of the Darss Nature Film Festival , where the German Nature Film Prize is awarded every autumn.

language

West Pomeranian - also known today as Western Pomeranian - a dialect of the East Low German language is spoken on Zingst . The West Pomeranian shows some West Slavic influences. A hard, concise pronunciation is typical. Examples can be found in German-language literature in particular in the two fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm "Von dem Fischer un syner Fru" and "Von dem Machandelboom" as well as in the later poem "Mine Heimat" (where the waves of the Baltic Sea hit the beach ...), in which the Barther poet Martha Müller-Grählert describes her homeland in Western Pomerania.

Economy and Infrastructure

economy

Steigenberger beach hotel

The dominant economic factor on the peninsula is tourism . With the construction of numerous holiday homes and hotels, the number of overnight stays has risen steadily since the fall of the Wall . There are several campsites on the peninsula. In 2001, for the first time, over half a million overnight stays were registered. The two largest hotels are the Steigenberger Hotel and the Resort Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten , each with around one hundred beds.

In 1994 the “mother-child health clinic” of the Barmer Ersatzkasse opened its doors as a not insignificant economic factor. There is a Red Cross nursing home with over four hundred beds.

Formerly very important branches of the economy, such as agriculture and fishing, only play an insignificant role. Jobs were also lost through the closure of the Bundeswehr site.

traffic

Meiningen Bridge

Zingst can be reached by road via Landesstraße 21, which leads past the town to the west. This runs from Ribnitz-Damgarten (45 km away) via Prerow along the Fischland-Darß-Zingst peninsula chain to Barth (13 km away). A road leads through Zingst from the Meiningen Bridge through the village and on the Ostseedeich back to Landstrasse 21. The road was built in 1880 from Zingst to Timmort at the current Meiningen Bridge. There was a ferry to the other side to Bresewitz. To the east, a road leads over the locality of Müggenburg to the Sundschlösschen on the edge of the Sundic meadows. The rest of the route to Pramer Ort is closed to motor vehicle traffic and only allowed for bicycles.

The place can be reached via the bus route 210 (Barth – Zingst – Prerow – Ahrenshoop – Ribnitz-Damgarten) of the North Western Pomerania Transport Association .

Former station of the Darßbahn , today a restaurant and art gallery

The nearest train station is Barth . Here the regional train line RB 25 runs to Velgast with a connection to Stralsund . From 1911 to 1947 Zingst was connected to the railway network via the Darßbahn . The station building still stands in the east of the village, but the tracks were dismantled after the Second World War and brought to the USSR as reparations . There are studies to reactivate the railway line to Zingst / Prerow, whereby the section from Barth to Zingst is to be rebuilt first.

The Baltic Sea Cycle Route runs through Zingst . The dikes to the Zingster Strom and the Baltic Sea are designated as footpaths and cycle paths. Large parts of the village are traffic-calmed or pedestrian zones.

From the port on the Zingster Strom, shipping lines to Vitte auf Hiddensee , Ahrenshoop , Barth and Stralsund are served. There is also a resting place for water hikers next to the harbor.

Barth Airport is located near Barth .

education

In Zingst there is the regional school with elementary school (secondary school with main school) in Hafenstrasse 1.

Personalities

Sons and daughters of the church

• Gerhard Krause (1887–1950), pastor in Zingst, resistance fighter against National Socialism
• Willy Knull (1891–1974), painter, Zingster original and innkeeper in the "Strandpark" garden restaurant
• Kurt Klamann (1907–1984), draftsman and caricaturist
• Werner Kuhn (* 1955), politician (CDU)

Personalities associated with Zingst

• Hermann Bendix (1859–1935), pedagogue and composer, teacher in Zingst
• Reinhold Hoberg (1859–1932), painter, lived in Zingst
• Franz Pflugradt (1861–1946), painter, lived in Zingst
• Otto Lämmerhirt (1867–1935), painter, lived in Zingst
• Max Hünten (1869–1936), painter, lived in Zingst
• Martha Müller-Grählert (1876–1939), local poet, lived in Zingst
• Karl Schneider-Carius (1896–1959), meteorologist, founded the Maritime Observatory in Zingst
• Hans Stubbe (1902–1989), agricultural scientist, lived in Zingst
• Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906–1945), theologian and resistance fighter against National Socialism, headed the Preachers' Seminar of the Confessing Church on the Zingsthof
• Werner Wohlert (1907–1990), people's artist, lived in Zingst
• Karl-Heinrich Kluge (1915–2005), painter, lived in Zingst
• Hans-Joachim Behrendt (* 1937), children's book illustrator, lives in Zingst

literature

History and culture

• Gerta Anders, Käthe Miethe (ed.): The Darß and Zingst peninsula. Hinstorff, Rostock 2000, ISBN 3-356-00860-9 .
• Konrad Billwitz, Haik Thomas Porada (ed.): The peninsula Fischland-Darß-Zingst and the Barther country. A regional survey in the area of ​​Wustrow, Prerow, Zingst and Barth . (Landscapes in Germany, Volume 71). Verlag Böhlau, 2009, ISBN 978-3-412-09806-3 .
• Heinz Kiecksee, P. Thran, H. Kruhl: The Ostseesturmflut 1872. (Writings of the German Maritime Museum, Vol. 2). Westholsteinische Verlagsanstalt Boyens, Heide, ISBN 3-8042-0116-4 .
• Jörg Scheffelke: 110 years of bathing - Ostseebad Zingst. Ostsee-Zeitung , Greifswald 1991, OCLC 258207491 .
• Jörg Scheffelke: 125 years of the Zingst seaside resort. Sutton , Erfurt 2006, ISBN 3-89702-980-4 . (Partial view on Google books)
• Jörg Scheffelke, Wolfgang Eggert, Edwin Held, Joachim Schomann: The Zingst. Sutton, Erfurt 2005, ISBN 3-89702-812-3 .
• Gustav Berg: Contributions to the history of the Darsses and the Zingstes. (Series of publications by the Association for the Promotion of Home Care and the Darß Museum eV, No. 1) Scheunen-Verlag, Kückenshagen 1999, ISBN 3-929370-83-2 .
• Rudolf van Nahl: Zingst ballad. Found and invented things from Zingst on the Baltic Sea . (Coastal Kieker 3). Bülten Verlag, Kückenshagen 2008, ISBN 978-3-938510-40-7 .

cards

• Fischland, Darß, Zingst. (Double card ), 1: 30,000, green heart , Ilmenau / Ostseebad Wustrow 1997, ISBN 3-929993-33-3 .

nature

• Harald Benke (Ed.): The Darß-Zingster Bodden. Monograph of a unique coastal landscape. (Sea and Museum. Vol. 16). German Maritime Museum, Stralsund 2001, DNB 961574399 .
• Günter Schlungbaum, Henning Baudler, Mathias Krech, Bernd Kwiatkowski: The Darß-Zingster Bodden. A study. (Series of publications by the State Office for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Geology Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, issue 2001.1). Corrected 2nd version. State Office for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Geology Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Güstrow 2001, DNB 961865385 .

Travel guides and illustrated books

• Roland Buchwald: Fischland, Darß and Zingst. Landscape and travel guide for hikers, water sports enthusiasts, cyclists and motorists. green heart , Ilmenau, ISBN 3-929993-52-X .
• Horst Prignitz, Thomas Grundner: Fischland, Darß, Zingst. Carl Hinstorff, Rostock, ISBN 3-356-01056-5 .
• Frank Thamm: Darß, Fischland and Zingst. Ellert and Richter, Hamburg, ISBN 3-89234-815-4 .

Web links

Commons : Zingst  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

Wikivoyage: Zingst  - travel guide

• Baltic Sea Spa Zingst

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. ↑ Main statute of the municipality of Ostseeheilbad Zingst, preamble
3. ↑ Johannes Hinz: Pomeranian guide through an unforgettable country. Adam Kraft Verlag, Würzburg 1991, ISBN 3-8083-1195-9 , p. 81.
4. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k} Jörg Scheffelke: 110 years of bathing - Ostseebad Zingst . Ostsee-Zeitung, Greifswald 1991.
5. ↑ ^{a b c d} Jörg Scheffelke: 125 years of the Zingst seaside resort . Sutton-Verlag, Erfurt 2006.
6. ↑ State Statistical Office Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
7. ↑ Population development of the districts and municipalities in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (Statistical Report AI of the Statistical Office Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania)
8. ^ Result of the local elections on May 25, 2014
9. ^ Result of the local election on May 26, 2019
10. ↑ Zingster mayor stops after 25 years. In: Ostsee-Zeitung . March 8, 2019, accessed July 27, 2020 . 
11. ↑ Main statute of the municipality of Ostseeheilbad Zingst, § 8
12. ^ Result of the mayoral election on May 26, 2019
13. ↑ Green light for Darßbahn plans. In: Press Release No. 274/10. Ministry of Transport, Building and Regional Development Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, August 27, 2010, accessed on August 27, 2010 . 
14. ↑ The navigator Willy and the submerged city of Vineta on kuestenrausch.de
15. ↑ Reinhold Hoberg on www.ev-kirche-zingst.de
16. ↑ Otto Lämmerhirt on www.heimatverein-zingst.de
17. ↑ Grete Grewolls: Wohlert, Werner. In: Who was who in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania? Retrieved July 28, 2020 . 

This article was added to the list of excellent articles on May 14, 2007 in this version .