Kloster

Description

NV Cruising Guide

Navigation

The approach is only recommended during the day, staying in the 25m wide fairway and therefore special attention is required. There are stones on the northern edge of the fairway west of buoy 13.

Outgoing vessels have right of way. In any case, the ferry running between Schaprode (Rügen) and Vitte must be given space.

Passing vessels have the right of way.

Berths

Guests will find free places at the jetties in the southern harbour basin or at the eastern part of the northern pier at a water depth of approx. 2.5m.

The berth of the passenger ship at the pier is to be kept free.

Surroundings

Sanitary facilities are located at the port of Kloster. Several restaurants and supply facilities are available. The island museum, the Gerhard Hauptmann memorial or the lighthouse Dornbusch invite you to visit.

NV Land Guide

"From the camp I gently lift my weary limbs; a warm summer night outside strengthens them again..." With these lines begins a poem by Gerhart Hauptmann praising nature on Hiddensee. His name is inseparably linked with the village of Kloster and the island. Well over a million visitors have visited the "Seedorn" house, once the summer residence and now the memorial of the world-famous poet, since his death on June 6, 1946.

Throughout his life, the Nobel laureate and campaigner for peace and social justice rejected violence: "The world will not be redeemed by gold or by acts of violence, but only by humanity, by human respect, by humanity." To the National Socialists, he wrote in 1937: "I know of no fate of any people...that equals in violence and tragic greatness that of the Jewish people."

Born in Bad Ober-Salzbrunn on November 15, 1862, the youngest son of an innkeeper and hotel owner, he made a decisive contribution to the end of Bismarck's days in 1889 with the play "Before Sunrise."

His "Weavers" was well received by the Admiral. His "Weavers" pleased the nobility as little as the Kaiser, who refused him the Schiller Prize in 1896. But three times the Viennese Academy awarded him the Grillparzer Prize, before he received the highest honour in 1912 with the award of the Nobel Prize. Two years later, his ideal of world peace was severely dampened when World War I broke out. But through this and the Second World War, he held to his positions without compromise, becoming an ambassador for peace with numerous plays - and an ambassador for Hiddensee, whose nature he understood to be a part of this peace.

How Hauptmann lived and worked, where he sought inspiration and recreation on the island, and what drove him, is what visitors to the Gerhart Hauptmann Memorial in Kloster learn. His study, the corner with the fireplace, the hallway and his library provide private insights into the everyday life of the great writer, who reveals in his poem "The Island": "...And now we live in alien time, lost again in desolation. In my house's silent room the dream reigns."

Defying prudery and the guardians of morality, he writes the novel "The Island of the Great Mother" in the late summer of 1916, saying of it, "I would probably never have written it if I had not spent years on Hiddensee seeing the many beautiful, often completely naked female bodies and observing the goings-on there." It was not until 1922 that he completed the novel. On June 25, 1930 Hauptmann buys "Haus Seedorn". The lovingly furnished island museum is located in the rooms of the former sea rescue station. Here, the origin of the island, its first settlement and its development up to the present day are the themes of the exhibitions. The visitor learns a lot about the finds from pre-Christian times, the former Cistercian monastery, shipping, fishing, the faiences made of Hiddensee clay, customs such as the so-called house brands, nature conservation and its areas, the Hiddensee gold treasure and much more. Thus, the museum on the high shore "Vorlege" is at the same time an excellent guide for island excursions.

The name of the village with 400 inhabitants has its origin in the former Cistercian monastery, which stood near today's harbour. Prince Witzlaw II of Rügen had given the monks the whole island in 1296. But the monks brought discord to the island, because they took away old rights like the right to beach from the inhabitants. There were often fierce disputes in which the fishermen beat up and imprisoned the monks. But after the complaints of the monks to the princes, the fishermen themselves always lost out. After the Reformation, the buildings of the clergy fell into disrepair and the valuable treasures of the monks disappeared without a trace. It was not until 1971 that foundation excavations were completed, from which the location of the Cistercian monastery could be reconstructed. The monastery gave rise to an estate with a church and a jug, which developed into a village only very late.

The three highest elevations on Hiddensee - Swanti, Bakenberg and Schluckswiek - are all around 70 metres high, lie close together on the Dornbusch highlands and offer a view of the Baltic Sea and the island that is unlikely to leave anyone unimpressed. The 28-metre lighthouse on the Schluckswiek has been in operation since 1888. Its 2000-watt beacon from a height of almost 100 metres still shows ships the way at a distance of 21 nautical miles. Because of its reinforced concrete shell, the lighthouse is not one of the most impressive. But the cracks that the tower showed due to earth shifts on the briar shortly after its construction made a stable scaffolding necessary. Visitors reach the platform via 102 steps. Opening hours daily from 10.30am to 4pm (in good weather from mid-April to October).

The name of Swanti Mountain (see map) is probably due to the Slavic deity Swantevit (see Breege, Cape Arkona). Whether a sanctuary similar to the one on the steep coast of Kap Arkona stood here, however, has not yet been proven. Nevertheless, the mound grave below the Swanti mountain from the time around 1000 B.C. proves that the island was already settled early. Socket legs and arm rings from the Bronze Age discovered at the monastery also point to a pre-Christian trading place. The discovery of the grave of a Germanic woman with rich grave goods caused quite a stir. Around 200 AD, the Germanic woman, presumably of high rank, was buried on Hiddensee. Ceramic vessels as well as gold and silver jewellery were added to her grave near today's restaurant "Klausner". Most of the Germanic tribes migrated from the southern Baltic Sea in the 6th century and those that remained mixed with the Slavs who followed.

On the outer beach of the highland, two residents found a 9th-century bracelet weighing almost 700 grams (!). It is unclear whether it should be attributed to the Vikings or the Slavs. Although the Slavs still held their own on the Rügen islands (see Ralswiek), Viking raids were not uncommon.

The find on the beach also draws attention to a geological development, the huge landfall of the Dornbusch Highlands. The scale of the land loss can be seen from the fact that scientists estimate that the Briar Bush moraine floe was twice as large 5,000 years ago. So the heavy golden bracelet may have been in hiding or buried on the heights of the briar before it slid into the depths. The Baltic Sea, wind and rain continue to gnaw away at the cliff, which is moving ominously towards the lighthouse. The sand martin is also doing its bit as the coast starts to move downwards. It digs its breeding burrows up to 90 centimetres deep into the bluffs.

The merchant Joachim Ulrich Giese was also involved in the land erosion. The Swedish chamber councillor acquired the island of Hiddensee in 1854 and shortly afterwards discovered clay on the steep coast. He founded a faience factory in Stralsund, had the clay mined, slurried at Schwedenhagen (see plan), brought to Stralsund on barges and there processed into utilitarian tableware and exquisite pieces for the fatter purse.

Conservation of the coast was and is an important issue on Hiddensee due to the heavy land losses. The stone wall at the Hucke, the beach and dune reclamation Kloster are just two of the measures to protect the land from further erosion. However, there is also something positive to be gained from the land losses: they provide insights into the structure of the moraine massif when walking along the shore. The fossilized witnesses of early historical epochs are uncovered. Among them are all kinds of shells such as clams, coral imprints, sea urchins and thunderbolts - and amber (the thunderbolts are the fossilized hard tail parts of an extinct species of octopus). The traces of life from prehistoric times that have turned to stone (for more on this, see Sassnitz) are extremely varied, the oldest being several 100 million years old.

By the way, if you didn't know what a windflier was until now, a few magnificent specimens of the wind-formed trees stand on the steep bank of the Hucke, indicating the most common wind direction. The land that the briar loses is washed back to the south and east. For example, the northeast hook of New Bessin emerged from the Baltic Sea only 100 years ago. The central and southern parts of the island are also alluvial land, which did not exist at all 4000 years ago and then only gradually formed. Initially, only the thorn bush was habitable.

For naturalists, the highlands are as rich a "site" as they are for geologists. The holly on the cliff edges of the steep coast and the broad-leaved orchid are just two of around 1000 different plants on Hiddensee. The museum in Kloster provides detailed information about them. There are 650 different flowering plants and 80 mosses alone - many in need of protection and many, unfortunately, acutely threatened in their existence. Visitors to Hiddensee are therefore urgently requested to use only the paths. This request is not only for the protection of plants but also for the protection of birds. Hiddensee lies in the area of important bird migration routes. The staff of the Hiddensee ornithological station (see map) on the Dornbusch observe the bird migrations and ensure the protection of breeding birds.

The Lietzenburg near the ornithological station, a pompous, castle-like building in English country house style, was built in 1905 by the Berlin painter Oskar Kruse. The many artists who were attracted to the island once met in this representative Art Nouveau house. After the First World War, Hiddensee became an artists' colony of similar standing to Worpswede. One artist in particular was devoted to the island: Elisabeth Büchsel (1867-1957). Because she wanted to see herself as part of the island and its people, she lived with the fishermen and farmers and painted them at work. However, it was by no means only artists who came here. Hiddensee also had a magnetic effect on many famous thinkers and scientists. Albert Einstein, Sigmund Freud, Thomas Mann, Carl Zuckmayer, Joachim Ringelnatz and the famous Danish actress Asta Nielsen were among the visitors (see also Vitte).

Grieben in the northeast of Kloster is the oldest village on Hiddensee. It was first mentioned in a document as early as 1297, when the monks laid claim to the village. As far as the population of 60 villagers is concerned, not much has changed in Grieben since that time. On the way back from the highlands, a detour to the small settlement is recommended.

Still to be mentioned are the church and churchyard in Kloster. The church is the only building on the island that still exists from the time of the Cistercian monks, albeit much altered. Since it was consecrated around 1330, it has been the parish church for the whole island. A pond between the monastery and Grieben is also a reminder of the monastic times. The gravestones in the churchyard are listed. In addition to the stones with maritime motifs, the gravestones with the so-called house marks stand out, rune-like signs with which the property was marked (see Vitte).

With restaurants, cafés, a bookshop and grocery stores, there are sufficient supply options in Kloster.

Marina Information

Contact

Surroundings

Electricity

Water

Toilet

Shower

Restaurant

Imbiss

Internet

Grocery

Public Transport

Bikerental

Garbage

Sewage