Meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Heiligendamm, Germany (2007)

• published: 14 Apr 2012
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Heiligendamm (German pronunciation: [ˈhaɪlɪɡəndam]) is a German seaside resort, founded in 1793. The small cluster of structures which still survive are reminders of the glory days of days gone by when this part of the Baltic Sea was one of the playgrounds of Europe's aristocracy.[1] It is the oldest seaside spa in Germany. Heiligendamm is part of the town Bad Doberan in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Due to the classicist white buildings lining the beach promenade, the town is also known as the "White Town by the Sea" (German: Die weiße Stadt am Meer). Today, the area by the sea is occupied by a five-star hotel. A narrow-gauge steam railway, known as the "Molli", links Heiligendamm with Kühlungsborn and Bad Doberan. Heiligendamm was developed as an elegant meeting place for the nobility and high society. Among its most prominent guests were the German Emperors. Its founder and first guest in 1793 was the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg Friedrich Franz I; he made the resort fashionable.[1] Between 1793 and 1870, Johann Christoph, Heinrich von Seydwitz, Carl Theodor Severin, and Gustav Adolph Demmler created a veritable Gesamtkunstwerk for bathing and lodging. Heiligendamm was always the most elegant seaside resort in Germany. Nobility from throughout Europe used it as a summer getaway well into the 20th century. After the Second World War, the buildings of Heiligendamm were used as sanatoria and recovery ward. When Mecklenburg became part of the communist GDR, some of Heiligendamm's famous buildings were demolished and replaced by more utilitarian structures. After the German reunification in 1989/1990, a group of investors bought most of the buildings and undertook a major programme of refurbishment. A new company, the Kempinski Grand Hotel, opened in spring of 2003 - it uses six historical buildings encompassing the former kurhaus at Heiligendamm. Development has led to some conflict with residents, as main streets and cycle paths have been removed or rerouted. Also again some of the famous buildings were demolished - more than in GDR-time (for detailed information see the German wikipedia). On July 13, 2006, United States President George W. Bush stayed at Heiligendamm while on a state visit to see German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Stralsund. On June 6 to 8, 2007, Heiligendamm's Grand Hotel hosted the 33rd summit of G8 leaders. As a result thousands of anticapitalist activists blocked the roads to Heiligendamm and an estimated 25,000 anti-globalization protesters demonstrated in nearby Rostock.[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heiligendamm