Hotel Prora, Nazi Holiday Camp
Located in the Baltic Sea, on island of Rügen, is a massive hotel with a stunning 10,000 rooms. The history behind this hotel is more fascinating when you realize that the largest hotel in the world was built by the Nazi army under Hitler’s orders.
The hotel was intended to be a symbol of the Third Reich’s power. The resort was designed to house large numbers of holiday seeking German workers. Holiday resorts like this would provide needed respite from the impending war. In the coming years Hitler would need every bit of support that he could muster. Today its nearly complete structure sprawls for nearly 5 km along Rügen’s picturesque beaches – an eerie, decrepit husk of it’s planned glory.
An untimely diversion
Thankfully Hitler wasn’t good at completing what he started. Like his plans for World War II, the Hotel Prora also remains unfinished.
The massive undertaking broke ground in 1936 and came to an abrupt halt in 1939. Once WWII started the workers were pulled from the hotel construction and transferred to war-centered manufacturing jobs. The idea of taking a vacation in Rügen would have to wait.
The design of Hitler’s Hotel Prora was revolutionary for its time. Each of the 10,000 rooms were designed to provide a view of the sea. This design feature was partly responsible for the massive length. Additionally, every room was to include 2 beds, a wardrobe, and a kitchen. Communal features like, swimming pools, a cinema, and a 20,000 seat festival hall were the finishing touches on the ambitious project. The 1937 World Exposition in Paris even awarded the hotel a Grand Prix award for design.
A look at the Hotel Prora legacy
Today, booking.com shows 1,889 hotels and apartments available for rent in Rügen, Germany. For the past 75 years Hotel Prora has remained unfinished, although many hotels have sprung up in it’s place.
Why wasn’t Hotel Prora completed after the war? Completion of the hotel after the war would have been seen as a continuation of Hitler’s plans. The new German government certainly wanted to distance themselves from the unsavory memory of the Third Reich. Historians and local officials have argued against the completion of Hotel Prora on the grounds that it would become a hot-spot for neo-nazis.
A number of articles online incorrectly state that no guests have ever stayed at Hotel Prora. While the finishing touches have never been added, parts of the hotel have been used for various purposes over the years. From the 1940’s to 1980’s the buildings served as a facility for various Russian and German military personnel. The German reunification saw an increased utilization of the hotel. In the past couple decades parts of the complex have served a variety of purposes such as:
- a museum
- a technical school
- a housing center for refugees
- an art gallery
- a youth hostel
Today the hotel blocks are being refurbished for use despite concerns from local authorities. One block of Hotel Prora remains a youth hostel, while others are being refurbished and marketed as housing for the elderly, luxury seas-side apartments, and hotels.
Oddly enough the construction of Hitler’s Hotel Prora looks like it will be completed sometime this decade. Do you think the buildings should be torn down in an effort to erase the presence of the Third Reich as some suggest? Or is putting the structure to good use a better option as it turns the hotel into something good and useful for society?
Either option will be better than the haunting images we have of Prora’s ghost town days.
