Where is Rügen? Fairytale holiday - island of Rügen

It will probably be quite difficult to find a person in our country who, at his age, would not have read the fairy tales of Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin, as well as any other articles about Russia by the great Russian poet. And the first thing that comes to mind when mentioning Pushkin’s fairy tales and historical issues associated with this period will most likely be ancient cities and some geographical objects described in “The Tale of Tsar Saltan”, where “on the sea-ocean, and on King Gvidon lives on the island of Buyan...
Despite the fabulous origin of this island, quite a few researchers, both in the field of literature and in the field of historical science itself, were attracted by historical questions related to the location of this geographical object, the reality of which was indicated by other historical and literary sources, as well as some articles about Russia of the Middle Ages.

map of the island of Rugen

However, as historical issues examined by such Russian researchers as V.B. Vilinbakhov and V.V. Merkulov have shown, Buyan Island is a very real geographical place located in the Baltic Sea east of Hiddensee Island - this is the island of Rügen.
A significant difference in its name, not like Buyan Island, but Rügen, was the result of a mixture of languages when telling stories about it - Buyan - Ruyan - Rügen... At the same time, the Germans and Poles, and Czechs, and Slovaks knew about the island, not to mention about us Northern Slavs, for whom Buyan Island had a cult significance, because here stood the capital of the entire Slavic world - Arkona.
At the same time, it is also worth noting that it was from these places that the glorious Ruriks came out, with their glorious squad, who lie at the foundation of our statehood. And if we remember about the Varangians, then by and large, the Varangians are not the ancient Germans or Swedes or Vikings, who did not exist then, they are the ancient Slavs who mined salt in the Baltic (Varangian Sea) and transported it almost throughout the North and Europe.

Nine centuries ago, on the coast of the Baltic Sea, above the snow-white cliffs of the island, which is now called Rügen, the city of Arkona rose.

The island itself was then called Ruyan and it was inhabited by the Ruyans or Rane - one of the peoples of the Baltic (Northwestern) Slavs.
These peoples, as their name implies, settled on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea in the territory of modern Germany and Poland. This is how medieval chroniclers described the Ranes: “The Ranes, called by others the Ruans, are cruel tribes that live in the heart of the sea and are beyond measure devoted to idolatry.
They take precedence among all Slavic peoples, have a king and a famous sanctuary. (...) completely neglecting the benefits of agriculture, they are always ready to attack the sea, placing their only hope and all their wealth on ships." The temple of Svyatovit in Arkona was the main sanctuary of the Slavic Pomerania, and was previously revered by other Baltic Slavs as a sacred people, having a special closeness to the gods, without whose consent not a single important decision was made.
When, after an incessant four-hundred-year struggle with the Frankish, Germanic, Polish, Danish baptists, the peoples of the Baltic Slavs, one after another, were enslaved, Arkona became the last free Slavic city honoring the forefather gods.
And it remained so until its destruction in 1168.
The 19th century historian Hilferding wrote the following about the North-Western Slavs: “Just as people who have suffered all sorts of hardships and troubles in their lifetime and have been hardened in struggle become prone to perseverance, so do the Baltic Slavs; there was hardly a more stubborn people in the world. Of all the peoples of Europe They alone laid down their lives for their antiquity, for their old pagan way of life: stubborn defense of antiquity, this is the first characteristic of all these advanced tribes of the Slavs, Vagrs, Bodrichs, Lyutichs.."

plan of the Slavic sanctuary on the island of Rügen

The temple of Svyatovit was built there - Svyatovit, Sventovit (lat. Zuantewith) - according to the “Slavic Chronicle” of Helmold (1167-1168) - the god of the Ruyansk land, “the brightest in victories, the most convincing in answers,” who is among the many Slavic deities are considered the main one. The Slavs treat their deity with amazing respect, for they do not take oaths easily and do not tolerate the dignity of his temple being violated even during enemy invasions..."
The holiday in honor of the supreme deity Svyatovit among the medieval Slavs was celebrated by baking a huge public pie, the production of which would require a large number of grain graters. Saxo Grammaticus describes in detail how the Baltic Slavs on the island. Rügen, in the sanctuary of Svyatovit a ritual was performed in honor of the deity. The first day was spent putting the wooden temple in order. The next day, people gathered in front of the entrance to the temple, and the priest sacrificed a horn with wine (it is assumed that it is more correct to count with honey) and asked for an increase in wealth and new victories. He placed the horn in the right hand of the idol Svyatovit, “then they sacrificed a rounded honey pie, almost the height of a man. The priest put the pie between himself and the people and asked the Ruyans if he could be seen behind the pie. If they answered that he was visible, then the priest said the wish that next year these same people would not be able to see him (at the pie). However, this did not mean that he wanted death for himself or his fellow countrymen, but was only a wish for an even more abundant harvest for the next year."

Rügen Island, Buyan, Arkona idol of the god Svyatovit

This peculiar magical rite survived until the 19th century. It is known in Ukraine and Belarus, but as a family one, not a community one: the father hides behind the Christmas pie and asks his family if he can be seen behind the pie. The size of the pie is used to predict the coming year.
In Bulgaria, the communal nature of this Christmas ritual has been preserved; The role of the ancient priest was played by the priest, who stood behind the loaf and asked the parishioners: “Do you see me, villagers?”
The island of Rügen is located on the line connecting the “places of power” of Europe and Asia. “Places of power” are special points on the surface of the Earth. It is believed that “places of power” can increase a person’s abilities tenfold, but subject to a number of conditions: fasting, hermitage, psychological training, etc. Even the keepers of esoteric knowledge, the Druids, claimed that “places of power” have a miraculous effect on life and health. Therefore, it is no coincidence that German poets, philosophers and painters sought and found inspiration on the island of Rügen in Germany.

ISLAND OF RUGEN

Rügen (German Rügen, Latin Rugia, N. Lug. Rujany, Rjana, E. Lug. Rujany, Polish. Rugia, Pol. Rana, Czech. Rujána, Slovak. Rujana) is an island in the Baltic Sea, to the east from Hiddensee. The largest island within Germany (total area 926 km²). It is part of the federal state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The population is approximately 77 thousand people.

origin of name
The toponym Rügen, according to one version, is considered to be derived from the name of the German tribe of Rugians, who visited the island before the Slavs. The phonetic difference between the German and Slavic names is explained by the variability of the sounds g / j in the Low German language, which are positional allophones (cf. the name of rye, from which the ethnonym rugi is derived: Old English ryge → English rye). According to another version, the name is associated with the Ruyan tribes who lived on and near the island. Gerbord in his “Discourse on the Life of Otto of Bamberg” (12th century) calls Rügen the island of Verania, and its inhabitants the most barbaric people.

Jasmund National Park
The general shape of the island is quite bizarre, the shores are strongly indented, their bends form many bays, bays, peninsulas and capes. The southern coast of Rügen extends along the coast of Pomerania. The width of the island in the south reaches 41 km, the maximum length from north to south is 52 km.
On the Jasmund Peninsula in the northeast of Rügen there is a national park of the same name with an area of 3,000 hectares, founded in 1990. A well-known symbol of Jasmund are the chalk rocks, in particular the King's Throne (Königsstuhl - 118 meters). The highest point of Rügen is Piekberg (161 meters).

Cape Arkona
Cape Arkona (German: Kap Arkona) on the Wittow Peninsula is the northern tip of the island. Here was a Slavic fortified settlement with a temple dedicated to the god Svyatovit (Swantewit). The location of the ancient settlement was partially “eaten by the sea”, but the earthen ramparts were preserved.
To the west of the former settlement in 1826-1827, a lighthouse was built according to the design of Karl Friedrich Schinkel, the oldest on the coast of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Now it houses a museum exhibition. Then, in 1902, the current lighthouse with a height of 36 m was built nearby.

lighthouse on Cape Arkona Rügen Island, Buyan, Arkona

Historical information
Archaeological finds indicate that the island was inhabited back in the Stone Age. There are burial mounds and stones for sacrifices throughout the island.

The island and the remains of the Arkona temple located on it are the subject of research, including by German archaeologists. The island is associated with the location of the Rugii or Ruyan tribe. Until the 14th century, the island was somewhat larger than it is now: cartographer Gerardus Mercator wrote in his “Cartography”: “The island [Rügen] in ancient years was much more spacious than it is now; by God’s will the water washed through that island.”

The main occupation of the Ruyans was cattle breeding, agriculture and fishing. The Ruyans owned a large fleet and had extensive trade ties with Scandinavia and the Baltic states, and also carried out military campaigns and waged wars to protect their territories. For example, some provinces of Denmark, before the era of King Valdemar I, paid tribute to the Ruyans, which was one of the reasons for the wars that Valdemar I waged with them. At one time, the principality of the Ruyan Slavs became so powerful and brave that the Ruyans became masters of almost the entire Baltic Sea, which for quite a long time was called the Sea of Rugov.

nbsp; View from the lighthouse to the remains of a Slavic fortification

During these wars, the Ruyans lost their independence in 1168, their capital Arkona was destroyed, and the sanctuary of Sventovit (Svyatovit) was destroyed. As Danish chronicles testify, the king of Rujan, Jaromir, became a vassal of the Danish king, and the island became part of the bishopric of Roskilde.
The first forced conversion of the Ruyans to Christianity dates back to this period. In 1234, the Rujans freed themselves from Danish rule and pushed the boundaries of their possessions to the coast of the modern German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, founding the city now known as Stralsund (in Pomeranian Strzélowò, in Polish Strzałów). In 1282, Prince Wislaw II entered into an agreement with King Rudolf I of Germany, receiving Rügen for life along with the title of Imperial Jägermeister. Further, the Slavs of Rügen, being part of various German state entities, gradually lost the Slavic language, Slavic culture, and identity over the next several centuries - they became completely Germanicized. In 1325, the last Ruyan prince Vitslav (Wislav) III died. In fact, the Slavic Ruyan dialect ceased to exist by the 16th century. In 1404, Gulitsyna died, who, together with her husband, belonged to the last inhabitants of Ruyan who spoke the language of the Polabian Slavs.

In 1325, as a result of a dynastic marriage, the island became part of the Principality of Pomerania-Wolgast, and in 1478 it was annexed to Pomerania. Under the terms of the Peace of Westphalia, Pomerania, together with Rügen, went to Sweden. Then, as a result of the strengthening of Brandenburg-Prussia, the island was captured by the Brandenburgers.
In 1807, Rügen was conquered by Napoleon and was under French control until 1813. According to the Kiel Peace Treaty of 1814, the island became part of Denmark, but already in 1815 it passed to Prussia as part of New Vorpommern.
In the final phase of the Great Patriotic War, on May 4, 1945, the German garrison of the island surrendered to Soviet troops without a fight.
In the post-war period, the island belonged to the GDR, and military units of the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany (Western Group of Forces) and the DKBF were located on Rügen until the summer of 1992.

Administrative affiliation and settlements
Administratively, the island's territory is occupied by the administrative district of Vorpommern-Rügen, which is part of the federal state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.

In total, there are 4 districts (Amt) on the island (Ämter Bergen auf Rügen, West-Rügen, Nord-Rügen, Mönchgut-Granitz), which are divided into 45 communities (cities and towns). Free Cities (Kreisfreie Städte) - Bergen an der Rügen, Sassnitz, Putbus, Harz.

Economy
Currently, the main source of income for the island is tourism. The tourist development of Rügen began with the mineral springs in Zagarda in the 18th century. In the 19th century, seaside resorts began to develop, for example in Sassnitz and later on the coast from Binz to Gören. The main audience consisted of representatives of the “upper middle” class.
In addition to tourism, fishing and agriculture are developed on the island.

Rügen is connected by road and rail to the German mainland. Near the city of Stralsund there is a dam and, opened on October 20, 2007, the Stralsundkverung, the longest road bridge in Germany (4104 m), similar in appearance to the Golden Gate in San Francisco. Due to the significant height of the central span (42 m), the largest vessels can easily pass under it.

On the eastern edge of the island, near the city of Sassnitz, there is a large railway and port complex Mukran, previously considered the “sea gate” between the GDR and the USSR. Sea freight and passenger railway and car ferry lines connect Mukran with the ports of Russia, Denmark, Lithuania, and Sweden.

Resorts in Rügen
In the second half of the 19th century, resorts appeared on Rügen. The most famous resort place on the island was the fishing village that became the city of Binz between 1870 and 1910. Here, according to the plan of the architect Otto Spalding, a Kurhaus was built, creating the atmosphere of English Brighton. Already before the First World War, about 10,000 people vacationed in these places every year. After the war in the 1920s and 1930s, the cream of society gathered in Binz.

During Nazi times, the organization “Strength through Joy” (KdF) was created at the state level, which had a wide network of sanatoriums and holiday homes, including the famous cruise ships “Wilhelm Gustloff” and “Steuben”. On the narrow coastal spit, which was a natural reserve in the 1930s, large-scale construction began from 1936 to 1939. Rugen Island, Buyan, Arkona

One of the island's resorts
Among the activities started, but not completed due to the war, is the project to create a giant health factory on the shore of the island of Rügen near the village of Prora, the largest construction project of the Third Reich - “The Greatest Seaside Resort in the World” designed by the architect Klotz. . A line of five-story barracks-type concrete buildings, 4.5 km long, was built along the sea coast. The living quarters were rooms measuring 2.5 x 5 m. In the center of the complex it was planned to place a grandiose building for public events with a capacity of 20,000 people. A model of this complex was presented at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1937 (where the Soviet pavilion and the German pavilion stood opposite each other) and received the Grand Prix there.
During the GDR, Rügen first became a closed zone where military personnel were stationed. Then, what remained of the war's destruction became a place of mass tourism and recreation. After the unification of Germany, they began to restore the historical appearance of the resorts, which was formed at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. However, the prospects for bringing the project to the design scale are not clear yet. Rugen Island, Buyan, Arkona

HOW TO GET THERE, WHERE IT IS
According to competent sources in the field of travel organization, the best way to get to the island of Rügen is not directly, through the same Kaliningrad by train, but by an AirBerlin flight flying between Moscow and Hamburg. At the same time, having spent a certain number of units of foreign currency savings and about three and a half hours of flight, you end up in Hamburg, from which our Buyan-Rügen is just a stone's throw away.

In Hamburg you need to change to the high-speed train, which goes to the main resorts of the island of Binz. But we will need to get off the train a little earlier, at the Stralsund railway station. And then on an old, branded train, the nineteenth century Rasender Roland, we get to Bergen, from where two road bridges lead to the island itself, the new one, built in 2007, Rügenbrücke, and the old one, built in 1936, Rügendamm.
At the same time, you can also get to Rügen by sea, by transferring to one of the ferries at the port of Bergen and for only three or four euros, get to the island in just fifteen to twenty minutes and enjoy the history of the Russian state with your own eyes. Rugen Island, Buyan, Arkona

CAPE ARKONA
Cape Arkona (German: Kap Arkona) is a high coast (45 m) of chalk and marl on the Wittow Peninsula in the north of the island of Rügen, the location of the ancient sanctuary of the Polabian Slavs - Ruyan.
The natural monument of Cape Arkona near the fishermen's village of Witt belongs to the municipality of Putgarten and is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Rügen (about 800,000 visitors annually).

At the cape there are two lighthouses, two military bunkers, a Slavic fortress and several tourist buildings (restaurants, souvenir shops). On the western side of the cape there is a ring-shaped shaft in which the temple of the Vendian god Svyatovit was located. The Danish king Valdemar I the Great took this fortified point on June 15, 1168, burned the temple along with the idol and took the temple treasures to Denmark. In 1827 a lighthouse was built over the rampart.

The smaller of the two lighthouses was built in 1826-1827 according to Schinkel's design. Commissioned in 1828. Its height is 19.3 m. The height of the fire in it is 60 m above sea level.
Cape Arkona is often incorrectly called the northernmost point of the island of Rügen. Approximately 1 km in a northwest direction there is a place called Gellort, which is the northernmost point.
Built in 1927, the Cap Arcona was named after the cape.

RUYAN (RUGEN) - MYSTERIES OF THE BALTIC ISLAND
History books often emphasize events within the borders of existing states. And if a kingdom or principality has disappeared from the historical arena, then they talk about it much less often. A striking example is the state that existed until 1168 on the Baltic island, which is known as Rügen, but a thousand years ago was called Ruyan. It is often compared to Buyan Island from Russian fairy tales. But the reality was perhaps even more interesting.

More than a thousand years ago, the north of modern Germany was covered with dense deciduous forests. The Slavs lived here then, making up three large tribal unions - the Polabian (along the Labe River, now the Elbe), the Lutichian, the Lusatian. There were about thirty tribes. The Polabian union was dominated by the Bodrichi, and from this union the Ruyans sprang off, living on a large island near the Baltic coast.
They did not shy away from piracy, often attacking the Danes, the Jöts and the Swedes (today, the Danes, southern and northern Swedes). They pirated and were given. One of the famous leaders of the Baltic pirates in the 9th century was Rorik of Jutland (Jutland is part of present-day Denmark), known to us from the history of Rus' as the chronicle Prince Rurik. But the reign in Novgorod dates back to the time when Rurik was already old. His squad included not only Varangians, but also Ruyans. Rugen Island, Buyan, Arkona

Many names of cities in the north and east of Germany sounded different then. For example, not Schwerin, but Zwerin, not Brandenburg, but Branibor, not Leipzig, but Lipsk, not Braunschweig, but Brunzovik. This is recognized by all historians, including German ones. Some names have not changed, for example, the port of Rostock was called that way, only the emphasis was on the second syllable, and not on the first, as it is now. The Polabian Slavs had their own pagan sanctuaries, for example, Radogoshch, also known as Retra, Korenitsa and Arkona. The last two were on Ruyan Island.
The Ruyans themselves most revered Arkona as the center of worship of Svyatovit. Radegast - the god with swan wings - was considered his spiritual son and was revered most of all in Radogoshch.
The sanctuary of the god of war Yarovit in Korenitsa was also popular, depicted with seven heads, six of which were on the common neck, and the seventh, lion-headed, on the chest. He held a sword in his hand, and he also had seven spare swords in his belt. In those parts, weapons were never superfluous - after all, Charlemagne even carried out campaigns against the Baltic Slavs in 811 and 812. The fleet of the future Danes attacked these lands in 845, but was defeated near present-day Hamburg. In the 10th century, the governor of the German Emperor Otto I invited 30 Slavic leaders to a feast, where they were simply killed.
Some Bodrichi princes were baptized in the 10th century, which opened the way for them to profitable dynastic marriages. But the policy of pushing towards the east sometimes misfired. There is a known case when, after such a marriage, the Bodrichi prince Mstivoy, together with his son from his first marriage, Mechislav, took Hamburg. In 983, the Gavolian tribe rebelled; their capital city of Branibor was retaken by the Germans only eight years later.
Meanwhile, in Denmark under Harald Bluetooth (ruled until 986), and in Sweden around 1000 under Olaf Shetkonung, Christianity was adopted. For a long time they used runes and practiced dual faith, but still the Slavic neighbors began to be considered pagans. The German lands adopted Catholicism even earlier. If Kievan Rus was baptized (but not from Rome, but from Constantinople), then the Polabian Slavs remained faithful to the old faith.

In XI, the tribal alliances of the Bodrichi and Lutich were especially strong. The former fought on equal terms with the Danes, the latter once decided the question of who was stronger - the Lutich or the German imperial army - in a duel of heroes, and the Lutich won.
Prince Gottschalk, who tried to unite the Polabian Slavs, was killed in 1066 by supporters of paganism, united around a prince named Bluss. The missionaries were met with extreme disapproval, and one of the bishops in Radogoshch was executed. In response, Radogoshch was attacked in 1068 by an army led by Bishop Burchardt of Halberstadt. Prince Bluss was soon killed.
As a result, the Ruyans, protected by the sea, strengthened, led by a leader with the “speaking” name Krut, that is, Krutoy. The quarter century of Krut's reign was the period of greatest strength of the Baltic Slavs. He managed to unite many Polabian lands under his rule, while the capital of the state was Arkona, and the religion was paganism. The neighbors called Krut the king, so at the end of the 11th century, the island of Ruyan was the center of a large Slavic power.
The presence of a contender for the crown, supported by the Germans and Danes, weakened Krut's power. He was Heinrich, Gottschalk's son from his marriage to the Danish Sigfrida. In 1093, at the Battle of Smilov Field, Krut's army was defeated by the allied forces of the Saxons, Danes and Henry's supporters. For a short time, Henry managed to unite the Bodrichi and Lutich under his rule (as was the case under his father Gottschalk), but the Ruyans again became a principality independent of everyone. Hiking them led nowhere, even in winter, on the ice of the Baltic Sea. Later, in 1129, Gottschalk’s great-grandson, Prince Zvenko, was killed and the power of the Polabian Slavs collapsed.
And in 1147 a crusade was proclaimed against the Baltic Slavs. Before this, the crusaders were heading to Palestine, so the decision on a major campaign in a different direction was made “democratically” at the all-German Diet in Frankfurt. And the “start” of the campaign was given in June 1147 at a special ceremonial meeting in the city of Magdeburg. The Slavs' intelligence was, apparently, up to the mark: in the same June 1147, the port city of Lübeck, by that time already German, was taken by a counter-preemptive strike from the squad of the Polabian prince Niklot.
But still the crusade began. Two large armies of the Germans were led by the Duke of Saxony and Bavaria, Henry the Lion, and the knight Albrecht the Bear. The crusaders managed to storm the sanctuary, now called Retra. Prince Niklot died in battle in 1160.
The Ruyans held out the longest. Their island was captured only in 1168 after a large crusader force led by the Danish king landed on it. The sanctuary in Arkona was destroyed at the same time. And now connoisseurs of antiquity are restoring the features of the worship of the pagan god Svyatovit, relying on the notes of Christian chroniclers and legends.

Baltic Sea map

It was customary to depict Svyatovit with a ritual tury honey horn in his right hand. He had four faces, each of the faces looked in its own direction of the world. Sometimes in Rus' Svyatovit was called Belbog, in contrast to the evil Chernobog. But Svyatovit is not only a “bright” god like the Indian Vishnu, but also the god of a just war, and the ruler of the four cardinal directions and four winds.
In Arkona, after the harvest at the end of summer, sacrifices were made to Svyatovit, after filling his horn with mead. The cult of Svyatovit goes back to the ancient Indo-European prototype. Chernobog on Ruyan was called Chernoglav, his idol with a silver mustache patronized sea raids.
There was a fortune-telling ritual - to predict the course of the war, a white horse was introduced into the temple of Svyatovit through three rows of crossed spears. It was considered a good omen if the horse started moving with the right foot and never stumbled. The name Arkona itself, translated from the ancient Indo-European dialect, means “White Mountain”; white cliffs fall into the sea there to this day. A later association is the city of the Ardent Horse. But the ritual horse was the image of the patron of the place, the “horse” - the mountain on the cliff.
The priests of the Svyatovit temple in Arkona wore white clothes. They were revered above princes, but the names of the high priests were not communicated to foreigners, which is why they did not reach us. Other tribes of the Baltic Slavs paid a special tribute to the Ruyans, which went towards the maintenance of the sanctuary in Arkona. The temple had a red hipped roof, and the interior decoration was dominated by crimson tones. Judging by the chronicles, inside the large temple there was another, smaller hall, supported by four pillars and draped with crimson curtains. It was in it that the statue of Svyatovit stood.
During its heyday, Ruyan minted its own coins. By 1168, at least 70 thousand people lived on the island, more than in the previous century. The trading center was the city of Ralsvik, there was a written language based on “devil and rez”. Unfortunately, after the capture of the island, much was simply destroyed. The last prince of Ruyan, Vitslav, died in 1325. The island no longer had independence then, and this prince became famous more as a Minnesinger who wrote songs in German. Power on Ruyan passed from the Danes to the Germans. The ancient language was gradually supplanted.
Nowadays, archaeologists are working on Ruyan, trying to unravel the secrets of this Baltic island. And yet, there are cases when tornadoes form near white rocks; superstitious people consider them either a message from restless souls, or a sign from the ancient gods... Rügen Island, Buyan, Arkona

JASMUND PARK
Jasmund National Park is located on the Jasmund Peninsula in the northeast of the island of Rügen in the federal state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and has existed since September 12, 1990. It is the smallest national park in Germany, with an area of 3,003 hectares. On its territory is the highest point of Rügen - Mount Pikberg with a height of 161 m.
The natural chalk deposit on the Jasmund Peninsula has been mined in chalk quarries for a long time. When in 1926 there was a threat of reopening the already suspended chalk quarry, the coast north of the city of Sassnitz was set aside as a nature reserve. On September 12, 1990, as part of the program to create national parks in the GDR, this section of the coast was declared a national park.

Chalk rocks - “Royal Chair” Rügen Island, Buyan, Arkona

The chalk cliffs of the island of Rügen are subject to constant erosion. With each storm, large pieces break off from the rocks, breaking trees and bushes in the process and throwing them into the sea. Fossils are also separated: here you can find fossil remains of sea urchins, sponges and oysters. Coastal erosion has increased since large glacial boulders were removed from the coastline in the 19th and 20th centuries to be used to fortify harbors. The boulders in front of the chalk cliffs were like natural breakwaters. From the moment of their removal, the waters of the Baltic Sea fall with indomitable force onto the steep coast.

The most significant site of the national park is the 118 m high chalk cliff "King's Chair" (Königsstuhl). On average, 300,000 people annually step onto the site of this cliff that stands out from the coastline to look out over the Baltic Sea and the neighboring impressive stretches of coastline.

Fauna and flora
In the forests of the park you can find numerous water-filled, drainless depressions and depressions, which mostly arose as breaks in the dead ice of the Ice Age. Where these water surfaces become shallow, so-called basin swamps arise. In these depressions and basin swamps you can find numerous black alders. In drier areas you can find wild pear, wild apple, mountain ash and yew trees. The orchid species found here include the lady's slipper. Another feature is the salt vegetation on the northern coast of the national park.

The fauna within the national park is diverse and diverse. Only 1,000 species of beetles live in or off wood. In the clear streams you can see an unusual animal, the alpine planaria (Crenobia alpina), which is found only in the mountains. Kingfishers can also be observed along these same streams. City swallows and the chalk owl, a cream-colored nocturnal moth found only in Germany on the Jasmund Peninsula, nest in the chalk cliffs.

Due to the high number of visitors to the park, peregrine falcons and white-tailed eagle can occasionally be seen in the national park.

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SOURCE OF INFORMATION AND PHOTO:
Team Nomads
Ganina N. A. Rugen Island: to the basics of interaction between cultures and languages // Atlantic: Notes on historical poetics. - M.: Moscow University for the Humanities, 2011. - P. 18.
Herbordi Dialogue de Ottone episcopo Bambergensi, Bibhotheca rerum Germanicarum, ed Ph Jaffe, t 5, Berlin, 1869. (Chapter 11 "De Verania insula et gente barbarissima")
V. A. Zalgaller Life of war
Martin Kitchen. The Cambridge Illustrated History of Germany:-Cambridge University Press 1996 ISBN 0-521-45341-0
Ganina N.A. Border in the linguistic and cultural space of Rügen // Russian German Studies: Yearbook of the Russian Union of Germanists. - M.: Languages of Slavic Culture, 2009. - T. 6. - P. 237-245.
Ganina N. A. Rugen Island: to the basics of interaction between cultures and languages // Atlantic: Notes on historical poetics. - M.: Moscow University for the Humanities, 2011. - P. 3-33.
Herrmann J. Obodrits, Lyutichs, Ruyans // Slavs and Scandinavians / Transl. from German; total ed. E. A. Melnikova. - M.: Progress, 1986. - P. 338-359.
http://skylineru.net/secret/ruyan-zagadki-baltijskogo-ostrova.html
Wikipedia website
http://www.photosight.ru/
photo: M. Nugmanov, I. Winter, L. Shoikhet,

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However, as historical issues examined by such Russian researchers as V.B. Vilinbakhov and V.V. Merkulov have shown, Buyan Island is a very real geographical place located in the Baltic Sea east of Hiddensee Island - this is the island of Rügen.
A significant difference in its name, not like the island of Buyan, but namely Rügen, resulted from a mixture of languages when telling stories about it - Buyan - Ruyan - Rügen... At the same time, the Germans and Poles, and Czechs, and Slovaks knew about the island, not to mention about us Northern Slavs, for whom Buyan Island had a cult significance, because here stood the capital of the entire Slavic world - Arkona.
At the same time, it is also worth noting that it was from these places that the glorious Ruriks came out, with their glorious squad, who lie at the foundation of our statehood. And if we remember about the Varangians, then by and large, the Varangians are not the ancient Germans or Swedes or Vikings, who did not exist then, they are the ancient Slavs who mined salt in the Baltic (Varangian Sea) and transported it almost throughout the North and Europe.

Nine centuries ago, on the coast of the Baltic Sea, above the snow-white cliffs of the island, which is now called Rügen, the city of Arkona rose.

The island itself was then called Ruyan and it was inhabited by the Ruyans or Rane - one of the peoples of the Baltic (Northwestern) Slavs.
These peoples, as their name implies, settled on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea in the territory of modern Germany and Poland. This is how medieval chroniclers described the Ranes: “The Ranes, called by others the Ruans, are cruel tribes that live in the heart of the sea and are beyond measure devoted to idolatry.
They take precedence among all Slavic peoples, have a king and a famous sanctuary. (...) completely neglecting the benefits of agriculture, they are always ready to attack the sea, placing their only hope and all their wealth on ships.” The temple of Svyatovit in Arkona was the main sanctuary of the Slavic Pomerania, and was previously revered by other Baltic Slavs as a sacred people with a special closeness to the gods, without whose consent not a single important decision was made.
When, after an incessant four-hundred-year struggle with the Frankish, Germanic, Polish, Danish baptists, the peoples of the Baltic Slavs, one after another, were enslaved, Arkona became the last free Slavic city honoring the forefather gods.
And it remained so until its destruction in 1168.
The 19th century historian Hilferding wrote the following about the North-Western Slavs: “Just as people who have suffered all sorts of hardships and troubles in their lifetime and have been hardened in struggle become prone to perseverance, so are the Baltic Slavs; There have hardly been more stubborn people in the world. Of all the peoples of Europe, they alone laid down their lives for their antiquity, for their old pagan way of life: stubborn defense of antiquity, this is the first characteristic of all these advanced Slavic tribes, Vagrs, Bodrichs, Lyutichs...”

The temple of Svyatovit was built there - Svyatovit, Sventovit (lat. Zuantewith) - according to the “Slavic Chronicle” of Helmold (1167-1168) - the god of the Ruyansk land, “the brightest in victories, the most convincing in answers,” who is among the many Slavic deities are considered the main one. The Slavs treat their deity with amazing respect, for they do not take oaths easily and do not tolerate the dignity of his temple being violated even during enemy invasions..."
The holiday in honor of the supreme deity Svyatovit among the medieval Slavs was celebrated by baking a huge public pie, the production of which would require a large number of grain graters. Saxo Grammaticus describes in detail how the Baltic Slavs on the island. Rügen, in the sanctuary of Svyatovit a ritual was performed in honor of the deity. The first day was spent putting the wooden temple in order. The next day, people gathered in front of the entrance to the temple, and the priest sacrificed a horn with wine (it is assumed that it is more correct to count with honey) and asked for an increase in wealth and new victories. He placed the horn in the right hand of the idol of Svyatovit, “then they sacrificed a round honey pie almost human height. The priest put the pie between himself and the people and asked the Ruyan if he could be seen behind the pie. If they answered that he was visible, then the priest expressed the wish that next year these same people would not be able to see him (at the pie). However, this did not mean that he wanted death for himself or his fellow countrymen, but was only a wish for an even more abundant harvest for the next year.”

Rügen (German Rügen, Latin Rugia, N. Lug. Rujany, Rjana, V. Lug. Rujany, Polish Rugia, Pol. Rana, Czech Rujána, Slovak Rujana) is an island in the Baltic Sea east of Hiddensee. The largest island within Germany (total area 926 km²). It is part of the federal state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The population is approximately 77 thousand people.

Historical information
Archaeological finds indicate that the island was inhabited back in the Stone Age. There are burial mounds and stones for sacrifices throughout the island.

During these wars, the Ruyans lost their independence in 1168, their capital Arkona was destroyed, and the sanctuary of Sventovit (Svyatovit) was destroyed. As Danish chronicles testify, the king of Rujan, Jaromir, became a vassal of the Danish king, and the island became part of the bishopric of Roskilde.
The first forced conversion of the Ruyans to Christianity dates back to this period. In 1234, the Rujans freed themselves from Danish rule and pushed the boundaries of their possessions to the coast of the modern German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, founding the city now known as Stralsund (in Pomeranian Strzélowò, in Polish Strzałów). In 1282, Prince Wislaw II entered into an agreement with King Rudolf I of Germany, receiving Rügen for life along with the title of Imperial Jägermeister. Further, the Slavs of Rügen, being part of various German state entities, gradually lost the Slavic language, Slavic culture, and identity over the next several centuries - they became completely Germanized. In 1325, the last Ruyan prince Vitslav (Wislav) III died. In fact, the Slavic Ruyan dialect ceased to exist by the 16th century. In 1404, Gulitsyna died, who, together with her husband, belonged to the last inhabitants of Ruyan who spoke the language of the Polabian Slavs.

Economy
Currently, the main source of income for the island is tourism. The tourist development of Rügen began with the mineral springs in Zagarda in the 18th century. In the 19th century, seaside resorts began to develop, for example in Sassnitz and - later - on the coast from Binz to Gören. The main audience consisted of representatives of the “upper middle” class.
In addition to tourism, fishing and agriculture are developed on the island.

One of the island's resorts
Among the activities started, but not completed due to the war, is the project to create a giant health factory on the shores of the island of Rügen near the village of Prora, the largest construction project of the Third Reich - the “Greatest Sea Resort in the World” designed by the architect Klotz. . A line of five-story barracks-type concrete buildings, 4.5 km long, was built along the sea coast. The living quarters were rooms measuring 2.5 x 5 m. In the center of the complex it was planned to place a grandiose building for public events with a capacity of 20,000 people. A model of this complex was presented at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1937 (where the Soviet pavilion and the German pavilion stood opposite each other) and received the Grand Prix there.
During the GDR, Rügen first became a closed zone where military personnel were stationed. Then, what remained of the war's destruction became a place of mass tourism and recreation. After the unification of Germany, they began to restore the historical appearance of the resorts, which was formed at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. However, the prospects for bringing the project to the design scale are not clear yet.

HOW TO GET THERE, WHERE IT IS
According to competent sources in the field of travel organization, the best way to get to the island of Rügen is not directly, through the same Kaliningrad by train, but by an AirBerlin flight flying between Moscow and Hamburg. At the same time, having spent a certain number of units of foreign currency savings and about three and a half hours of flight, you end up in Hamburg, from which our Buyan-Rügen is just a stone's throw away.

RUYAN (RUGEN) – MYSTERIES OF THE BALTIC ISLAND
History books often emphasize events within the borders of existing states. And if a kingdom or principality has disappeared from the historical arena, then they talk about it much less often. A striking example is the state that existed until 1168 on the Baltic island, which is known as Rügen, but a thousand years ago was called Ruyan. It is often compared to Buyan Island from Russian fairy tales. But the reality was perhaps even more interesting.

Many names of cities in the north and east of Germany sounded different then. For example, not Schwerin, but Zwerin, not Brandenburg, but Branibor, not Leipzig, but Lipsk, not Braunschweig, but Brunzovik. This is recognized by all historians, including German ones. Some names have not changed, for example, the port of Rostock was called that way, only the emphasis was on the second syllable, and not on the first, as it is now. The Polabian Slavs had their own pagan sanctuaries, for example, Radogoshch, also known as Retra, Korenitsa and Arkona. The last two were on Ruyan Island.
The Ruyans themselves most revered Arkona as the center of worship of Svyatovit. Radegast - the god with swan wings - was considered his spiritual son and was revered most of all in Radogoshch.
The sanctuary of the god of war Yarovit in Korenitsa was also popular, depicted with seven heads, six of which were on the common neck, and the seventh, lion-headed, on the chest. He held a sword in his hand, and he also had seven spare swords in his belt. In those parts, weapons were never superfluous - after all, Charlemagne even carried out campaigns against the Baltic Slavs in 811 and 812. The fleet of the future Danes attacked these lands in 845, but was defeated near present-day Hamburg. In the 10th century, the governor of the German Emperor Otto I invited 30 Slavic leaders to a feast, where they were simply killed.
Some Bodrichi princes were baptized in the 10th century, which opened the way for them to profitable dynastic marriages. But the policy of pushing towards the east sometimes misfired. There is a known case when, after such a marriage, the Bodrichi prince Mstivoy, together with his son from his first marriage, Mechislav, took Hamburg. In 983, the Gavolian tribe rebelled; their capital city of Branibor was retaken by the Germans only eight years later.
Meanwhile, in Denmark under Harald Bluetooth (ruled until 986), and in Sweden around 1000 under Olaf Shetkonung, Christianity was adopted. For a long time they used runes and practiced dual faith, but still the Slavic neighbors began to be considered pagans. The German lands adopted Catholicism even earlier. If Kievan Rus was baptized (but not from Rome, but from Constantinople), then the Polabian Slavs remained faithful to the old faith.

Due to the high number of visitors to the park, peregrine falcons and white-tailed eagle can occasionally be seen in the national park.

April 12, 2013, 10:11

In ancient times, on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, on the territory of modern Germany, lived the Slavs - the Ruyans or Rugs. There are many names left here indicating this: Rostock, Lübeck, Schwerin (Zwerin), Dresden (Drozdyany), Leipzig (Lipsk) and this is not all of them. The island of Rügen, in the Baltic Sea, in northeastern Germany, is known, without a doubt, to everyone who is interested in the early history and pagan religion of the Slavs. The place is legendary, mystical.

After all, it was here, at the northernmost point of the island, that the legendary Arkona fortress was located. High on a chalk cliff, on a steep cliff, protected on three sides by the sea, and on the fourth, by a huge rampart, impregnable to the enemy, the capital of the most powerful tribe of the Western Slavs.

The ancient Slavs always used the features of natural landscapes to defend their cities, but the location of Arkona is so ingenious and incredible that it allowed this small principality to maintain its independence and religion, while being in a constant state of war with its neighbors, which were largely superior in numbers and military power - the Catholic Polish state, Imperial Germany and the Danish Vikings. And not only to defend against numerous enemies. Possessing a powerful fleet, the Ruyans controlled most of the southern coast of the Baltic Sea for a long time.

Enormous wealth accumulated in the fortress, partly being conquered in military campaigns, partly being presented as tribute and sacrifice to the idol of the god Svyatovit by all other Slavic tribes. After all, Arkona was also the religious capital of all the pagan Slavic tribes of that time. Priests with gifts to the deity came not only from the entire Baltic coast, modern eastern Germany and Poland, but also from Moravia. The memory of this place is also preserved in Russian legends.

Vsevolod Ivanov "Rainbow over Arkona"

In ancient Russian legends, this is Buyan Island in the Okiyan Sea, where the white-flammable Stone-Alatyr lies, the ancient Pradub is vast and mighty, it pierces the seven heavens and supports the center of the universe. Arkona - Yarkon - ardent - fiery white horse - a symbol of the grace of the God of light.

Ilya Glazunov "The Island of Rügen. The priest and the sacred horse of Svyatovit"

The temple in the settlement of Arkona on the island of Ruyan was the main shrine of the Western Slavs, it was the largest cult center and the last bastion of Western Slavic paganism, resisting the influence of Christianity. According to the general belief of the Baltic Slavs, the Arkonian god gave the most famous victories, the most accurate prophecies. Therefore, Slavs from all sides of Pomerania flocked here for sacrifices and for fortune telling. The sacred horse Svyatovit was kept at the temple, white in color with a long mane and tail that were never trimmed. Only the priest of Svyatovit could feed and mount this horse, on which, according to beliefs, Svyatovit himself fought against his enemies. They used this horse to tell fortunes before the start of the war. The servants stuck three pairs of spears in front of the temple at a certain distance from each other, and a third spear was tied across each pair. The priest, having said a solemn prayer, led the horse by the bridle from the vestibule of the temple and led it to the crossed spears. If a horse stepped through all the spears first with its right foot and then with its left, this was considered a happy omen. If the horse stepped with its left foot first, then the trip was canceled. Three pairs of copies possibly symbolically reflected the will of the heavenly, earthly and underground gods during fortune telling.

Vsevolod Ivanov "Svyatovit Temple in Arkon"

The sanctuary was located on the top of the cape, the main square was protected from the sea by steep cliffs, and from the island by a double semi-ring system of ditches and ramparts (generally characteristic of Slavic sanctuaries), and on the central square there was a wooden temple, surrounded by a palisade with a large gate to the courtyard. Inside the sanctuary stood an idol of Svyatovit. According to the 12th century chronicler Saxo Grammar, this idol was taller than a man with one body and four heads at the cardinal points, sitting on four necks separated from each other. The four heads apparently symbolized the god's power over the four cardinal directions (as in the four winds) and the four seasons of time, that is, the cosmic god of space-time (similar to the Roman Janus).

Idol of Svyatovit installed in Arkona by Polish pagans in the 90s

In his right hand, Svyatovit held a horn, filled annually with wine, and his left hand rested on his side. The horn symbolized the god's power over productivity and fertility, that is, as the god of vital and plant power. The clothes went down to the knees. Near the idol lay a huge sword, with a scabbard and hilt trimmed with silver and exquisite carvings. As well as a saddle, bridle and many other objects, and the temple itself was decorated with the horns of various animals.

Alphonse Mucha "Feast of Sventovit"

The temple had extensive estates that provided it with income; duties were collected in its favor from merchants trading in Arkona and from industrialists who caught herring off the island of Ruyan. A third of the spoils of war were brought to him, all the jewelry, gold, silver and pearls obtained in the war. Therefore, there were chests filled with jewelry in the temple. And Arkona itself was surrounded by several more villages. The sacred city of Arkona was in those distant times the forge of martial arts of the European North. The ancient history of the Polabian Slavs brings to us the memory that there was a special type of military service at temples. These temple warriors were originally called knights.

When, after an incessant four-hundred-year struggle with the Frankish, German, and Danish baptizers, the peoples of the Baltic Slavs, one after another, were enslaved, Arkona became the last free Slavic city that honored its native gods. And it remained so until its destruction in 1168. In 1168, on June 15, the Danish king Valdemar I, by cunning and cunning, managed to break into the Ruyan fortress.

1169 Militant Christians led by Bishop Absalon destroy the statue of the god Svyatovit in Arkon.

The invaders plundered, desecrated and then burned this temple. By the will of King Valdemar, a Christian temple was erected on the site of the Svyatovit Church.

Church in Altenkirchen, the oldest church in Rügen (built around 1200)
Its decoration uses individual elements of Slavic pagan temples destroyed by the baptists:

Bowl from the Temple of Svyatovit, now it is a baptismal bowl in Altenkirchen

Cult Slavic stone built into the wall inside the church.

Part of the apse of the church / Krina (symbol of fertility) embedded in the masonry of the wall

Slavic ritual bowl with Kolovrat found in Arkona.

One of the old typical houses of Alterkirchen

The 19th century historian Hilferding wrote the following about the northwestern Slavs: “Just as people who have suffered all sorts of hardships and troubles in their lifetime and have been hardened in struggle become prone to perseverance, so are the Baltic Slavs; there was hardly a more stubborn people in the world. Of all the peoples of Europe They alone laid down their lives for their antiquity, for their old pagan way of life: stubborn defense of antiquity, this is the first characteristic of all these advanced Slavic tribes, Vagrs, Bodrichis, Lutichs...”

As Danish chronicles testify, King Jaromir of Rujan became a vassal of the Danish king. The conversion of the Ruyans to Christianity dates back to this period.

In East Slavic folklore one can also trace a number of plots and characters of the Arkon cult:

A white heroic war horse in epics and fairy tales, bringing good luck and victory to its owner and at the same time possessing the properties of an oracle-soothsayer;

The heroic “sword-treasurer” mentioned in fairy tales;

A magic bridle (of Svyatovit’s horse), which has the properties of retaining evil spirits;

A horseshoe (a conventional symbol of Svyatovit’s horse), nailed to the doors “for luck” and to scare away evil spirits;

The character of a white horse (sometimes a horse's head on a stick) in the Christmas ritual of Kolyada;

Yuletide fortune-telling by rural girls about their upcoming marriage by means of a white horse stepping over the shafts;

An image of a carved horse's head on the roof of a dwelling, a ridge.

A few words about the island itself. Rügen is the largest island in Germany. It is located in the Baltic Sea, very close to the border of Germany and Poland, and despite its relatively small size (only 926.4 km 2), it has a coastline of an amazing length - a whopping 574 km. Rügen is very beautiful and diverse and is one of the favorite holiday destinations for German residents. Types of the island:

In 1308, an earthquake occurred in the Baltic, after which most of the island and a good half of Arkona sank to the seabed. In 1325, the last prince of Ruyan, Wisław III, died, and 80 years later the last woman who spoke Slavic died on Rügen. The Baltic Slavic Wendish ethnic group ceased to exist, many believe so, but even now, almost in the very center of the long-Germanized land, you can hear ancient Slavic speech.

Slavic jewelry found by German archaeologists in Arkona

mound and dolmens on Rügen

At the moment, instead of the ancient fortress, there are two lighthouses. The first was built in 1826, and the second, younger, in 1902. After all, Svyatovit is the God of Light!

I dream of the ancient Arkona, the Slavic temple,
The horizons are burning, there is an hour of thunder.
I see the ghost of Svetovit between the clouds,
Around him is the holy retinue of the Native Gods.

He is on a horse - and knows too well the delight of the chase,
Oh, that white horse is chasing whirlwinds of lightning.
He threw the scarlet Arkona, the fog of the veils,
And clings to the untouched womb, to the steppes of heaven.

He forgot the sacredness of the red sworn walls
For the fresh joy of unclear betrayals, betrayals.
And the horn of wine was thrown to them in the temple, and the bow was thrown,
And with it a thunderous sound rushes through the heavens.

The Slavic world is on fire, the soul is burning.
To what enchantments are you leading us, God of Light?

Konstantin Balmont

There are travel lovers who prefer untouched, virgin corners of nature to advertised resorts. And here sometimes you will find outlandish places that you will not find anywhere else in the world.

Fancy shape

Have you ever heard this name - Rügen Island? It really isn't heard of. However, if you look at the Baltic Sea on the map, you will see it here and understand that Mother Nature worked on it with imagination.

This piece of land has heavily indented shores. It was as if some boy was sitting and cutting up a circle of paper with scissors. These bends create many peninsulas, bays, coves, and capes.

The island of Rügen in Germany is the largest. The total area is slightly less than a thousand square kilometers. It is 41 km wide and 52 km long (from north to south). Approximately 76,000 people live here. The capital is the town of Bergen.

Tourism is the main area of activity. Also, the island of Rügen (Germany) is famous for its well-developed agriculture. Yes, and fishing.

Royal throne

If today you walk through the once “imperial” resorts, which were created at the end of the century before last, and now shine with a new, modern splendor, you still cannot get rid of the feeling of the atmosphere of past centuries. This is probably largely due to the special elegance of the local towns. And there is general order and regularity of life everywhere. This lack of fuss, calm confidence and a solid way of life make a holiday on the island of Rügen truly complete. And of course, the natural component.

On the Jasmund Peninsula (northeast of Rügen) there is a park with the same name. It appeared recently - in 1990. It has two notable features. It is the smallest national one in the entire country. And its distinctive feature is chalk rocks.

Snow-white, majestic, they descend with sharp cliffs to beautiful green-bluish waves. And all around there are dense forests and clean air. It is no coincidence that this place inspired the talented 19th century artist (romantic in style) Caspar David Friedrich, who gained worldwide fame.

Tourists cannot fail to be impressed by Jasmund. This is the most famous cliff. He stretched his snow-white “body” up 118 meters. They call it Koenigsstuhl. That is, “royal throne”, if translated into Russian.

From past

It is easier to understand and accept any locality if you know its “biography”. The same island of Rügen, whose history is worthy of study. But we can only talk about it briefly. Finds made by archaeologists indicate that people lived on the island back in the Stone Age. Various mounds and large stones are visible everywhere. The ritual of sacrifice was performed on them.

What follows are a few eras that we will skip. Let us only note that the island of Rügen was alternately part of various (state) German entities. Then he went to Sweden. It was later conquered by Napoleon Bonaparte. And the island came under French control.

Another stage is inclusion into Denmark. The next one is the transition to Prussia. It's like part of New Vorpommern. Finally, after World War II, it became part of the GDR.

Resort area

Both before and now the island is “fed” by the tourism industry. The impetus for such development of the territory was given by mineral springs (back in the 18th century). And later large seaside resorts appeared here. Those who were classified as the “upper middle” class rested and received treatment here. That is, the cream of society.

Interestingly, the most popular destination for world tourists was once a small village where fishermen lived. It is now the prestigious town of Binz on the island of Rügen.

Such a favorable transformation occurred in just 40 years (1870-1910). Otto Spalding, an architect, built a Kurhaus in the style of Brighton (England). There they also treated with sea water. And soon, thanks to this, a small fishing village turned into a fashionable resort. And it's very crowded. Until 1914 (that is, before World War I), no more than 10 thousand people came here every year!

Health Factory

“Strength through Joy” - such an organization was created during the German Nazism. She had at her disposal a lot of rest houses and sanatoriums of various profiles. Nevertheless, another (and huge!) medical workshop for those wishing to improve their health began to be built near one village - Pror. It was a continuous line of five-story concrete buildings. They stretched along the sea for 4.5 kilometers. True, they had a barracks-like, gray appearance. Inside there are rooms 2.5 by 5 meters.

And in the very middle of such a complex they planned to build another building. For mass events - for 20 thousand people! They made a mini-model of it and showed it at the World Exhibition (Paris, 1937). He won first place there. But after that the matter was never completed.

After the wall fell

In the victorious May of 1945, the island of Rügen received the USSR military contingent. And it stood there until 1992. It was a closed area. Then the area was given over to tourism purposes. And only after both Germany united did the government begin to restore the historical appearance of these famous resorts, which were formed in the last and century before last.

Island tours

If you come here to relax, your guide will definitely show you Cape Arkona. It is located on the Vitov Peninsula. This is the northern tip of Rügen. Once upon a time there was an ancient Slavic village here, fortified according to all the rules against enemies. In the center there was a temple in honor of the god Svyatovit. Over time, this place was “eaten” by the sea. All that was left were the earthen ramparts.

A lighthouse was built to the west of them in the 80s (XIX century). He is the oldest here. Now it is a museum. And next to the “old man” 13 years ago they installed another one, 36 meters high. He shines for the sailors.

The island of Rügen is very interesting. Its sights surprise many.

Thus, the main revival in the construction of resort villas occurred during the industrial revolution. The Furious Roland train now reminds us of this time. Tourists happily ride on it (it is a steam locomotive, after all!) on a narrow-gauge railway. They drive through picturesque forests, past wonderful lakes and bays, beaches.

Nature lovers on Rügen will find the sea and a world-class “celebrity” - chalk cliffs. Tourists versed in art will pay attention to architectural monuments from different eras. These include rustic Gothic brick churches, luxurious castles in the classicist or modernist style, and other buildings.

You can also look at the pier. All paths on the island lead to this pier. It goes far, all 400 m, into the Baltic Sea. The island of Rügen has such a recognizable symbol that is reflected on many tourist postcards. Moreover, the predecessor (built in 1925) was destroyed during the war. But it was a hundred meters longer.

Baltic pearl

The Germans have every reason to be proud of such an object as the island of Rügen. Reviews from tourists confirm this. Some write with delight about carved balconies in residential buildings. Others are amazed by the untouched nature and special northern flavor. Still others cannot forget the view of the Stralsund Strait for a long time.

Still others remember the sunset over Rügen. Still others tirelessly repeat how the original owner of a private house in the town of Altefer built a weather vane on a bicycle wheel in his yard. He made it in the form of a lighthouse and two sailing boats. A sixth praise the unobtrusive, intelligent service.

And of course, everyone takes pictures against the backdrop of the hunting castle Granits. This is the most visited building here. It was built a long time ago for Prince Wilhelm Malthe I - back in 1846. One of the most important guests was von Bismarck, Chancellor of Germany.

We'll come again!

Are you wondering where to go on vacation? Look: here is the Baltic Sea on the map.

And in it there is an island that you may like so much that you will start coming here often! We don’t argue - there are many other addresses for travelers, where the bright sun mercilessly burns and there is a lot of oriental exoticism. But even here you can find a lot of things that will leave strong impressions for a long time.

There are not many hot sunny days on this island. And the water in the sea is cooler than expected. However, why then are there more and more people wanting to relax here every year?

Yes, the weather on the island of Rügen can be disappointing. But most likely you will be lucky. And then you will fully enjoy the soft warm sand and the quietest bays.

There will be no problems with nutrition either. After all, right on the shore there are cafes and mini-restaurants. The air is fresh and clean - like nowhere else! Typically 8 degrees is the average annual temperature. But often in the spring (March) there are up to twenty. In May, it’s all 30. In the summer, sometimes it’s even hot. Well, the sunniest month is June.

So welcome here! Pleasant impressions are 100 percent guaranteed.

I’m sorting through the materials from my last trip - there’s a lot of information even on individual objects, and there are also a lot of threads connecting one to the other, and I don’t even know where to start, my head is spinning. :-) Since in previous posts there was a lot of talk about the German island of Rügen, I’ll start with it, since there is more interest in it. It would be worthwhile to first talk about Cape Arkona, as the most “promoted” place, but I decided to start with how we ended up in the same castle, without even knowing it. :-)) Still, fate leads you to the right places, even against your will. At the same time, I’ll add an introductory part about Rügen. Under the cut there will be both our photographs and old images from other sources. Some believe that it was from these places that the civilization of the Russian Land emerged, but I don’t dare to give such general assessments - and, moreover, I wouldn’t want to argue on the Slavic topic, okay?

Photo by A.L.

So, the island of Rügen, the northeastern part of what is now Germany, where fate brought us in May of this year:

Picturesque Rügen is located in Vorpommern, in the state of Mecklenburg, near the Polish border. It is washed by the cool waters of the Baltic Sea. The area of Rügen is 926 sq. km, it is the largest German island. The length of the beaches is 140 km. The shape of the island is bizarre, the shores are strongly indented, their bends form many bays, bays, peninsulas and capes. The width of Rügen in the south reaches 41 km, the maximum length from north to south is 52 km. About 100,000 people live here. Rügen is an archipelago consisting of 18 islands and peninsulas. It is connected to the continent by a three-kilometer dam, so you can get here by train or car. The largest city and capital of the island is Bergen.
http://www.fitonline.ru/cities/2306/

I will only add that the total length of the coasts of Rügen exceeds the length of the mainland coasts of the country.

As I wrote earlier, the hotel on the island of Rügen was booked almost at the last minute. There was nothing available near Cape Arkona and she suggested looking for options all over the island. The lot fell on the city of Bergen an der Rügen:

And I didn’t have time to collect enough information about Bergen before the trip, except to look at Wikipedia on the go: - (Russian Wikipedia is laconic in relation to this place:

Bergen an der Rügen (German: Bergen auf Rügen) is a city in Germany, a regional center, located in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Part of the Rügen district. Subordinate to the management of Bergen auf Rügen. The population is 14.2 thousand people (2009); in 2003 - 15.1 thousand. Covers an area of 41.77 km². The city is divided into 13 urban districts.
http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C1%E5%F0%E3%E5%ED-%ED%E0-%D0%FE%E3%E5%ED%E5

The city's coat of arms and a map found on the Internet:

So, we stopped in Bergen an der Rügen and drove through the city (photo from Wiki):

The streets there are something like this:

The city is not much different even now from its ancient images (at least in its old part):

I’m generally partial to small towns like these with low-rise buildings that have a long history:

Time seems to stop in them, like on these postcards from the early 20th century:

If you took modern cars off the streets, Bergen would look much the same:

Yes, even as in earlier images, except that the road surface has undergone changes:

But what is the castle in the last two images? This is a later structure, but information about an earlier Slavic fortress came out through it.

Brockhaus and Efron provide the following information about the city (I highlight the most important things in bold):

Bergen is the main city of the island of Rügen, near Stralsund, located on a hill almost in the center of the island; has an ancient church built in the 12th century, a monastery for the education of noble maidens, an extensive hospital, an orphanage, tanneries, dyehouses, and windmills. There are 3,732 residents of Bergen, mainly engaged in agriculture and cattle breeding. The city of Bergen was built, as evidenced by surviving historical documents, at the beginning of the 13th century and was originally called the “village of Göra”, but already in 1294 it was called “Villa Berghe”, and in 1613 it was acquired from Duke Philip Julius Pomeranian city privileges. Approximately 1 km to the NE of Bergen is the hill of Rugard (the highest point on the island) with the remains of extensive ramparts that supposedly surrounded the fortified castle of the Rügen princes until the beginning of the 14th century. On this elevation there is a monument to Erast Moritz Arndt.
http://www.vseslova.com/brokgauz_efron4/page/bergen__glavnyiy_gorod_ostrova_ryugen.26817/
- only now it’s not Erast, but Ernst that’s more correct.

Rugard Hill in an ancient engraving:

Here you can take a closer look at the structure on the hill. The inscription below reads: "Arndt Tower on the island of Rügen."

The tower is named after this man:

Ernst Moritz Arndt (German: Ernst Moritz Arndt, December 26, 1769, Groß Schoritz - January 29, 1860, Bonn) - German writer and deputy of the Frankfurt National Assembly. Arndt took part in mobilizing the people against Napoleon's occupation of Germany. Arndt is considered one of the outstanding lyricists of the era of the liberation wars against Napoleon. Arndt's activities are assessed differently: after all, he was not only a German patriot
http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C0%F0%ED%E4%F2,_%DD%F0%ED%F1%F2_%CC%EE%F0%E8%F6

Here's a little more about him (I'll return to his work later in the post):

Arndt Ernst Moritz (December 26, 1769, Schoritz on the island of Rügen, - January 29, 1860, Bonn), German writer. After graduating from the University of Jena, he was a professor of history. He took part in the fight against Napoleon (1806). Fled to Russia in 1812; in 1813 he returned to Germany. A.'s political position is characterized by anti-feudal ideas; he is the ideologist of the liberation war against Napoleon, although with a narrow nationalist tendency, for which F. Engels criticized him. In 1848 he was elected to the Frankfurt National Assembly, but did not go beyond the demands of a constitutional monarchy. Author of "The History of Serfdom in Pomerania and on the Island of Rügen" (1803), "Songs for the Germans" (1813), the book "War Songs" (1815), a collection of articles "The Zeitgeist" (vol. 1-4, 1806-18 ). A.'s best poems are preserved in German poetry. In 1840 he published his autobiography, Memoirs from External Life.
http://slovari.yandex.ru/%D0%AD%D1%80%D0%BD%D1%81%D1%82-%D0%9C%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%B8%D1% 86%20%D0%90%D1%80%D0%BD%D0%B4%D1%82/%D0%91%D0%A1%D0%AD/%D0%90%D1%80%D0%BD% D0%B4%D1%82%20%D0%AD%D1%80%D0%BD%D1%81%D1%82%20%D0%9C%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%B8%D1% 86/

And now the meaning of the graffiti in the title picture of the post becomes clear. Not far from the hotel and the tower there is such a box of a transformer substation, depicting Arndt, very surprised, contemplating a monument to himself:

Photo by A.L.

The tower was built in 1877, 17 years after Arndt's death:

More information about the tower in German: http://www.ruegen-inselinfo.de/sehenswert/ernst-moritz-arndt-turm.html
There is also about Arndt: http://www.ruegen-inselinfo.de/persoenlichkeiten/ernst_moritz_arndt.html

Even postcards were issued with greetings from Rügen and a view of Arndt and his tower. Can be compared to modern graffiti. :-))

So, we approach our hotel, and the first thing I see against the backdrop of the sunset sky and the just setting sun:

Photo by R.R.

Actually, here is the hotel and the tower next to each other:

Hotel on an old postcard - it’s interesting that I haven’t found any other hotels in Bergen on old postcards yet:

And today, as seen from the Arndt Tower:

Photo by A.L.

I still don’t understand why I didn’t immediately pay attention to the name of the hotel. Green ramparts are all that remains of the ancient Slavic settlement, on the territory of which the tower and hotel were built. That’s why the latter on websites is often called “am Rugard” - “on Rugard”!

Photo by A.L.

An interesting post on the location of the Rugard settlement, from which I will give a couple of quotes here:

In the vicinity of the city of Bergen, which is the administrative center of the island of Rügen, the ruins of an ancient Slavic settlement are still preserved. In folk tradition, this settlement is called Rugard, which, apparently, can be translated from Slavic as “city of rugs.” Although it would be more correct not even “Rugard”, but “Ruigard” - it is in this form that its earliest name is recorded in the deed of gift of 1258. Oddly enough, this settlement rarely became a “contender” for the capital of the Ruyans among historians, although, it would seem, everything speaks for precisely this. As you know, the most famous city of the Ruyans was Arkona in the north of Rügen. Here was the main pagan shrine of that time - the temple of Svyatovit - and nearby there was also a huge “herring” market, to which merchants flocked from all over the southern Baltic. But, both according to medieval descriptions and according to the results of archaeological excavations, it turns out that Arkona was a temple city, where perhaps only priests lived permanently, while the princely residence was located somewhere else.
http://nap1000.livejournal.com/20567.html

I will write about Cape Arkona separately, for now there are a couple of aerial photos:

In my opinion, it is most likely that the residence of the Ruyan “king” was still Rugard. All researchers, without exception, admit that Rugard was at one time one of the most important cities in Rügen. The foundation of Rugard dates back to the second half of the 8th century, and it continued to exist after the Danish conquest in the 12th century.

Plan of the Rugard settlement:

Rugard is located not only in the very center of Rügen, but also at its highest point. In the 19th century, an observation tower was built on the territory of the Slavic settlement, from which “almost the entire island is visible.” As for the “whole island”, of course, it’s too much, but I must admit that the visibility here is really excellent. Such a place is simply ideal for a princely castle, and besides, the access to the bay was also very close.
Rugard's successor was the city of Bergen - the place of residence of the Ruyan princes and the capital of Rugen from the adoption of Christianity to the present day. In Bergen there is also one of the oldest, very first churches of Rügen, built in 1180 by the first Christian prince of Rügen, Jaromar. At its base there is a stone embedded with an image from pagan times, which also speaks of the special significance of this place. Another similar stone is embedded in the wall of a church not far from Arkona.
Rugard, thus, occupied the second place in influence on Rügen, after Arkona, simply by virtue of its strategically important location. Like Arkona, he controlled a large trade and craft center. From here it was possible to control the entire island, and, having access to the sea, at the same time secure the fortress as much as possible.
Rugard, which most likely was the residence of the “king,” is located not only in the very geographical center of the island, but also at its highest point at sea level, on a mountain - since ancient times, the ruler was really supposed to be “in the center,” to rise above everyone.
http://nap1000.livejournal.com/20567.html

Not far from Arkona - this is in Altenkirchen. We visited there and there will also be a separate story about that. An old postcard shows the Bergen monastery where Jaromar is buried:

And more about this Slavic prince, who made Bergen the capital of Rügen, which the city is to this day (a typo in one date has been corrected):

Jaromar I was born around 1141 on the island of Rügen. According to the Pomeranian Chronicle of Thomas Kantsov, he was the youngest son of Prince Ratislav and Princess Gückowska, whose name was not preserved in history.
After defeat in the war with Denmark in 1168 and the baptism of the Ruyans, Jaromar, like his brothers, converted to Christianity. The former main temple of the Ruyans in the Arkona fortress (now Jaromarsburg) was destroyed, and in its place the Danes built a cathedral. At the same time, Prince Teslav, brother of Jaromar, recognized Rugia’s vassal dependence on the rulers of Denmark, and Rugia began to be called the Principality of Rügen.
Jaromar entered into an alliance with the Hvide and Galen clans, influential in Denmark, securing it with dynastic marriages. He himself married Princess Hildegard of Denmark. At the same time, Christian Germans began to settle on the territory of the principality for the first time, and over time assimilated the local Slavic population. In 1180, the prince moved the capital of the principality from Harez to Rugard (now Bergen an der Rügen).
In 1185, in the new capital, Jaromar began construction of the Church of St. Mary (Marienkirche). In 1193, construction was completed, and the prince called on Cistercian monks from Denmark to found the first monastery in the principality at the church. This is how Bergen Abbey appeared.
Jaromar I, Prince of Rügen died on August 4, 1218 in Rügen and was buried in the church of Bergen Abbey, which he founded.
http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%AF%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%BC%D0%B0%D1%80_I

So we spent the night here practically in a castle, known at least since the 7th century, even if only the ramparts and this tower remained from it:

Photo by A.L.

The information board there also testifies to this:

Photo by A.L.

You can climb to the Arndt Tower, which is on the site of the castle:

Photo by A.L.

Information at the entrance to the tower:

Photo by A.L.

And a view from above from a height of 27 meters (photo from the Internet):

Now this place is located in a nature reserve and it’s good that development is impossible here and this land will keep intact all its secrets, awaiting its explorer:

Photo by A.L.

And there are a lot of antiquities here even without the ancient Slavic settlement:

Photo by A.L.

By the way, about antiquities. As befits any historical place, it has its own legends, and the most interesting are those related to Rugard Castle, especially since the same Arndt had a hand in them:

The second part of the legend is introduced with the words: “Nun begab es sich lange nach diesen Tagen” (“much time has passed since those days”) and, accordingly, refers to a later time. The action of this part is tied to another place - the city of Bergen am Rügen. Bergen, as you know, is a German toponym, but it is only a tracing of the Slavic name Horus, which was relevant until the 13th century. Bergen is currently the main city of the island. Meanwhile, it has a long, even Slavic, history: here on Mount Rugard - the highest point of Rügen - in the 9th-10th centuries. there was another Slavic fortification, which played an important role in the history of the Rügen Slavs. It is here that the name of Princess Svanvite, “daughter of King Rügen,” appears in the legend. Further E.M. Arndt talks about the circumstances of Svanvite's matchmaking, the disruption of the wedding, the slander of an envious prince, the cruel punishment of the princess by her father, and Svanvite's return to him after many years of imprisonment in the tower. To atone for sin and prove her innocence, Svanvite offers to send her to the rampart of the Harz to get the treasures of the old king: “You know the legend,” she tells her father, “that under the old rampart in the Harz, where our pagan ancestors lived, a rich man is buried treasure And this legend, which I often heard in childhood, says that only a princess who descends from those old kings can get these treasures.”

Princess Svantevite is the link that connects both parts of the legend: a legendary girl from the family of Vendian “kings” with a name derived from the name of Svantevit himself. In the legend, in poetic form, it is repeatedly emphasized that she is a descendant of the Slavs, it is she who is allowed to touch the Slavic treasures, the greedy and unfriendly old man nods affably to her, she is the mistress here, like he and her ancestors of the “royal” family: “And she looked around at all the sparkling mountains jewelry in this spacious hall, which her ancestors had accumulated for many centuries, and then she saw in the corner a golden chair and a small gray man sitting on it, who nodded affably to her, as if he wanted to talk to his great-granddaughter. But she didn’t answer him, she just quietly waved her hand. And at this greeting, the gray spirit rose and disappeared, and richly dressed servants came in his place and stood in respectful silence behind the princess, ready for any order from their mistress.”

The final elements of the composition are traditional for German legends about treasures: the princess violated the ban on silence, the doors immediately slammed, the stairs disappeared, and the girl was unable to get out, remaining forever in the dungeon along with the treasures. “Everywhere they say that the princess is still alive and sits underground in the Harz fortress, in that storeroom, and is forced, together with her ancient gray-haired great-grandfather, to guard the jewelry. And no one can say how this became known on earth. Maybe the little gray man who wanders near the ramparts at night told<...>And the news of Princess Svanvita’s mysterious disappearance underground spread around everyone, as if she was sitting in a dark dungeon and was alive, and one day someone would save her.”
http://bvsv.livejournal.com/17123.html

The ruins of Rugard in a painting by Karl Friedrich Schinkel, 1821:

The legend itself, for those interested:

Princess Svanvita (Rügen legend)

Not far from the city of Harz on Rügen there is a lake, next to which in ancient times stood the castle of the pagan kings. When this castle was taken and destroyed by Christians many years ago, an old pagan king remained to live there, who was very rich, but so greedy that he always reclined next to his treasures of gold and precious stones, accumulated in a huge hall of a deep dungeon. After the Christians sacked the castle, he remained buried below, and had to die a miserable death of starvation. But his soul could not move away from earthly blessings, and the king turned into a black dog who guarded piles of gold day and night. Sometimes he was seen in human form, wearing chain mail and a helmet, riding a white horse through the city and lake. Occasionally, instead of a helmet, he wore a golden crown on his head. Others met him at night in the forest near Harz on the way to Poseritz, dressed in a black knitted cap and with a white staff in his hand.

Many years later, in the city of Bergen on Rügen, there was a king who had a beautiful daughter named Svanvita. Many foreign princes came to her to woo her. But she rejected everyone except the Danish Prince Peter, who was a handsome and stately man, and she really liked him. So they became engaged, and the wedding was soon to take place. This greatly angered the Polish prince, who also wanted to become her fiancé, and, because he had an insidious disposition, he began to spread rumors among people that the princess led a dissolute life and once spent the night with him. He told it so believably that everyone believed him. The suitors left, and with them the Danish prince, who no longer wanted to even hear about the engagement. Eventually the story reached the king, who believed it as much as the rest. He was beside himself with anger and imprisoned the princess in a dark tower, away from his eyes.

The princess spent more than three years in this tower, grieving in vain and thinking about how to prove her innocence to her father. This is where the story about the old pagan king began, because the pure and young maiden had enough courage on Midsummer night (Summer Solstice - approx.), after midnight, to climb naked onto the ramparts by the lake and wander there until she stumbled directly to the place where, after the destruction of the castle, there remained a covered door and stairs leading to the dungeon with the treasures of the old king. She went down there and collected as much gold and precious stones as she could carry, and returned back at dawn. What she couldn’t do on her own, the old king helped her. And she received so much goodness that it would be enough for her whole life. But during all this time she should not have looked back or uttered a single word, otherwise she would have died. The same thing would have happened to her if she had not been a chaste virgin.

Meanwhile, the old king appeared to Princess Svanvita in her solitary dungeon, and they hatched a plan to prove to her father and the whole world that she was pure and innocent and that they had been deceived by the treacherous Pole. She asked the king to fulfill his plans, and for him to take her out in the same way. He agreed.
When, after some time, Midsummer Night came again, the princess set off from Bergen to the Harz, and as soon as the clock in the church bell tower struck midnight, she took off her clothes and climbed onto the ramparts, along which she began to walk back and forth with a sprig of St. John's wort, which she I took it with me. She didn’t have to wander like this for long, and soon the princess slid down, finding herself in a huge hall where thousands of lights were burning, making it brighter than on the clearest noon. The walls of the hall were decorated with marble and decorated with diamond mirrors, and piles of silver, gold and precious stones lay everywhere. In the back corner sat the king, who guarded all these treasures. It was a small gray man who nodded to the princess to encourage her. But she was not afraid, greeting the king with a slight gesture of her hand. And suddenly a huge number of richly dressed servants and maids appeared. They began to fill her hands with gold and jewelry. And as soon as the princess had enough, she set off on her way back, and the servants and maids followed her. So she climbed many steps, when suddenly she decided to look back to see if those accompanying her with the treasure were still following her. But then trouble happened: the old king suddenly turned into a huge black dog, which, with an open mouth and burning eyes, rushed towards the princess. Out of fear, she exclaimed: “Oh, Lord!” And at the same moment the door slammed with a loud bang, the stairs collapsed and the princess fell down into the dungeon, in which the lights suddenly went out. And so for many centuries she sits there to help the old pagan king protect his treasures.

She will be able to free herself only when some pure and unmarried young man dares to go down into the dungeon on Midsummer night in the same way as the princess. He must bow three times before her, kiss her, and, taking her hand, lead her upstairs. In this case, you cannot utter a single word. Whoever brings out the princess in this way will become her betrothed and will acquire so many treasures that they can buy an entire kingdom.
Many have already tried to commit this act, but no one has yet been able to return. They say that the old black dog must be so terrible that everyone who sees him screams in fear. The last time, about thirty or forty years ago, the son of a shoemaker disappeared in that dungeon.
Temme J.D.H. Die Volkssagen von Pommern und Rügen. – Berlin, 1840. – S. 244-247.
http://russbalt.rod1.org/index.php?topic=1156.0

Disclaimer:
I have not the slightest desire to get involved in disputes between Normanists, Slavists and others, to give any assessments of ancient events and assess the degree of their significance in history. I am not an expert in the history of this region, and I only see that the fact of the existence of a Slavic civilization on Rügen took place, the Germans themselves have long recognized this, and there is still plenty of material for research here for those who want to draw any final conclusions .
But the fact that this place is ambiguous and very interesting is undeniable!

Several links