"People must instantly be astonished by the stunning surroundings.... This is also the will of the Fuehrer, and we shall equip the resort with everything there is, theatre, cinema, cabaret, music, dance halls and so on.” Speaking these words Robert Ley addressed the selected architects invited for a competition on Februar 18th 1936. This is how the official planning of a "Kraft durch Freude" – seaside resort in Prora on the German island Rügen in the Baltic Sea began.

On August 7th that same year, Hitler had made his decision. The complex was to be build following the plans of Clemens Klotz, except the festival hall for which Erich zu Putlitz’ design was chosen. As early as May 2nd 1936 the foundation stone ceremony had been held at Prora, with the military taking a major part in it.

Until 1937 the concept by Klotz was modified several times, apart from the adaptations concerning the festival hall, the general character of his plans remained. In preparation of the construction phase in 1937 a railway was led up to the construction site which was also meant to transport future holiday guests. Further more a temporarily cargo port and a road network were installed. The rather complex preparation of the construction site was finished in early 1938.

The architectural plans of Clemens Klotz which were now to be executed suggested this: Following the shoreline of the bay the main buildings by the beach form an arch of a circle with a radius of 13.000 meters. These main buildings have an over all length of about 5 kilometres and provide accommodation for recreation guests in 8 wings of about 550 meters of length each.

After the beginning of World War Two on September 1st 1939 building activities were stopped by an order of Speer. By this time major parts of the technical and traffic infra structure, two dormitories and two line buildings for service personal had been completed. The sleeping quarters and major parts of the festival site over a distance of 4.5 kilometres were only in a roughly finished state. Past 1939 only safety measures and singular finalizing building activity took place.

Thus Prora was never used as the giant beach resort it had been planned to become.

After the War had ended some parts were taken down and even blown up. In East Germany Prora was increasingly used as a military base with as many as 15.000 soldiers using it as barracks.

The military use of the area was for the local population as well as for the ecological environment a disaster. When the soldiers left in 1991 the public gained access to the until then restricted area of Prora for the first time.

Today Prora is a strange monument which can not be ignored. But the question how to find an adequate way of using it in the future so far remains unanswered.

from: Rainer Wilkens „Gebaute Utopien der Macht“ published in
„Moderne Architektur in Deutschland 1900 bis 2000“