Travel to Usedom - not just because of the music

Three days road trip with music to the sights of Usedom

Travel to Usedom - most of them do so to experience places in the Baltic Sea. Let the wind blow around your nose. beach holiday to do on the Baltic Sea. Watching the waves come to rest on the beach. A selection of Baltic Sea beaches and Baltic cities recommend travel bloggers here. Discover the island of Usedom and its sights. Read a good book in a beach chair. Or admire the spa architecture on the promenade in one of the Usedom imperial baths. These are common motives for a trip to Usedom. We like that too. Our Travel to Rügen and Kuehlungsborn prove that. But this time we do it differently. We are attracted by the invitation to Usedom Music Festival to the Baltic Sea island. We want the island of Usedom in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern on a Enjoyment trip get to know for all senses. Our trip through Usedom is one Enjoyment trip ultimate.

 

 

Travel to Usedom for the Usedom Music Festival

From September to mid-October the Usedom Music Festival takes place. We are on site for three days. It is exciting that the concerts take place in places that allow us to get to know the island. We use the festival program as a guide to the island villages. The path leads us back and forth across the island. Follow us on our road trip through the island.

• Opening concert in Peenemünde

The venue of the opening concert seems strange at first. It is the Historisch-Technische Museum Peenemünde. There, Wernher von Braun had tested his rockets during the Second World War. After the war, the Americans brought him to the United States. With his knowledge from Peenemünde von Braun finally built up the space program of NASA. The building is reminiscent of annihilation and war during the Nazi era. Today it is a museum and is used for events.

 

 

This year the Baltic Sea Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Kristjan Järvi, opens the festival. The orchestra unites young musicians from the countries bordering the Baltic Sea. These meet several times a year to study a program. Her topic this year: "Nordic Pulse". Järvi, who comes from a family of musicians from Estonia, answers the question of what he thinks about this place: “There is hardly a better place where the Baltic Sea Orchestra can perform. The orchestra stands for international understanding. Where does it come into play better than in a place like this. "

 

 

What follows is a firework of music with pieces of modern classical music from the Baltic States. Among them is the piece Aurora by Kristjan Järvi. It is particularly impressive that the orchestra plays the pieces of music from memory in half of the concert. Among them "The Storm" by Sibelius. Is rousing Imants Kanins Rock Symphony No 4. In June, the orchestra played 2018 in a flash mob in Lucerne, Switzerland. By clicking on this link you can listen to the music in full length.

Museum Peenemünde
In the power plant
17449 Peenemünde

 

 

 

• Villa Irmgard in Usedom Heringsdorf

The second day of our Usedom round trip begins in the Villa Irmgard in one of the imperial baths. The villa is an example of spa architecture. The most famous guest so far is Maxim Gorki. He spent 1922 months in the villa. He recovered from his tuberculosis here. Among his visitors were Tolstoy and the opera singer Shalyapin.

The villa is now a museum. We are here for the opening of the photo exhibition "25 Years of the Usedom Music Festival".

Villa Irmgard
Maxim Gorky Street 13
17424 Heringsdorf

 

 

• St. John's Church in Liepe

In the afternoon we continue our Usedom trip through the island and the imperial baths and drive to Liepe. This village is located on a peninsula in the backwaters. This is the name of the bay that the Peene River has created on the south side of Usedom. Liepe has one of the oldest churches in Usedom. It goes back to Duchess Anastasia from Pomerania. This bequeathed the place Liepe and its surroundings to the Premonstratensian order in 1187. It was also the monks who cleared the region's forests and drained the swamp. Nevertheless, the Lieper Winkel was spared from external influences. Until the end of the 19th century, the residents could only reach the mainland by boat.

 

 

St. John's Church is mentioned in the records as one of the first churches on the island. Inside there are paintings from the Middle Ages. Works by modern artists can be found in the churchyard. We are here to hear Hanzhi Wang. She is a virtuoso on the accordion and won the 2017 Young Concert Artists competition in New York. She shows us how versatile an accordion can sound with her virtuosity.

Ev. St. John's Church
Liepe
Triftstraße
17406 Liepe

 

 

• Natural harbor and St. Michaelis church in Krummin

Our round trip through Usedom continues to the natural harbor Krummin. The way there leads around the backwaters. Traveling to Usedom means that you will repeatedly come across lakes, ponds, rivers or bays on the island that make detours necessary. Although Liepe and Krummin are close to each other, the trip around the Achterwasser takes three quarters of an hour. Bridges are rare on Usedom. At the natural harbor Krummin we have dinner in the snack bar in the marina. The view of the boats in the harbor makes up for the pulled pork burger that's drowned in BBQ sauce

 

 

In the evening it quickly gets fresh at the port. In addition, rain clouds are gathering. Therefore we are glad that the St. Michaelis Church of Krummin is close to the harbor. There we hear the last concert of the day. This time Soo-Been Lee shows her dexterity on the violin. In 2016 she won the Young Concert Artists competition in New York.

Ev. St. Michael's Church,
Krummin
Village street
17440 Krummin

• Organ music in Usedom village churches

The morning of our third day in Usedom is dedicated to organ music. The Rostock organist Benjamin Jäger shows his skills in works by Gade, Sjögren, Lindberg, Bach, Buxtehude, Führer and Dubois in the village churches of Ahlbeck, Koserow, Usedom Stadt and Liepe. Jäger discovered church music in the Warnemünder Kantorei. In 2016 he turned his hobby into a profession and has been a church musician ever since.

 

 

 

• Moated castle Mellenthin

After music and culture, lunch awaits us in the Mellenthin moated castle. The kitchen serves us potato soup and a cold platter of bread. Home cooking like we did on them our trips to like. We will also try the beer specialties from the castle's brewery. For connoisseurs, the Mellenthin moated castle is an excursion destination that is worthwhile. It adorns itself in autumn. It also boasts a waffle bakery.

The moated castle dates from 1575 and is located in the center of the island. Those looking for peace and quiet away from the hustle and bustle of the imperial baths will find it on the castle grounds. The castle is located in the middle of the Usedom Island Nature Park. Hiking and cycling trails start near the castle. Since you can also spend the night here, this is an insider tip for connoisseurs and slow travelers. You should only bring time to discover everything that this castle has to offer. However, we continue to Stolpe Castle.

 

 

• Castle Stolpe

Stolpe Castle is close to Mellenthin. Gut Stolpe had been owned by the Counts of Schwerin since the 13th century. It was only Count Friedrich von Schwerin who converted the manor house into a palace. In doing so, he fulfilled the wish of his wife Freda. The count died early, after which his wife directed the fortunes of the estate. She was committed to the people in the area. After the land reform in 1945 she had to leave the castle and spent the rest of her life in Lüneburg. Only after her death did she come back to Stolpe. She had ordered in her will that she would be buried here next to her husband. Much to the displeasure of the SED district leadership, who even wanted to send their coffin back to Lüneburg. The employees of the castle, the farm workers and the pastor of the place prevented this. They put Freda von Schwerin at the place she wanted.

Schloss Stolpe now belongs to the community. This has restored the castle, which had fallen into disrepair during the GDR era. There is a restaurant in the coach house. Holiday apartments have been built in the outbuildings. Stolpe Castle is open to visitors and offers guided tours for groups.

Castle Stolpe
At the castle 9
17406 trip on Usedom

 

• Flying visit in Świnoujście, Poland

Since the island of Usedom consists of a German and a Polish part, we use this and make a detour to Swinoujscie in Poland. As the name suggests, this city was also German until World War II. However, after the war it fell to Poland due to the loss of the eastern regions. Traveling to Usedom with a detour to Poland was one of the reasons we took this trip. We have never been to Poland and take the opportunity to get an impression on our flying visit.

Swinoujscie is a port city. Ferries to Sweden and the Baltic Sea area leave from here. So you can drive from Swinoujscie to Trelleborg or to Wallanders Ystad in Sweden. The ferries dock in the Swina. This is the river that flows through Swinoujscie. Besides the beach in Swinoujscie, the lighthouse at the end of the breakwater in front of the city is also worth seeing. The Zdrojowy Park is ideal for walks.

The Swinoujscie promenade

The Swinoujscie Promenade, along which one apartment house is lined up, is worth a visit. This is the most modern part of the city. This is where the city's hotels are located, including the new one Five-star hotel Radisson Blu Resort Swinoujscie *. We noticed the price differences between the restaurants on the German and Polish side. Dishes for which you pay between 10 and 20 euros in Germany cost between 6 and 8 euros in the restaurants on the Świnoujście promenade. They advertise their dishes as large portions. We weren't able to test how they taste during our flying visit. The restaurants and pubs along the promenade of Swinoujscie are definitely popular. Despite the rain clouds, there was hustle and bustle along the promenade.

 

 

From Swinoujscie promenade it is only four kilometers to the border. Before we go back to our hotel in Heringsdorf, we make a detour to the Ahlbeck pier. Ahlbeck is one of the imperial baths on Usedom. This is the name given to the seaside resorts that attracted the nobility of Berlin, writers and actors at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century. Kaiser Wilhelm II was also a frequent guest in these places. This is how they got their name. Since 2005 the three imperial baths Bansin, Heringsdorf and Ahlbeck have merged to form the municipality of Dreikaiserbäder and belong to Heringsdorf.

 

 

The promenade stretches from Bansin via Heringsdorf and Ahlbeck to Swinemünde. With a length of twelve kilometers, it is also the longest beach promenade in Europe. The beach is also impressive. It extends from here to Peenemünde and thus also offers places for those who are looking for peace away from the hustle and bustle.

 

 

Back in our hotel, the Beach villas in Heringsdorf *, at the end of our tour through Usedom there is a dinner with home-style cooking from Pomerania. While Petar is eating a pikeperch fillet with mashed potatoes and vegetables, I choose smoked pork on bacon beans with fried potatoes. The restaurant of the beach villas is listed in the Schlemmeratlas of the island of Usedom. Rightly so, as we think.

If you want to travel to Usedom, make a note of these dates for 2023

• Usedom Music Festival – Podium of the Baltic Sea – Latvia
  • 16. September to 07. October 2023

You can find the program and concert tickets on the Website of the Usedom Music Festival. Are you traveling to music festivals or cities where music plays a role?

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Travel Arrangements:

Arrival Date

Arrival by plane, bus or train*. Arrival is possible by plane (airport in Heringsdorf), train, long-distance bus and car. There are bridges connecting the island to the mainland. They have opening times for shipping.

Car Rentals:

Cheap rental cars - book here! *

Camper Rentals:

Compare motorhome prices here. Or would you rather travel with us Rooftent or Zelt?

Accommodation:

Book yours here Accommodation on the island of Usedom *

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Slow Travel Travel Tips is also available at this link.

Source Usedom Island Sights Imperial Baths On-site research for "Travelling to Usedom" by Usedom Tourismus. However, our opinion in “Travelling to Usedom” remains our own.

Text: © Copyright Monika Fuchs and TravelWorldOnline
Photos: © Copyright Monika Fuchs and TravelWorldOnline

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