The bathing culture of the Baltic Sea region, exemplified by three prominent seaside resorts.
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The first seaside resorts on the Baltic coast were built around 1800. Initially, they were rather comfortless, offering only simple "bathing machines" for changing and cold pools. The bathing facilities were used for healing various illnesses, but also, from the outset, for relaxation and entertainment. The infrastructure of the baths developed rapidly: warm swimming pools were built, and ever-larger jetties were extended out into the sea. Later, with the arrival of the railway, small fishing villages became centers of entertainment, where "the whole world" could gather for leisure.
Over time, a very specific bathing culture developed, which this exhibition presents and explores in detail through the example of three Baltic seaside resorts – , and . The main areas of focus are the landscape and general history of the resorts, their spatial design, visitors, recreational activities and entertainment, as well as the architecture of the baths in the successive periods of the 19th century, the interwar years and the time of National Socialism, socialism/communism, as well as after the collapse of communism. The differences and common features of the three seaside resorts on the southern Baltic coast are presented.
Sopot
deu. Zoppot
Sopot is a city in the north of Poland and is inhabited by 35,000 people. The city is located in the Pomeranian Voivodeship (Polish: Pomorskie) north of Gdańsk (German: Danzig), directly on the Baltic Sea. Sopot is a well-known spa town in Poland and is part of the Trójmiasto (literally 'Tri-City') agglomeration of the cities of Gdańsk, Gdynia and Sopot.
Selenogradsk
deu. Cranz, deu. Cranzkuhren, lit. Krantas, rus. Зеленоградск
Zelenogradsk is a seaside resort in the Russian Kaliningrad Oblast. The former German name is Cranz, also Cranzkuhren. The town is nowadays inhabited by 13,000 people and is located north of Kaliningrad.
Jūrmala
deu. Riga-Strand
Jūrmala is a resort town on the Baltic Sea in Latvia. The city is inhabited by 57,000 people and is located only 10 km from Riga, the capital of Latvia.
Zoppot – Cranz – Riga beach Baltic seaside resorts in the 19th and 20th century: Exhibition poster. Wolfgang Schekanski / Herder-Institut für historische Ostmitteleuropaforschung – Institut der Leibniz-Gemeinschaft, Free access - no reuse
Zoppot – Cranz – Riga beach Baltic seaside resorts in the 19th and 20th century: Exhibition poster. Wolfgang Schekanski / Herder-Institut für historische Ostmitteleuropaforschung – Institut der Leibniz-Gemeinschaft, Free access - no reuse
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