britt hatzius
a photographic journey from london to hamburg to prora.allinclusive aug. 2003 :
links to project: [prora.allinclusive] organized by the [Institut fuer Raumfragen] based at HfbK Hamburg.
"People must instantly be astonished by the stunning surroundings [....] and we shall equip the resort with a theatre, cinema, cabaret, music, dance hall...” 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.
The complex was to be build following the plans of Clemens Klotz, except the festival hall for which Erich zu Putlitz’ design was chosen.
After the beginning of World War II 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. Thus Prora was never used as the giant beach resort it had been planned to become.
The use of the area by the former DDR military was a disaster for the local population as well as for the ecological environment. When the soldiers left in 1991 the public for the first time gained access to the until then restricted area of Prora.
But the question of how to find an adequate way of using it in the future so far remains unanswered.
further links:
Rainer Wilkens „Gebaute Utopien der Macht“ Dokumentationszentrum Prora
www.luce.de/mobility/index.htm similar.project.in.berlin.'02: Dostoprimetschatjelnosti anschlaege.de