Impressions from Rugia – The Pier of Sellin

Just some pretty photos today. One of the iconic motives on Rugia – besides the Königsstuhl and Kap Arkona – is the Pier of Sellin.

The pier of Sellin
I went there on a late afternoon and thus got some nice photos with a play of light and shadow. It was October, and the sun was pretty low already; a lovely end to a nice day out (once the morning rains had been blown away).

Closeup of the buildings on the pier
When bathing vacations at the sea became popular, a pier was built in Sellin in 1906. It was 508 metres long and included a restaurant. The original plans were for a bridge of 60 metres length, but it was deemed insufficient considering the increasing number of visitors.

View from the pier to the town
The pier was exposed to the forces of nature, though. It was damaged by pack ice in 1918 and again in 1924. In between, a fire broke out at the bridge head. Therefore a new pier was built in 1925; it included a platform and a concert hall.

View to the outer part of the pier
The winter of 1941/42 was the coldest in Europe in the 20th century; the Baltic Sea completely frozen. Again, the bridge was almost destroyed by ice (nor was it the only one along the coast to suffer that fate), only the house at the bridge head survived. But those were not the times to bother about repairing a collapsed pier.

On the pier
The bridge house was a popular dance hall from the 1950ies to the 1970ies, but repairs were neglected (that was the GDR, after all), so the house and the remains of the pier had to be demolished in 1978. Sellin was without its landmark.

View to the hills at Sellin
It would take until the German Reunification for the pier to be rebuilt – the president Richard von Weizsäcker took an interest in the endeavour. The new bridge would follow a modernised version of the one from 1905; though it is 'only' 394 metres long today (compared to its original 508 metres); still the longest pier on the Rugia island. The official opening of the pier and the restaurant took place in April 1998.

View to the sea
A diving gondola has been installed at the outer end of the pier. It goes down 4 metres into the sea and offers a view of the submarine life.

Another view to the pier of Sellin
The pretty white-coloured buildings on the bridge – the Imperial Pavilion (Kaiserpavillon) and the Palm Tree Garden – are a landmark of Sellin and Rugia today. They look really pretty in the evening sun.