Früher: Warmbad

Former names: Community center with hot baths
Today: Guest house

Architecture: Brick architecture (characteristic of a public building)

Year opened: 1896 or 1897

History/owners until 1945: In 1894/1895, the municipality decided to build its own warm baths due to the limited capacity of the existing warm baths (spa) and increasing numbers of visitors. According to the “Rügenschen Kreis- und Anzeigenblatt” newspaper dated July 12, 1895, the new building was not completed in time for the current season. The opening was in 1896, or 1897 at the latest. The building housed the thermal baths, the municipal administration, the spa management (in the person of the mayor), a reading room, and an apartment (initially for the mayor, later for a police officer). In 1903, there were 17 bathing rooms, supplied with Baltic Sea water by steam (terrazzo tubs, showers for all types of medical baths, bathing rooms with massage couches). In the 1905 guide to the Baltic resort of Binz, published by the spa administration, the following was stated under the heading “Entertainment and Excursions”: … A reading room, newly equipped with every comfort, is located in the warm baths, where the most important domestic and foreign newspapers are available. A music room has been newly furnished, which is also located in the warm baths, and a grand piano from the world-famous Linder piano factory is available for use there. … (usable after payment of the spa tax).

In the mid-1920s, the guidebook “Praktische Winke – Ostseebad Binz auf Rügen” (Practical Tips – Baltic Sea Resort Binz on Rügen) (1926) mentioned an instructive collection of Rügen Stone Age artifacts in the warm baths. This was to become the foundation for a local history museum. (Addendum: Today, the Museum Ostseebad Binz is located in the small railway station building.)

According to the spa management, an inhalatorium was set up in 1928 and a radium bath emanator (a device for releasing radium) was installed.

GDR era: The last Warmbad cells were abolished at the end of the 1960s and the building was used as a community and spa administration center.

After 1990: In 1998, the municipal administration moved to a new building on Jasmunder Straße. A year later, the former warm baths were converted into a visitor center. The opening took place in September 2000.

Current use: Visitor center with tourist information, event rooms, and headquarters of Binzer Bucht Tourismus

Interesting facts/anecdotes: For the seawater baths, water from the Baltic Sea was pumped through a 600-meter-long pipe into an intermediate tank, from where it was fed into the bathtubs via a heating system. This involved several thousand liters of Baltic Sea water per day.

Photos: Binzer Bucht Tourismus, Binzer Bucht Tourismus collection

Text: Klaus Boy, Binzer Bucht