The forest as a diverse habitat is more important than ever. It is important to know and understand them in order to preserve the old UNESCO beech forests. Dr. Stodian, head of the Jasmund National Park department, explains the different layers of the forest on the chalk cliffs on Rügen in Germany's smallest national park.
Because the Stubnitz is a national park, humans are not allowed to intervene. Stodian shows an uprooted giant tree. Behind it, a fox snorts through the grass. Frogs are croaking. Stodian knows exactly how important deadwood is for the forest: fungi decompose it, then moss and grass grow on it, and beetles take up residence. Deadwood also develops because the beech trees sometimes do not find enough support on the drier trees. The good thing about this is that it creates space for new forest communities to develop.
Beeches have been growing on Jasmund for 800 years. Beech forests were once the European primeval forest. But today they are rare. With over 650,000 trees, Jasmund has the largest contiguous beech forest in the entire Baltic Sea region. But the other protected areas in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania - the Ivenack oaks, the Dar Forest and the primeval forest on the Peene River - are also magnificent cathedrals of nature.
The Müritz National Park: famous for its sea-eagles, ospreys and thousands of rabbits that rest here in the autumn and spring.
With its five exhibitions and 46 aquariums, the OZEANEUM Stralsund invites you on an extraordinary underwater journey beneath the northern seas. Visit Humboldt penguins on the roof terrace, "Niki" the female sand tiger shark in the 2.6-million-litre pool "Open Atlantic" and the giants of the sea - real life replicas of whales.
Das kleine Gutsdorf Schwarzenhof verfügt über eine Nationalpark-Information mit einer Fotoausstellung.
Visitor centre of the National Park “Vorpommernsche Boddenlandschaft”
Since 2004, the former forester’s and guest house of the “Fürsten zu Putbus“ houses a visitor centre about the UNESCO biosphere reserve “Südost-Rügen“.
The visitor information centre in Warin is the ideal starting point in order to inform oneself about the different destinations and experiences the nature park offers. One can learn something about the landscape’s formation and the way the human’s occupation influenced its development. The unique flora and fauna of the nature park greatly fascinate the visitors. Borrow a backpack at the visitor centre and discover the nature park in your own way.
The hiking base near the port town of Sassnitz on the island of Rügen is dedicated to the UNESCO World Natural Heritage idea. Nature lovers can learn about the phenomenon of ancient beech forests here or simply linger in the greenery, fortify themselves and unwind.
The visitor information centre called “Kratzeburger Flatterhus“ houses an exhibition about the mysterious hunters of the night: the bats.
The island of Usedom is one of the areas with the most bird species in Germany. Overall, more than 280 species have been observed, 150 of them also brood here. 11 kinds of raptors regularly brood in the nature park, one of them is the sea-eagle. The visitor centre of the island of Usedom is located next to the information centre of the city of Usedom on the ground floor of the “Klaus-Bahlsen-Haus”. The visitor centre could only be built and furnished with the aid of the great commitment and the generous support of the correspondent foundation.
Life by a river like the Elbe has many advantages that people have used for centuries. At the same time, they had to protect themselves from the dangers of flooding and built dikes and dams. The open-air exhibition “EinFlussReich”, located in the immediate vicinity of the famous Elwkieker observation tower, provides children and adults with information on the subject of flooding in a playful way.
The visitor centre of the national park is located close to a small timbered church in the building of the former village school and houses a photograph exhibition with the topic ”Vögel und Co. am Zotzensee”.
The little village Waase, located on the isle of Ummanz, combines the scenic indentation and the island and timbered idyll. The visitor information and a small national park exhibition are combined under the thatched roof of the ”Alte Küsterei”. The colourful diversity of the isle of Ummanz and the national park represent the main focus of the small exhibition that has been renewed in 2018.
Welcome to the PAHLHUUS, the visitor centre of the UNESCO biosphere reserve „Schaalsee“. We are happy to inform you about touristic offers and show you the most beautiful places in the biosphere reserve. Extraordinary insights into nature and landscape of the region await you in an interactive exhibition.
"Change" is the title of the exhibition in the Visitor Information Center of the National Park of Vorpommersche Boddenlandschaft, and hardly anything could be more appropriate for the island of Hiddensee, which is constantly growing and changing through the forces of nature.
The MEERESMUSEUM in Stralsund's old town is currently closed. The museum is expected to open in 2024 after extensive modernization work.
