Sommer, Sonne, Zonengrenze: Travemünde 1926–2026

Travemünde has a reputation as a fashionable seaside resort: the seafront, the Kaiserallee, the spa centre, and of course the casino – not to mention the harbour, with its recreational boats and the big ships that once moored at the quays or cruised up the Trave river towards Lübeck. All this offered great recreational value, and was of vital importance to Lübeck’s economy. Yet Travemünde was also a wartime port that had a submarine base and an airfield, from which seaplanes flew as far as Oslo. After World War II, Lübeck suddenly found itself a "city on the edge of the zone", meaning East Germany. The Trave had become a border river as far as Schlutup. The Iron Curtain stretched along the east coast of the Bay of Lübeck as far as Travemünde, dividing Germany into two parts. For 40 years, bathers were observed by GDR border guards while tossing blow-up balls around or dozing on their air mattresses – though they were always careful not to swim past the border markers, as this could have disastrous consequences. Historical film footage and stills evoke memories of Lübeck’s popular seaside resort.