2023, ep. 3: SD1 Minisport - The Baltic Coast, A History of War and Art

It's sunday, 9th of July. Early in the morning Wismar Airfield is bustling with pilots breaking camp. The Czech have a long way home ahead, they are the first group to start their engines. However, as I have time to spare, I will explore a few kilometers east along the Baltic Sea coast, pointing out some landmarks of historical importance. Wismar itself is an old hanseatic city worth a visit even thou it suffered greatly during world war 2. Once a knightly manor, the Wustrow peninsula was devastated by the abuse of Nazi military followed by Russian occupation. Even after the fall of the iron curtain it was left in a ruined state over a dispute about the mode of future development. The Hanseatic city of Rostock, a military industrial hub in Nazi Germany, was bombed into oblivion by the allied forces with bombers relentlessly flying over the city from 1940 to 1945. The amount of bombs raining down was second only to Dresden. On e cannot miss out on Rügen island. Its beauty made it the one place to be for nobility and the rich in the 18th and 19th century. It's chalk coast became immortalized by Caspar David Friedrich, one of the most important artists of the era of romanticism. Of course you can always rely on some Nazi atrocity to spoil the cake, and the Rügen island is no exception: The colossus of Prora was intended to become a tourist center for the good german workers family, housing 20.000 guests at an time. The advent of World War 2 put a full stop to the project and it was never finalized. Beyond Rügen there is Peenemünde on the eastern horizon, the infamous research center where Werner von Braun built his first rockets. Hours later the gang meets up in Pritzwalk to spend a festive evening with Trude. 00:03 Title 00:17 breaking camp 00:43 czech fleet preparing for take off 01:35 czech air show 02:23 TDC prepares for take off 03:17 Wismar 03:42 Wustrow 04:39 Rostock 05:37 Fischland 05:51 Rügen 07:54 Rügen, Prora 08:53 Peenemünde 09:50 Mecklenburgische Seenplatte 10:43 Pritzwalk 12:42 arrival of the gang in Pritzwalk