Geography

Ahrenshoop’s geographical location gives it its special charm and offers a diversified range of landscapes. The Baltic Sea and the Bodden are located only 800 metres apart. This geographical fact continues to shape the town, even today.

At the Baltic Sea, you can experience the soft, fine sandy beaches and the craggy, steep banks. The steep banks rise up to 14 metres from the sea. Wind, rain and the endless surf are constantly shaping and reshaping the landscape. Here, it is evident how nature continues to form the landscape of Fischland, Darß and Zingst by constantly removing sand from one location and depositing it somewhere else. What today is a peninsula chain was once, shortly after the last ice age, composed of several small islands. Over the course of centuries, these islands have merged into the shape they are today. You can see one of the seams along the Grenzweg in Ahrenshoop. To the south of this lies the gently rolling landscape of Fischland, to the north, the flats of Vordarß. The name “Grenzweg” is not a coincidence: Its course separates Swedish Western Pomerania from Prussian Mecklenburg.

On the Bodden side, your view will roam across the expansive reed beds and seemingly endless water surfaces. This lagoon landscape, with its predominantly flat and only slightly salty waters, offers a habitat for many rare types of animals and plants. Even today, the Bodden continues to serve as a transport route to the mainland as well as for catching fish.