Darßer Ort Natureum

The Darßer Ort Natureum stands on the northern tip of the Darß peninsula in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, where the Baltic Sea meets the bodden waters. It sits five kilometres northwest of Prerow and eight kilometres north of Born, inside the Western Pomerania Lagoon Area National Park. The only ways to reach it are on foot, by bicycle, by horse-drawn carriage or by bus. The building itself is a satellite of the German Oceanographic Museum in Stralsund, opened in 1991 to show the peninsula’s natural world. Inside, stuffed seals, porpoises, eider ducks and lumpfish share space with a Baltic Sea aquarium full of local fish and invertebrates. Six permanent exhibitions explore the Darß’s changing landscapes, its coastal wildlife, the shifting sands, the history of its lighthouse and an open-air site. The 150-year-old Darßer Ort Lighthouse rises 35 metres above the ground, offering wide views across the bodden landscape. Visitors find a mix of displays, paths and a tower climb. The natural region exhibition explains the peninsula’s geology and ecology. The landscape-in-motion section shows how wind and water reshape the coast. The lighthouse history room recalls the keepers who once guided ships through these waters. Outside, the open-air site adds further insights into the area’s heritage. From the top of the lighthouse the whole bodden stretches away, linking land and sea in a single view.