Fischland-Darss-Zingst

The Barth Marienkirche, a massive brick-built Gothic church, first appears in the records in 1314; the interior was restored by F. A. Stüler in 1856. The tower has been a well known seamark for centuries. The church has an important collection of material on church history, including one of the last copies of the Low German Bibles printed in Barth (1588).

The little town of Barth, on the Barther Bodden, is the gateway to the seaside resorts on the Darss and Zingst peninsula.

Of Barth's former circuit of walls with four gate-towers there remains only the Dammtor (14th C.), a brick-built structure with small dormer windows in the roof. The Fangelturm (16th C.) was used for a time as a prison; it now houses an astronomical station run by the local secondary school.

In the Barth Markt can be seen a fountain with three bronze fishes, the town's coat of arms.

The former Barth Stift is a house of retreat for women of noble birth founded by King Frederick I of Sweden in 1733. This charming Baroque house, built on the site of the old ducal castle, is now divided into flats.

A few kilometers west of Zingst, on the Prerowstrom, is the seaside resort of Prerow, with the Darss Heimatmuseum, an old seamen's church (1726) and numbers of old seamen's houses with elaborately carved doors.

Zingst, 13km/8mi north of Barth on the other side of the Meiningenstrom, has a beautiful bathing beach and a towerless village church (by F. A. Stüler, 1862).