When sea bathing became fashionable

In 1793, Heiligendamm was founded as the first German seaside resort. A little later, the first bathing resorts also appear on the North Sea. Bathing quickly becomes a social event.

by Stefanie Grossmann

As early as 1793, the writer Georg Christoph Lichtenberg asked in the Göttinger Taschen Calender:"Why does Germany not yet have a public seaside resort?" Doctors like the Travemünde doctor Johann Georg Walbaum were already convinced back then that seaside baths have a positive effect on health. In England, princes have been diving into the sea since 1751 on the advice of their court physicians.

Bathing in the sea as a pleasure for the nobility

This is like a sensation, because until then people had only known the bathing joys of the Romans and Greeks in baths specially built for this purpose. The sea was considered uncanny and uncultivated, not suitable for physical edification. But the doctors' recommendations gradually caught on, and while they recommended sea baths primarily as a fountain of health for industrial workers, the nobility met for social occasions in the newly created sea baths. Because only the upper class can afford these summer trips.

Doberan - first German seaside resort

However, the establishment of a seaside resort cannot be accomplished without the approval of the authorities and without patrons and financiers. So it was the nobility who founded the first seaside resort in northern Germany. In Doberan - on the Heiligen Damm - in the summer of 1793, Friedrich Franz I, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, took the advice of his personal physician, Professor Samuel Gottlieb Vogel, and his entourage into the water. What started a little later with a tent and a carriage shed became, in a few years, a summertime meeting place for aristocratic celebrities from home and abroad. She leaves her money in the casino and on the racetrack of the young seaside resort and gives the sovereign a large profit.

What works so well on the Mecklenburg Baltic Sea is also what others want:More and more coastal towns on the North and Baltic Seas are planning seaside resorts. In 1797 the second seaside resort was built on the East Frisian island of Norderney, followed in 1802 by Travemünde in the Bay of Lübeck and in 1816 by Cuxhaven.

Wyk auf Föhr promises "pure health"

The first North Frisian seaside resort was established in Wyk auf Föhr in 1819. The foundation is also due to economic hardship, because the profitable whaling times are over and the Napoleonic sea trade blockade has also damaged the island.

From 1842 onwards, Wyk's most glorious era began with the "royal season", when Denmark's King Christian VIII came to the island with his court every year. In his wake, everyone who wants to belong flocks by ship. A residence with a royal house and garden is being built in Wyk.

With the "eel box" or bathing machine into the sea

At first, the guests bathe from small bathing boats or sloops that are anchored in the shallow water. The swimmers are placed in a cage in the hull of the ship, the so-called eel box, and submerged. The downside:These cages are not good in stormy weather, bathers often get seasick in them and overly corpulent people do not fit in. The alternative are bathing carts, which also exist in Germany from 1797. One of the most famous bathers on Föhr, the Danish poet Hans-Christian Andersen, wrote in 1844:"I had bathed all day. It is pleasantly arranged, you enter a small bathing house, and while you undress, a servant rides a horse , which draws the whole house far into the sea."

In order not to jeopardize customs and morals, men and women always bathe separately. Umbrellas or wooden fences provide additional privacy, because most guests bathe naked on the advice of the doctors.

Difficult journey by carriage, train and boat

The travel routes to the sea resorts are full of obstacles. Travelers from Hamburg to Föhr need three days. First you go by carriage or train to Niebüll, then by marsh train to Dagebüll and then on by ship. These ships are initially simple barges or open sailing boats. Many travelers feel nauseous on the crossing.

The arrival is also often difficult:"The disembarkation on swaying planks in front of Heligoland gave everyone the rest. The fact that the women in particular were piggybacked by the strong Heligolanders and carried off board on strong arms was mostly only a pleasure for the spectators," writes Jutta Kürtz in her "Brief cultural history of summer resorts".

From 1829 there is a seaside resort service between Hamburg and Helgoland. Summer visitors to Föhr continue from there by steamboat. It was not until the middle of the 19th century in 1847 that a paddle steamer operated between Husum and Wyk auf Föhr. Many islands are car-free until the 1930s.

Bathing customs relaxed around the turn of the century

Until the end of the 19th century, strict moral standards prevailed in the bathing resorts. But around the turn of the century, the municipalities are increasingly committed to the establishment of family bathrooms. In 1902 the first was built on Norderney. The prerequisite for this:the right swimwear such as opaque suits with trousers - for women also with peplum. Now families can finally play and swim together on the beach.

From 1900:Citizens also go to the summer resort

With advancing industrialization, more and more citizens are looking for relaxation in the seaside resorts - often only for a weekend, as many do not yet have the right to vacation. But summer vacations are no longer the exclusive preserve of the rich. At the beginning of the 20th century, transport connections improved greatly. Above all, the baths on the Baltic Sea are easy to reach and popular. The competing seaside resorts on the North Sea are reacting to the change with a wide range of offers. Summer visitors to the North Frisian Islands can choose between the sophisticated Westerland on Sylt, the well-to-do Wyk on Föhr and the down-to-earth Norddorf on Amrum.