Germany Guide
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania
Bad Doberan
No question that its thirteenth-century Cistercian church is the premier reason to visit BAD DOBERAN. The Münster (May– Sept Mon– Sat 9am–6pm, Sun 11am–6pm; March, April & Oct Mon– Sat 10am–5pm, Sun 11am–5pm; Nov– Feb Mon– Sat 10am–4pm, Sun 11am–4pm; €2; 
www.doberanermuenster.de ), secluded from the centre behind a high wall east, is the crowning achievement of Gothic ecclesiastical architecture in the Baltic. Completed in 1362, in a fusion of Hanseatic and French high-Gothic styles, the abbey church is poised at the brief point where architectural form is stretched to its limits but unencumbered by the fussy embellishment that follows. Nowhere is this clearer than at the effortless crossing, whose two tiers of slender arches are arguably the most graceful feature of the church. Having come through the Reformation without a scratch, the furnishings are as impressive – a leaflet provided on entry pinpoints 22 artworks, including what is claimed as the oldest existing wing altar (1300), crowned by flamboyant Gothic spires, and an audacious tabernacle. Also within the grounds are a curious octagonal ossuary known as the Beinhaus (bonehouse) and a complex of agricultural buildings, one of which contains a café (daily 1–5pm).
The gentle pull of history is ever present in central Bad Doberan. Leafy and light-hearted, it blossomed into a spa resort in the early 1800s under the guidance of the Mecklenburg dukes who spent summers here. Pale Classical edifices from the resort's first flowering line August-Bebel-Strasse; now council offices and a good hotel, they are worth a look for their foyers. Spa-goers took the air in the park opposite, Kamp, when not taking the waters in its two Chinese-style pavilions that add an unexpectedly rakish air. The smaller Roter Pavilion holds a gallery, the Weisser Pavilion a café. By 1886, spa-goers were all aboard the Molli steam engine to add sea bathing to their water cures. The Mecklenburgische Bäderbahn Molli ( www.molli-bahn.de ), to give the splendid narrow-gauge train its full name, huffs approximately hourly through high-street Mollistrasse into Alexandrinenplatz at the thin end of the Kamp's wedge – one for the photo album.
With only two hotels to its name – City-Hotel ( 
038203/747 40, www.cityhotel-doberan.de ; Price: €101-120), a small family hotel at Alexandreninplatz 4 with the Molli outside its windows, and Friedrich-Franz-Palais, August-Bebel-Strasse 2 ( 038203/630 36, www.friedrich-franz-palais.de ; Price: €61–100), in a classic spa building – Bad Doberan may be best treated as a day-trip from Rostock. Alongside a good restaurant at the latter, eating options include the Ratskeller next door at August-Bebel-Strasse 3 and the Weisser Pavilion (daily 10am–6pm), hard to beat for atmosphere whether outside or in a tent-like interior. Café Zikki in Alexandrinen Hof by City-Hotel serves light lunches such as shrimp salads and herring with fresh caraway bread.