Blockedition: German national and nature parks - Western Pomerania lagoon landscape - Germany / Federal Republic of Germany 1996

The Vorpommersche Boddenlandschaft National Park represents on the Baltic coast of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania in the area of ​​the Darß-Zingst peninsula, the island of Hiddensee and the west coast of the island of Rügen one of the few largely natural landscapes of Central Europe. The national park covers 118 km2 of land and 687 km2 of Baltic Sea and Bodden waters and is the largest in the new federal states with a total area of ​​805 square kilometers. The landscape is characterized by the ever-changing coastline with active cliffs, spits, dunes, beach lakes and large shallow water areas as well as bays separated from the Baltic Sea - so-called Bodden. The vast shallow water areas between the eastern end of the Zingst peninsula and the southern tip of Hiddensee Island are the most important resting area for coastal bird migration in the south-western Baltic Sea region and at the same time the largest crane resting place in the northern part of Europe. Up to 30,000 cranes gather during the autumn migration on the sleeping waters off Ost-Zingst and the west coast of Rügen and offer an impressive natural spectacle. Visitors to the area will find numerous observation posts, information boards, cycling and hiking trails for recreation and nature watching.