Editing Rügen (section)

== Tourist resorts ==
Rügen is one of the most popular holiday destinations in Germany. The island receives about one quarter of all overnight stays in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Most visitors come to Rügen between April and October, the peak season being from June to August, but its quiet atmosphere in winter is also appreciated.

The first bathing facility on Rügen opened in 1794 at the mineral-rich spring in [[Sagard]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Rügen, Hiddensee |first1=Bernhard |last1=Jendricke |first2=Gabriele |last2=Gockel |edition=3 |publisher=DuMont |year=2008 |isbn=978-3-7701-6058-7 |language=de |page=36}}</ref> In 1818, the [[Putbus]] village of [[Lauterbach (Rügen)|Lauterbach]] became Rügen's first seaside resort.<ref name=Kuester300>{{cite book |title=Die Ostsee: eine Natur- und Kulturgeschichte |first=Hansjörg |last=Küster |edition=2 |publisher=C.H.Beck |year=2004 |isbn=3-406-52366-8 |language=de |page=300}}</ref> In the 1860s [[Sassnitz]] became a seaside resort, followed by [[Binz]] in the 1880s.<ref name=Kuester300/> During [[World War II]] [[Prora]] was constructed as a mass tourist resort but it was never finished.<ref name=Kuester300/>
[[File:Sellin Architecture.jpg|thumb|Sellin Architecture]]
Today the most popular seaside resorts are the [[Schaabe]] beaches between [[Altenkirchen, Rügen|Altenkirchen]] and [[Juliusruh]] including Drewoldke, [[Glowe]] and [[Breege]], and the eastern beaches between [[Sassnitz]] and [[Göhren, Rügen|Göhren]] including [[Neu Mukran]], [[Prora]], [[Binz]], [[Sellin]] and [[Baabe]]. The latter are accessible via an historic [[narrow-gauge railway]] employing steam locomotives, called the [[Rügensche Bäderbahn]]. Tourist destinations, other than seaside resorts, include [[Cape Arkona]], the wood-covered [[Stubbenkammer]] hills on [[Jasmund]] with interesting chalk cliff formations, the wood-covered [[Granitz]] hills with their {{lang|de|Jagdschloß}} or [[Granitz hunting lodge|hunting lodge]], the [[Classicism|classicist]] buildings of [[Putbus]] and the inland villages of [[Bergen auf Rügen]], [[Ralswiek]] and [[Gingst]].

The island offers a huge variety of different beach and shore areas. Rügen is often visited by windsurfers and kitesurfers and offers more than fifteen different locations for surfing. The most popular locations are [[Dranske]], [[Rosengarten, Lower Saxony|Rosengarten]], [[Wiek, Rügen|Wiek]], Suhrendorf and [[Neu Mukran]].

On the peninsula of Jasmund is the [[Jasmund National Park]], which consists of the beech forest of [[Stubnitz]], including the chalk cliffs of Rügen. On the [[Königsstuhl (Rügen)|Königsstuhl]] itself is the [[Königsstuhl National Park Centre]], which has a multivision cinema and audio-guide exhibitions with information about the national park in several languages.

{{Wide image|07.07.18.Rügen Kreidefelsen4.jpg|1500px|[[Jasmund National Park]] chalk cliffs}}