Aerial view of a long pier over green-blue water; people walking on it, a pavilion at the right end.

Upper water!

Piers connect land and sea and are the beloved landmarks of Schleswig-Holstein’s seaside resorts, but they also can stir with their unusual architecture

It’s like a magnetic pull. We are drawn out onto the piers with all our might. We run into the sea. Running across the water. The wind tugs at our hair, the cries of the seagulls suddenly sound much more intense in our ears, and as we walk towards the horizon, the liberating feeling of boundlessness, we can look everywhere. Into the water. Into the sky. Into the distance. Into the eyes of our loved one. We can also look at the land we just left behind us, almost as if we were on a ship.

Sea bridges give us completely new perspectives

We have solid ground under our feet, wooden planks mostly. And they rest on solid pillars anchored in the seabed. Perhaps this is precisely the fascination of our Schleswig-Holstein sea bridges, that connect land and water – and the feeling of stability and freedom. They blur the boundaries between the elements and give us new perspectives. There are 14 such promenade piers on the Baltic Sea in Schleswig-Holstein. They are located between Travemünde in the south and Glücksburg in the north and are an invitation to a very special voyage of discovery along the coast of the true north.

Aerial view of a curved footbridge over green water; pedestrians on the way, pillars visible in the water. — Pier Timmendorfer Strand: the wood and metal construction swings over the water like a lasso made of sailing rope

Aerial view of a wooden pavilion on a jetty on the beach at Flunder Hohwacht, jutting out into the green-blue water, deckchairs on the sand. — Hohwacht pier: “Flounder” is the name of the pier, whose shape is reminiscent of a flatfish

Aerial view of a long wooden pier in Niendorf over green water; circular end area, loungers, sunshades, people. — Niendorf lake bridge: The “fish head” is equipped with plenty of loungers and benches

Metallic circular pier over the sea with wooden walkway, sun behind the structure, clear winter sky. — Kellenhusen pier: the bold construction made of steel, concrete and wood is 305 meters long. A shining eye-catcher!

Piers are so beloved by visitors and locals alike that you could be forgiven for thinking that they were invented precisely for the pleasure of strollers and walkers. However, the buildings were originally created for much more pragmatic reasons. On the Baltic coast, the water tends to be shallow. This meant that large ships could not dock in the seaside resorts. Long piers were therefore built into the sea so that steamboats could dock there, from which bathers could then go directly ashore.

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The Haffkrug bridge zigzags across the sea

That was the case at the end of the 19th century. And today? Schleswig-Holstein’s piers are often bustling hubs for adventure, with children’s playgrounds, sports facilities, yoga platforms and lounges. You can even get married on the Heiligenhafen pier! These buildings are architectural eye-catchers. The Niendorf pier is in the shape of a fish head, for example, or the futuristically designed Kellenhusen pier with adventure islands and hammocks. Not to mention the new Maritim pier in Timmendorfer Strand, which will be inaugurated in September 2024. Not only is it an incredible 427 meters long, it also lies in the water as casually as if a lasso made of sailing rope had been thrown into it. A more jagged take on the modern pier has been jutting out into the water in Haffkrug since 2024; its combination of geometric shapes provides a beautiful contrast to the gentle Baltic Sea waves.
70 craftsmen spent a year and a half working on the bridge with its weather shelter, sports boat jetty and sun deck. And in Scharbeutz? At 276 meters, the new pier there will lead narrowly and delicately across the water to a large bridgehead with plenty of space for water sports from diving to sailing, slated to be inaugurated in 2025.

More about our piers

You can find a list of all Baltic Sea piers in Schleswig-Holstein here.

Find out more