Nazi Beach Resort Built By Adolf Hitler Is Now A Luxury Holiday Destination

Part of a three-mile-long Nazi beach resort built by Adolf Hitler in the 1930s on the island of Rügen, Germany, is now a luxury holiday destination.

The Colossus of Prora, which boasts of 10,000 rooms, was built by the Nazi leader as a holiday destination as part of his Strength Through Joy project. After the Second World War started in 1939, Hitler diverted workers and other resources from Prora to support his war efforts.

prora mit turm pic.twitter.com/cdjx3FIFc5

— Scherben_von_Prora (@scherbnvonprora) August 21, 2016

The Nazi resort, which never housed Third Reich workers as Hitler envisioned, was left to rot for many years before it was sold off to private investors over a decade ago. One of eight blocks in the complex has now been opened to holiday-makers by Prora Solitaire.

On edge of #Binz is #Prora: Nazi-era resort, now documentation center, youth hostel, campsite #GermanTownTuesday pic.twitter.com/LKmTL7wgY4

— German Embassy (@GermanyinUSA) July 26, 2016

According to the Telegraph, Prora Solitaire opened one of the four blocks that it owns in the Nazi beach resort this summer. An apartment in the historic resort costs between $356,000 and $735,000, the Daily Mail reported.

The new five-star apartments in the former Nazi resort, which come with glossy interior and glass balconies overlooking the sea, may be far from what Adolf Hitler imagined. The apartment block also boasts of a spa and a restaurant.

Werner Jung, a representative of German real estate company Irisgerd, highlighted the importance of the Nazi beach resort and the potential conflict of interest attached to it, the Telegraph reported.

“On the one hand, there’s an interest in maintaining it as a memorial, and on the other there are the interests of the investors who have put a lot of money into this and want to see something for it,” he explained.

Thanks to tax breaks due to the historical value of the site, the developer said that up to 57 apartments have already been purchased.

According to the Daily Mail, some tenants have even started moving in ahead of the grand opening of the complex in October. Besides the luxury flats, there are plans to create a hotel and homes for senior citizens in the Colossus of Prora.

Prora, which is one of Adolf Hitler’s largest-ever projects, was allegedly built to rival the U.K.’s Butlins. The Nazi beach resort, which was created to host up to 20,000 people, had a cinema, a banquet hall, swimming pools, and a meeting hall. The design of the Prora is credited to Clemens Konz, one of Hitler’s chief architects. The design won an award at the 1937 Paris World Exposition, Bloomberg reported.

Up to 9,000 workers were involved in the construction of the Nazi resort. According to the Daily Mail, Nazi Stormtroopers took part in the building of the edifice. Meanwhile, the Telegraph also reported that up to 600 forced laborers were among the workers who built Prora.

During the World War II, many refugees fled to find shelter at the Nazi beach resort, DW reported. The complex was later taken over by the Red Army, who used it as a military base. Prora was passed into the hands of the East German army after the Soviets evacuated the property. According to the Daily Mail, the Red Army had sought to blow up the Nazi resort but did not have enough explosives for the job. Like their predecessors, the East German army also used Prora as a secret military base.

Despite its storied past, the investors in the former Nazi resort are confident that the history of the place would not affect their business.

“Now the place is so lovely, visitors want to get back to nature and enjoy its beauty,” said Manfred Hartwig, the spokesman of Metropole, one of the investors in Prora.

Currently, only one block in the Nazi beach resort remains on the market, the Telegraph reported. Besides one of the blocks that was destroyed by the Red Army and the one that is currently up for sale, all the others have been sold.

[Photo by Frank Hormann/AP Images]