Heiligendamm

Heiligendamm
Urban district of Bad Doberan
Seebrücke (pier) towards Heiligendamm spa
Heiligendamm
Coordinates: 54°09′00″N 11°50′00″E / 54.15000°N 11.83333°E / 54.15000; 11.83333Coordinates: 54°09′00″N 11°50′00″E / 54.15000°N 11.83333°E / 54.15000; 11.83333
Country	Germany
State	Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
District
Municipality	Bad Doberan
Population (2007)
• Total	3,000
Time zone	CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes	18209
Dialling codes	038203
Vehicle registration	LRO
Website	Official website

Heiligendamm (German pronunciation: [ˈhaɪlɪɡəndam]) is a German seaside resort, founded in 1793.

It is the oldest seaside spa in continental Europe. Heiligendamm is part of the town Bad Doberan in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and historically belongs to Mecklenburg.

The cluster of resort architecture mansions and spa buildings at the seafront are reminders of the glory days when this part of the Baltic Sea was one of the playgrounds of Europe's aristocracy. Due to the classicist white buildings lining the beach promenade, the town is also known as the "White Pearl" (German: Weiße Perle) or the "White Town by the Sea" (German: Die weiße Stadt am Meer).

Today, the area by the sea is occupied by a five-star hotel, the Grand Hotel Heiligendamm. A narrow-gauge steam railway, known as the "Molli", links Heiligendamm with Kühlungsborn and Bad Doberan.

Heiligendamm was developed as an elegant meeting place for the nobility and high society. Among its most prominent guests were the German Emperors.

Its founder and first guest in 1793 was the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg Friedrich Franz I; he made the resort fashionable. Between 1793 and 1870, Johann Christoph, Heinrich von Seydwitz, Carl Theodor Severin, and Gustav Adolph Demmler created a veritable Gesamtkunstwerk for bathing and lodging. Heiligendamm was always regarded as the most elegant seaside resort in Germany. Nobility from throughout Europe used it as a summer getaway well into the 20th century.