Groote Beek

The Usedom Island Nature Park (German: Naturpark Insel Usedom) comprises the German part of the island of Usedom in the district of Vorpommern-Greifswald in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. In addition to the island itself, the park covers the waterbody between the island and the mainland as well as small strips of mainland in the northwest and west near the seaside resorts of Lubmin and the town of Lassan. Even in East German days several parts of Usedom had been declared nature reserves, and they were gradually expanded. It was designated a protected area in 1966 and, in 1993, expanded to the area of the present-day nature park.In December 1999 the entire region was officially designated a nature park in the sense of being a large-scale cultural landscape. An information centre, the Ruth and Klaus Bahlsen House, with exhibition rooms, maps and leaflets, is located in the historic station building on the Bäderstraße from Usedom. The building was promoted as part of an INTERREG project and completed in 2005.The park is bounded by the Baltic Sea on the Bay of Greifswald (Greifswalder Bodden), the Peenestrom river, the Achterwasser lagoon and the Oder Lagoon (Stettiner Haff). The total area of the park is 632 square kilometres (244 sq mi). Roughly 30% of this area is covered by forest, about 50% by lakes and the bay, 15% is moorland and the remaining area is a cultural landscape. A special feature of the nature park is the great diversity of landscapes within a small area. These include beach and littoral, lakes and marshes, dunes, pine and beech forests mixed with small villages and fields. The island of Usedom is one of the richest bird areas in Germany. Osprey, white stork, crane and heron all breed in the nature reserve. The eutrophic and shallow lakes, such as the Gothensee and Schmollensee are ideal for bird roosting and nesting sites. The park is easily accessed on the B110 from Anklam or the B 111 from Wolgast or by rail on the Usedomer Bäderbahn. At the edge of the park is the municipality of Heringsdorf with its villages of Ahlbeck, Heringsdorf and Bansin.

Pudagla is a municipality in the Vorpommern-Greifswald district, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany.

Ückeritz is a municipality in the Vorpommern-Greifswald district, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. A small coastal bathing resort, Ückeritz lies on the island of Usedom on the Baltic Sea. It is located within the Usedom Nature Park and is one of four spas called Amber Spas on the island, connected by a 12 km long fine sandy beach called Amber Beach. The other three amber spas are Loddin, Koserow and Zempin. As of 2015, Ückeritz had a population of 1,007. The place can be reached by federal highway B111 and has a station on the Usedom island railway.

The uninhabited little island of Balmer Werder lies in the Baltic Sea, in the Balmer See, the southeastern part of the Achterwasser lagoon, between Usedom and the mainland off the village of Balm. Balm belongs to the municipality of Benz in the county of Vorpommern-Greifswald in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.The island is 6.3 hectares (16 acres) in area, 500 metres (1,600 ft) long from north to south and 200 metres (660 ft) wide at its widest point. Its maximum height above sea level (NN) is 5.9 metres (19 ft). The Balmer Werder, along with the smaller island of Böhmke, lies within a nature reserve, established in 1967, in Usedom Island Nature Park.

The Balmer See is the southeastern embayment of the Achterwasser on the island of Usedom off Germany's Baltic coast. The northwestern tongue of land, Cosim, together with the two small islets of Böhmke and Werder are designated as a nature reserve and bird sanctuary. To the south is the only golf course on the island - with 27 holes and 120 hectares in area. To the east are the two small villages of Balm (ca. 150 inhabitants) and Neppermin (350 inhabitants); the bay between Neppermin and the Schwedenschanze to the north is called Nepperminer See.

Schmollensee is a lake in Usedom, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. At an elevation of 0 m, its surface area is 5.03 km².

Usedom-Süd is an Amt in the district of Vorpommern-Greifswald, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. The seat of the Amt is in the town Usedom. The Amt Usedom-Süd consists of the following municipalities:

Benz is a municipality on the island of Usedom in the Vorpommern-Greifswald district, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. In an area that has been occupied since the Stone Age, the first documentation of the village dates to 1229 and during historical times, possession of it has changed several times, including by Sweden and Prussia. It is a famous spot for visitors, due to its scenic location between hills and lakes, the picturesque windmill, the old church St. Petri, and the graves of notable people, such as the German painter Otto Niemeyer-Holstein. The windmill, an Erdholländermühle, that was in operation until the later half of the twentieth century is open to the public, where they may learn about its historic, architectural, and technological importance. Portions of the church date to the fifteenth century. A series of drawings and paintings by Lyonel Feininger bears the name of Benz. He created many drawings and paintings of sites in Benz. A tour of the town takes visitors to many of the sites that appear in his works.[1] The path of the tour is marked with plaques in the ground, enabling self-guided tours. Feininger continued to use the site as the subject for works of art until his death, despite his return to living in the United States.[2][3]

The North European Plain (German: Norddeutsches Tiefland – North German Plain; Mitteleuropäische Tiefebene; Polish: Nizina Środkowoeuropejska – Central European Plain; Danish: Nordeuropæiske Lavland and Dutch: Noord-Europese Laagvlakte ; French : Plaine d'Europe du Nord) is a geomorphological region in Europe that covers all or parts of Belgium, the Netherlands (i.e. the Low Countries), Germany, Denmark, and Poland. It consists of the low plains between the Hercynian Europe (Central European Highlands) to the south and coastlines of the North Sea and the Baltic Sea to the north. These two seas are separated by the Jutland Peninsula (Denmark). The North European Plain is connected to the East European Plain, together forming the majority of the Great European Plain (European Plain).

Usedom (German: Usedom [ˈuːzədɔm], Polish: Uznam [ˈuznam]) is a Baltic Sea island in Pomerania, divided between Germany and Poland. It is the second largest Pomeranian island after Rügen, and the most populous island in the Baltic Sea. It lies north of the Szczecin Lagoon estuary of the Oder river. About 80% of the island belongs to the German district of Vorpommern-Greifswald in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The eastern part and the largest city on the island, Świnoujście, are part of the Polish West Pomeranian Voivodeship. The island's total area is 445 square kilometres (172 square miles) – 373 square kilometres (144 square miles) in the German part and 72 square kilometres (28 square miles) in the Polish part. Its population is 76,500 (German part 31,500; Polish part 45,000). With an annual average of 1,906 hours of sunshine, Usedom is the sunniest region of both Germany and Poland, and it is also one of the sunniest islands in the Baltic Sea, hence its nickname "Sun Island" (German: Sonneninsel, Polish: Wyspa Słońca). The island has been a tourist destination since the Gründerzeit in the 19th century, and features resort architecture. Seaside resorts include Zinnowitz and the Amber Spas in the west, the Kaiserbad and Świnoujście in the east.