Hiddense
The lighthouse is at the highest point, and from there you can
see the chalk cliffs of Møn in Denmark, and we wonder why we have
never been aware of this jewel so close to home. I suppose the reason is
that this stretch of coast which we have passed through was situated in
the DDR and thus more or less inaccessible to our kind of moving through
the landscape. Perhaps that is also the reason why we have not met any
foreign tourists at all. Before starting on our long walk, we passed the
small church which is the only remnant of the large Cistercian abbey which
owned the island of Hiddensee in the 13th, 14th and 15th centuries. The
church is charmingly decorated in blue, white and gold baroque with a lovely
wooden ceiling painted all over with clusters of flowers. From the ceiling
hangs a wooden painted angel which seems to hover over everything with
a benign expression that promises well for the community. While we were
looking at all this, the organist was at work playing some wonderful Bach,
practising, it turned out, for a concert this evening.