Brodten steep bank

Fallen trees, steep slopes and fresh Baltic Sea breezes invite to wonderful walks.

From the Eldorado of beach pirates to the retreat of sand martins - the Brodtener steep shore with its partly bizarrely shaped slopes is a beautiful environment for extended walks.

In the Middle Ages, beach pirates were up to mischief, lighting beacons to lure ships onto the offshore sandbanks and plunder them. But these dark times are long gone - in the 19th century, more and more summer guests of the up-and-coming spa resort of Travemünde "discovered" Hermannshöhe with the Sea Temple as an ideal excursion spot.

4 km stretches the furrowed, sometimes towering cliff of the Brodtener Steilufer. The entire landscape is called Brodtener Winkel. It is completely protected.
Over the centuries, the Baltic Sea created the cliff - and even today, the sea and wind "nibble" at the Brodtener Steilufer; the sea takes up to one meter per year and washes it back a few hundred meters away on the beach of Travemünde or Priwall.

Where the sea grabs unhindered, a steep slope called "active cliff" is formed. It is directly exposed to the attacks of the waves and serves as a breeding ground for the rare sand martins; here they nest in caves within the wall.

In the direction of Niendorf, the southern part of the slope becomes a "passive cliff" - erosion has largely ended there, and the former break-off edge has been "reclaimed" by dense vegetation.