It's hard to imagine how Nazis spent their free time when they needed a break from committing crimes against humanity, but if you were to dream up a Third Reich vacation home, it wouldn't look too different from this creepy building. Bleak institutional architecture (the popular style in 1930s Germany), more appropriate for an insane asylum than a hotel is what stands out about Prora, a vacation complex in Rügen, Germany built for Nazi tourists.
This island resort was built in 1936 as part of Hitler's Kraft durch Freude ("Strength Through Joy") initiative, which was devoted to creating leisure activities for working Germans. Yet the complex never saw its intended use. Construction halted when WWII broke out, and Prora temporarily housed war refugees and became a military training hospital. Today it is home to a youth hostel for tourists with a dark sense of humor looking for a ghostly place to crash.
The whole complex includes restaurants, movie theaters, and swimming pools. Each room in Prora was more like a jail cell than a Four Seasons suite with two beds, a dresser, and a sink. Because there wasn't room for a bath in the 18x16-foot rooms, vacationing Nazis showered in communal bathrooms.
[via Atlas Obscura]
