BAUMWIPFELPFAD, NATURERBE ZENTRUM / RUGEN / GERMANY
Throughout the history of humanity, man has searched for ways to develop new perspectives on life on earth. In one of the key scenes in Marcel Proust’s In Search of Lost Time, an airplane appears for the first time in the sky over Normandy, and the narrator imagines, by picturing the earth as seen through the eyes of the pilot, what the world looks like from above. Suddenly, everything changes, as he for the first time can see the world from above, making everyone below small, almost insignificant, which foreshadows the way that many modern ideologies viewed the individual person as disposable in relation to the larger collective. The contemporary reader recognizes the importance of this shift in perspective, as today airplanes are an integrated part of life, and seeing the clouds outside of the window while travelling from one continent to another is something that many have experienced, already as children. Because of modern technology, we are today used to thinking of the world in ways not possible only a few generations ago.
Perspectives matter. Depending on where we are and what we are looking at, the world will appear to us in different ways. This is also why sometimes it is difficult for people to find common grounds when arguing; their perspectives differ and so even though they are discussing the same thing, they are approaching it from different points of view. On Rügen, Germany’s largest island, located in the south part of the Baltic Sea, a tower, 1,250 metres tall, placed in the forest offers an interesting experience on this theme. The visitor to Naturerbe Zentrum enters the tower on the ground level. There are no walls, only a spiral-shaped wooden path that slowly – with a maximum gradient of 6 percent – progresses upwards, towards the treetops.
At first, the experience is no different than walking through the woods, except perhaps a bit more boring as the walk only goes around in a circle. Gradually, the experience changes as the view becomes a different one. Soon, the treetops are not above, but next to the path. A few minutes later, the view is even more breath-taking, as now the treetops are below. The forest is located practically on the beach, and now the sandy dunes are visible, as is the former Nazi compound Prora. Built between 1936 and 1939, it was planned to become the world’s largest vacation resort. It is located by a 4,5 kilometres long beach, and the plan was to offer guests at up to 20,000 at a time the possibility of a holiday by the sea. As World War II broke out, construction ceased, and instead the building was used as an army hospital and by the Red Army. Today, parts of it have been turned into a hotel.
The aim is to educate the visitors on local flora and fauna, allowing for a holistic understanding of nature and man’s role in it. The combination of forest, sand and sea make a beautiful view, but even for those who are not normally afraid of heights, ascending the tower, on a path-walk without walls, can be a slightly eerie experience.
