Properties with weighty pasts are kind of like bedtime stories here on Curbed; we just can't get enough of—oh, holy moly, scratch that. This particular story is the stuff of nightmares: a bunch of blocks in one of Adolf Hitler's so-called Seaside Resorts for the Common Man on the German island of Ruegen are going to be turned into luxury apartments. Hitler conceived the 2.5-mile-long complex as one of five vacation super-resorts designed to accommodate thousands and thousands of Nazi factory workers at a time and offer leisurely diversions such as "Nazi-approved exercises, courses and talks." Sounds just like Club Med, doesn't it?
Anyway, the Reugen buildings broke ground in 1936 and cost the equivalent of $1.239B in today's currency, an absurd sum we can thank on Hitler's megalomaniacal desire to create a name for himself in this realm (of real estate development, apparently). War broke out three years later and no one ever set a foot inside—the buildings are now vacant and vandalized, except for one small museum and a youth hostel. We can't wait to see how the complex is revamped and, of course, who the lucky buyers are. Kind of gives new meaning to the "Hitler house," no?
· Mein summer camp: How Hitler wanted Nazis to become world's largest tour operator with Butlins-style holiday resorts [Daily Mail]
· Meet the House That Bears a Striking Resemblance to Hitler [Curbed National]
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