Zinnowitz

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Zinnowitz is a Baltic Sea spa town in Mecklenburg-West Pomerania on the island of Usedom. It has 3,600 inhabitants. It is first mentioned, named as Tzys, in 1309 in a deed of donation by the duke Boguslaw IV to the Crumminer monastery. When the monastery was dissolved in 1563, Tzys reverted to the possession of the duke. At the end of the Thirty Years' War, in 1648, Usedom, with Pomerania, fell to Sweden, which changed its name to the old Wendish form of Tzys, spelt as Zitz. In the middle of the 18th century Zitz fell into Prussian hands. In 1751 in the course of the reorganization of the royal domain, Zinnowitz was renamed. When the Prussian state fell into financial need because of the Seven Years' War, it sold Zinnowitz to a businessnessman, the Kommerzienrat F. W. Krause, who sold it to 32 groups of colonists. The next big step for Zinnowitz was on 16 June 1851: Zinnowitz was allowed an official spa enterprise. Zinnowitz has a pier. It has a rail connection to Wolgast and Ahlbeck. In GDR times Zinnowitz (GDR postal zip code: 2238) was the most important bathing resort for Freier Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund tourism. It may be that here was the former town of Vineta which is mentioned in old records.

In the forest between Zinnowitz and Zempin there are still some remnants of the launching pads for testing the V1 missile. They were used between 1943 and 1945: see also Peenemünde.