Heringsdorf likes to call itself an imperial seaside resort. In this special case of naming, imperial does not primarily refer to Gemany´s last emperor, who was rather a strange person, but to architecture, for the majority of the beautiful houses at this place were built during the times of imperial rule. Many of these luxurious and splendigly decorated buildings dating from the late 19th and early 20th, which today still serve as hotels, pensions and country houses of the upper crust, have been preserved and listed. Some people even say that German seaside architecture culminated at Heringsdorf.

Many of the just mentioned buildings at Heringsdorf are adorned with columms and have been added short projecting wing pavilions, but you do not need to have a closer look at all these fine houses to notice that their structure and architecture differ considerably from each other in a lot of cases. There are some buildings which look rather like a castle or a palace. Other ones are very similar to Swiss farmhouses. A few houses could be considered to be villas designed by Palladio. Some of them are decorated in a solemn and dignified style, whereas other ones have a cheerful façade.
This is not pure accident: According to contemporary tastes and principles of architecture in the second half of the 19th century and in the early 20th century it was the latest fashion to build ancient looking houses. This is an architectural style which in general we call historicism, but in particular neo-Romanesque, neo-Gothic, neo-Renaissance, neo-baroque and neo-Classicism style. Architects and house owners could choose from at least 5 styles. Apart from that, seaside architecture at Heringsdorf was also influenced by art noveau and, last but not least, by sometimes very personal inclinations of some house owners. To cut a very long story short: The money of the upper crust and a large variety of building styles at its disposal has created an astonishing and amazing architectural landscape at Heringsdorf. And we have also learnt that seaside architecture is a mixture of many styles of building.

Today some modern buildings and architecture have also been added to Heringsdorf´s historic townscape, among which two tower blocks dating from the late seventies of the 20th century and the promenade pier are the most striking ones. Inaugurated in 1995 it replaces the ancient  Emperor William Pier which was built in 1893 and burnt down about ten years after the end of the Second Word War. Like its predecessor, it is not only the longest promenade pier of the island of Usedom, but also of all German seaside resorts.

In fact, this superlative piece of modern architecture made of metal, glass and wood measures more than 500 metres in length and is supported by sand-filled steel pillars which have been driven 6 metres into the ground. At the end of the partially covered pier there is both a restaurant and a landing stage which is an ideal starting point for boat trips to the other holiday resorts on the island of Usedom and to places in Poland. The large entrance building of the promenade pier offers shops, restaurants, holiday apartments, a cinema and further leisure and entainment facilities.