Bay of Greifswald

With an area of 514 km², it is the largest Bodden of the German Baltic coast.

The bay is also joined to the Baltic Sea through the Strelasund, a narrow sound separating Rügen from the mainland.

[4] Before German reunification in 1990, the Bay of Greifswald was a public watersports venue, unlike most of East Germany's Baltic coast.

The local geography made it easy to keep watch over the bay, thereby thwarting those who thought to use it to flee the country.

The place outside the Warsaw Pact nearest the bay was the Danish island of Bornholm, more than 100 km away.