It was built by Nazi Germany between 1936 and 1939 as part of the Strength Through Joy (Kraft durch Freude or KdF) project.

The coast offers a long flat sand beach which stretches from Binz to the ferry port.

The Strength Through Joy program was designed to attract the working class – who had during the Weimar Republic been the power base of the Social Democrats and, to a lesser extent, the Communists – to the Nazi Party by offering numerous cultural events and mass tourism at affordable prices.

At the same time, Hitler wanted the complex to have the ability to be converted into a military hospital in case of war.

Hitler insisted that the plans of a giant indoor arena by architect Erich zu Putlitz were to be included.

[6] With the onset of World War II in 1939, building on Prora stopped and the construction workers transferred to the V-Weapons plant at Peenemünde.

[citation needed] In 1945 the Soviet Army took control of the region and established a military base at Prora.

Since the buildings had been stripped to the bare brick in the late 1940s, most of the exterior and interior finish that can now be seen was done under East German control.

A part of the building also served as the East German Army's "Walter Ulbricht" convalescent home.

Initially, consideration was given to demolishing the buildings, but it was later given landmark protection and a tax break offered to developers to renovate it.

In October 2006, blocks 1 and 2 were sold to Prora Projektentwicklungs GmbH which announced plans of converting the buildings into shops and apartments.

With financial support from the federal government and the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern it planned to establish a youth hostel in the building.

In late 2008, plans were approved to have Prora fill its original purpose and turn it into a modern tourist resort.

The council set out plans to build enough living space to house 3,000 people, as well as a youth hostel, and amenities for tourists.

[9] In September 2010, plans were announced by a German-Austrian investor group to renovate blocks 1 and 2 as housing for the elderly and a hotel with 300 beds that includes tennis courts, and swimming pool, and a small shopping centre.

[5][11][12] A November 2017 update indicated that most of the units (flats) in Block 1 had been sold, having been marketed as summer homes for those who live in Hamburg and Berlin.

Both stories feature a fictional Jugendwerkhof, a workhouse for juvenile delinquents, located in the planned holiday resort.