The "Cap Arcona" was named after Cape Arkona on the Island of Rügen. The memorial commemorates its sinking - one of the greatest ship tragedies of modern times.
The "Cap Arcona" was a luxury steamer named after Cape Arkona on the Island of Rügen, and the flagship of the Hamburg-South America Line. The ship was sunk by British aircraft on May 3, 1945, shortly before the end of World War II, killing most of the approximately 4,600 concentration camp prisoners on board. Many victims of the sinking were washed up on the shore of Poel Island at that time.
Today, a memorial in the village of Am Schwarzen Busch and a small, permanent special exhibition in the island museum commemorate this terrible disaster in the Bay of Lübeck.