Mecklenburg-Vorpommern

Mecklenburg-Vorpommern is the land of a thousand lakes and, at the same time, a hidden castle paradise of the north. Whilst fortresses here rarely rise as steep mountain strongholds, the region’s character is defined by moated palaces, manor houses with defensive towers, and medieval town fortifications. Schloss Güstrow, one of the most important Renaissance complexes in northern Germany, today houses the artworks of the sculptor Ernst Barlach. Schwerin, with its romantically situated palace on a lake island — one of Germany’s most-photographed landmarks — and Schloss Ludwigslust set within its Baroque park ensemble, rank among the region’s flagship sites.

On Rügen and along the Pomeranian mainland coast, traces survive of the Teutonic Order, Slavic ring-forts, and Hanseatic fortifications. The Rubenow Library in Greifswald, the Pomeranian State Museum, and the archaeological site of the Tempel fortress at Arkona on Rügen all bear witness to an era when the Baltic coastline was fiercely contested between Slavic tribal territories and German settlement areas. In Stralsund and Wismar — both UNESCO World Heritage Sites — the medieval urban fabric, with its defensive and church towers, has been preserved in living form to this day.

The Mecklenburg Palace Road opens up more than sixty manor houses, palaces, and fortified complexes in the interior of the country, combining natural experience with cultural history. Many former seats of the Mecklenburg nobility were used as schools or cultural centres following expropriation during the GDR era; today they are being transformed into boutique hotels, memorial sites, and arts centres, breathing new life into the heritage of the north.