The city of Schwerin is a perfect option to wind up and relax if you are bored to stay at Berlin on the weekends. The city is located in the northern destination, close to the city of Lübeck, which I mentioned in previous post. As a usual, you can gather a company of 5 persons and use weekend’s offer group ticket. The trip itself will take approximately 2,5 hours, so the city is reachable for a day roundtrip. The city is literally dotted with a buch of lakes and ponds, which makes it very attractive. The biggest one is Schwerin See, on the bank of which is located the most famous Schwerin’s tourist attraction – Schloss Schwerin, or Schwerin Palace.
Panoramic view of Schwerin Palace [Wikipedia]
The visit to the castle is totally worth it. And now some historic background. The current castle was built between 1845 and 1857 and was serving as a the home of the dukes and grand dukes of Mecklenburg and later Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Nowadays, it serves as the seat of the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern state parliament. But the interesting thing that the first records of a castle at this location are dated back to AD 973, where there was a fort of the Polabian Slav tribe of the Obotrites. From this time the fort was transformed into a castle and palace, loosing its defensive meaning and acquiring a new one as dukes residency.
The landscapes of the castle’s surroundings with its gardens and canals, as well as the view of Schwerin Lake are breathtaking.
As was mentioned before the palace which is built in style of Romantic Historicism serves as museum. An entrance fee for adults – 6 EUR, students – 4 EUR. Additional fee for taking pictures – 3 EUR. However, probably due to the ongoing reconstruction, or a special privilege for tourist groups but not individual tourists, you will be able to see only some part of the palace. I consider it to be pretty enough to feel the atmosphere of Schwerin Palace. The tourist will be able to wander along antique chambers and contemplate pieces of arts and furniture of those times. Probably for men the most interesting would be an exhibition of rare weapons, which is located is in the cellar on the first floor, near ticket’s office. Some old hunting guns were designed in 16th century (I remember one dating back 1539) and they preserved their original appearance.
Nonetheless I think the majority will agree, that the most attractive chamber in the castle is a Throne Hall. The throne is surrounded by coats of arms of European cities, painted on the walls and is decorated with gold leaf.
The city of Schwerin is definitely worth visiting, at least for its beautiful castle and nice city centre. Here follows more images of the city’s architecture:
As a usual, a raw calculation of costs follows:
Round way ticket (using group ticket for 5 persons) – 9 EUR
Palace entrance fee – 6 EUR
Eating out – 10-15 EUR