Schloss Gottorf

On a small island in the western part of the Schlei a castle of former dukes of SchleswigHolstein-Gottorf is nowadays home of the Schleswig-Holstein state museums.Architectural the four-winged building offers different styles: The western wing, built in 1530, was the first building of the international spring renaissance northern of the Elbe. The southern wing, built after the archetype of the Stockholm king’s castle, is a good example of the North German baroque. With the duke (1526-86), the ancestor of the Gottorf Line, the castle became in 1544 the main residence of the dukes of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorf. During the reign of his grandson Friedrich III (1597/1616-1659) the castle became an Europe-wide attended cultural centre with an important status.Under the reign of this high educated duke, Gottorf became a politic, spiritual and artistic central point of the dukedoms Schleswig and Holstein. The chapel of the chastle, the “Hirschsaal”, paintings, sculptures and hand crafted art are part of the castle’s original equipment.The huge baroque garden was already famous for his botanical plurality in the 17th century and is still a beautiful place for a walk.