Tom`s travels: Schwerin, Warnemünde & Rostock (06/10/2018)

After starting a new job in Hamburg at the beginning of October, I took advantage of the weekend to start traveling around the area and explore new places. So after waking up early, Ania and I headed to the main station and took a regional directed to Schwerin. After reaching the destination, we headed into town walking along the pretty Pfaffenteich lake. The whole area around here is filled with lakes so there is never a lack of water. As we continued through the old town streets, we passed by the old post office and reached the Cathedral. Built in the 12th century it features a typical brick Gothic structure found in the parts of Germany and northern Europe. The tower, which was just completed in the 19th century, is the tallest church spire in the entire state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. After visiting the nice simple interior, full of light as required by the gothic style, we then crossed through the Am Markt, the town's main square. At its center, a statue with a lion to commemorate the capture of the city by Henry the Lion from the Slavi Obotrite tribes. Further on we then reached the town's main attraction, Schwerin Palace, also known as a castle due to its size and structure. Located on an island in the middle of the large Lake Schwerin, the castle was originally a Slavic fortified settlement which was then turned into a fort after Henry the Lion captured it. Then a major reconstruction took place during the 16th century when the castle took on a larger form in the Renaissance style. Eventually, around the mid 19th century, a full-blown scale of reconstruction took place which gave the structure its current look following a line of romantic historicism which was also seen in structures such as Neuschwanstein in southern Germany, thus it sometimes being called the Neuschwanstein of the north. After paying the entry ticket, we explored the many rooms which made up this huge structure. It once served as the seat of the Grand Ducky of Mecklenburg-Schwerin while today still serves as the residence of the state's parliament so of course not all could be visited. The tour started with several rooms holding all kinds of porcelain and paintings dating mostly to the 17th and 18th centuries. Then through a room which still had its original 16th-century decorations and hosted all kinds of weapons, from the early middle ages until the 19th century. Afterwards, we then went through several rooms which characterized the 19th-century reconstruction, all decorated in different styles: imperial, neo-gothic, and even a neo-renaissance imitating florentine architecture. As we finished walking the premise, we then headed out and explore the little island in which the castle sits. After a few pictures of the Orangerie, a typical feature of such palaces, we then crossed a bridge and reached the immense castle gardens which extended to the south of the city. We walked along the lake and enjoyed the beautiful sunny day while admiring the reflection of the castle on the water. We then decided to head back through the town and take the next train in the direction of Rostock. Once there we quickly switched with another regional train and reached the small seaside resort town of Warnemünde a few minutes later. After exiting the station we crossed a small bridge over the Alter Strom, a man-made canal which is lined by beautiful buildings. The town became famous already during the 19th century as a seaside resort and thus attracted several tourists since then. As part of the larger, Rostock-Warnemunde port it is the busiest in terms of cruises in all Germany. As we reached the older part of the town, founded during the 13th century as a fishing village, we walked along the main street, Alexandrinenstrasse, and admired the beautifully refurbished fishermen's houses, mostly dating to the 19th and 20th centuries. At the end of the street, we then reached the large stretch of sand which expanded westward along the Baltic coast. We found a little spot among the dunes and sat down to eat the lunch we had brought with us. The weather was sunny but a strong breeze was blowing making it rather chilly to stand there for a long period. After walking a bit on the sand and testing the seawater with one of my feet, we then headed back to the train station and took a ride back to Rostock. After walking a little while we reached the city's old town by passing next to the 16th-century Steintor, one of the few city gates remaining of the original fortifications. Next to it a nicely preserved part of the Renaissance walls still remains which we decided to walk along until we reached the church of St Nicholas. Originally built during the 13th century it was heavily damaged during the war and rebuilt in the same brick Gothic style but converting it from a religious building to a structure holding offices downstairs and apartments in its roof. It was quite peculiar to look at, particularly seeing the apartment balconies sticking out from the church's roof. A little further on we then encountered another church, that of St Peter's. Of four large churches which used to stand in the city center, three are still surviving, and St Peter's is the oldest one of them, dating from the mid 13th century. Unfortunately, during world war 2, the church was heavily bombed and its spire, which had been rebuilt during the renaissance period, collapsed. Rebuilding took place right after and now a lead spire top the roof, together with refurbished interiors which were destroyed from the bombings. We had a quick look inside but found it rather empty albeit light and airy. After that, we walked onwards and reached the pretty Neuer Markt, the city's main square which still featured some nice gabled burgher houses refurbished after the war. Unfortunately, just two-sides were saved while the other two are completely void of the beautiful buildings which once used to enclose the square. Next to it is the third and largest of the city's churches, St Mary's. Built during the 13th century and enlarged the following century it features a typical red brick Gothic style which is found throughout the area. Rostock, in fact, was one of the major cities forming the once strong Hanseatic League. As we visited the interior we admired the beautiful Baroque decorations perfectly fitting in the gothic structure of the church. Particularly noteworthy is the impressive and huge pipe organ dating to the 18th century. At the rear of the church, behind the high altar, an unexpected astronomical clock provided us with a few moments of musical and mechanical performance. The clock built in 1472 featured a beautiful design of the zodiac signs and an interchangeable calendar. Once outside we then continued on through the old town passing through another central square, the Universitatsplatz, with a nice fountain at its center, and reaching the western end of the city center which is the one that suffered the most during the war. Most of the buildings in this area are modern apart from the Kropeliner Tor, one of the four city gates which remain of the original 22 that dotted the city's fortifications. Built during the 13th century it was refurbished during the 15th century when it reached its current brick gothic form and current height at 54m. As we walked past it, we then continued on, walking along the southern part of the walls which had been reinforced with a bastion built during the 17th centuries to keep up with modern standards of warfare. Here we had a nice view of the old town and a direct way to then reach the train station once more from where we took a ride back to Hamburg.