Tom`s travels: Flensburg, Glücksburg & Rendsburg (31/03/2021

After a long period in Berlin not really being able to travel or do day trips because of the lockdown we finally headed to Hamburg for the Easter holidays and from there, while Ania worked at home, I decided to do a day trip and visit a few places on the way. I headed north in the state of Schleswig-Holstein and after taking a train from Hamburg, reached the northernmost city of Germany, Flensburg, a couple of hours after. Once I got off the train, I headed in the direction of the old town, which I reached shortly after, passing by a nice city park where colorful flowers were already sprouting among the fresh green grass. After reaching the city center, I walked through a picturesque street with old townhouses leading up to the main church in town, St Nikolai. Flensburg features in fact a well-preserved old town, with a notable valuable expansion that took place during the Wilhelmine era that spared the destruction of older buildings. Also during WWII, the town came out virtually unscathed but still, like other places in Germany, it adopted a policy of getting rid of old buildings and building anew in the style of the times. This trend was fortunately limited by a lack of money, but before the policy was finally stopped in the late 1970s, countless old buildings had been demolished in the north and east Old Town to be replaced by newer structures. Once I reached the church of St Nicholas I decided to visit its interior which was luckily open. This 15th-century Gothic structure features a 90m tall neogothic spire built after 1878 when the old one was struck and destroyed by lightning. The main altar is a mix of Baroque and Rococo from the 17th century while the organ is an exquisite piece from 1609. Inside the church, there is also an interesting 15th-century bronze baptismal font. After visiting the church I then walked along the main street, the Holm that later becomes the Große Straße, which cuts the city from north to south and from there reached the bus station shortly after. I had in fact decided to take a local bus to bring me to the nearby castle of Glücksburg and from there walk back to Flensburg and continue visiting the town. So after getting my ride and reaching the destination I headed in the direction of the castle which is picturesquely located on a small island surrounded by the Schloßteich lake. Built between 1582 and 1587 for John II, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg it is one of the most important Renaissance castles in northern Europe. It was built on the site of the former Cistercian monastery Ryd Abbey; the monastery's building material was partly reused in the castle. The grounds of Ryd Abbey were then flooded to create a large pond, now the Schloßteich, surrounding the castle. The castle's plan is a square with sides of nearly 30 meters with each corner featuring a tower with a diameter of seven meters. The castle is now a museum and is no longer inhabited by the ducal family. It is owned by a foundation, which is headed by Christoph, Prince of Schleswig-Holstein, the current titular duke. I decided not to visit the interior but still walk around the outside through the nice garden and along the waterfront to admire the castle from afar as well. After that, I walked a little further and reached the nearby beach of Glücksburg located on the Flensburg Firth. This 40km long fjord connects Flensburg to the rest of the sea and is the westernmost fjord of the Baltic sea. As I sat on the nice soft white sand of the beach, I enjoyed the rather warm sun while admiring the nice view in front of me. In fact, just a couple kilometers on the other side of the water I could easily spot the Danish coast, so close on this part of the fjord. I had taken lunch with me so I sat a while there, dipping also my feet in the clear yet cold water of the sea. It was then time for me to continue my visit, deciding now to walk all the way back to Flensburg following the coast. I walked through a bit of forest and then the suburbs of the city, passing by the large and famous Mürwik Naval School, the main training establishment for all German Navy officers. The school was built in 1910 by the order of Kaiser Wilhelm II to replace the German Imperial Naval Academy in Kiel in a striking gothic architecture with the dominating red bricks that surely took inspiration from the Malbork Castle. After a bit more walking I then reached the Flensburg harbor, with its hyp modern buildings on the eastern part and the old town on the west. I walked back into the old town, still keeping the waterfront to my right and admiring the old fishermen's houses some of which are still well-preserved. I then reached the northern end of town where the Nordertor, the city gate, is located. One of just a few remains of what was once the medieval fortification that encircled the city, this gate was rebuilt in the 16th century over its older predecessor, with stepped gables and archway. From the city gate I continued south along the main street admiring the nice old architecture and soon later came across the church of St Mary. A Gothic building with a Neo-gothic bell tower, it was unfortunately closed, but still nice from the outside. Right next to it was the Schrangen, a 16th-century structure directly connected to the church but hosting mostly secular purposes such as a baker's and a butcher's stalls first and later police station. The building faces the picturesque Nordermarkt, a small square, as the name suggests, located in the northern part of the old town. At its center stands a nice fountain dating to the 16th century known as the Neptune Fountain. Walking further on along the main street I then passed by the Heiliggeistkirche, a small Gothic church that was closed. Then once I finally reached the Südermarkt which marks the southernmost point of the old town, it was time to head back to the train station and reach the last stop of the day, the city of Rendsburg. The place is famous for the Rendsburg High Bridge, a railway bridge made of steel, 2,500 meters long and 41 meters high, that was constructed in 1913 to take the Neumünster–Flensburg railway over the Kiel Canal from the relatively flat land on either side. It is listed as the longest railway bridge in Europe and was quite fun to go over it by train. The town though also features a small partly preserved old town. After leaving the station I passed by the nice white building of the Schleswig-Holstein State Theater and then reached the old town proper. Here I came across some occasional nice timber-framed houses, particularly around the Markt main square. I then passed by the Marienkirche, the town's main church, built during the 14th century in a Gothic style but which was unfortunately already closed. Not far on I then walked through the Schloßplatz, where once the 17th-century fortress built by the Danish forces guarding the city at the end of the Thirty Years' War used to stand. With the expansion of the fortifications, Rendsburg became the most important military fortress in the entire Danish state and a new part of the town, now the Neustadt was built on the southern edge of the city. This part, which I then walked through, features radial streets extending from the central Paradeplatz with low buildings and straight streets. Among the buildings is the Christkirche, a late 17th-century church planned in the construction of this new city. The feeling, while walking through these streets, was that of being in a Danish town, which in some way are also quite resembling other towns in Schleswig-Holstein from that period. It was finally time to walk to the train station from where I eventually took my train back to Hamburg.