Status: 03/10/2023 12:23 p.m
Picturesquely located on the shores of two lakes, Eutin with its well-preserved old town and castle is a worthwhile destination.
The 17,000-inhabitant town in the middle of Holstein Switzerland scores with a whole range of architectural highlights. The Romanesque St. Michaelis Church with the leaning tower from the 13th century, beautiful half-timbered houses and several stately classicist buildings give visitors to the old town a touch of the former Eutin noblesse.
“Weimar of the North” attracted poets and artists
The large market square is a popular meeting place.
Eutin experienced a heyday in the 18th and 19th centuries: the then prince-bishops from the house of Holstein-Gottorf brought well-known poets, thinkers and artists to their court. Goethe is even said to have called Eutin the “Weimar of the North”. The town hall from 1791 on the market square, which is well worth seeing, also dates from this period. There is also one of the most beautiful half-timbered houses in the city, the court pharmacy from 1704. If you want to get an overview, climb the almost 39 meter high water tower north-west of the center and from there you can look over the hilly lake landscape to the Baltic Sea.
Different guidesincluding a night watchman and an anecdotal tour, provide interesting insights into the history of the city and its prominent historical figures.
Eutin Castle and its treasures
The richly decorated halls in the palace are now a museum.
From the center it is only a few steps to the city’s most famous sight, the castle directly on the Great Eutin Lake. The Eutin Castle, expanded from the 13th to the 16th century and rebuilt after a fire at the end of the 17th century, is now mostly a museum. It shows life in the palace at the time of the prince bishops in the 18th century. A tour leads through magnificent baroque salons and halls with lots of original furniture and paintings. One room is dedicated to Catherine the Great, who married her future husband, Tsar Peter III, in Eutin. met.
In the early 1970s, the castle was the location for the well-known film “Cabaret” starring Liza Minnelli. The state bed built for Frederick the Great in 1760 with its red and gold silk canopy can also be seen in the film. The museum’s other treasures include a collection of valuable horns that document the development of this sound instrument.
Ostholstein Museum: art in the royal stables
The Ostholstein Museum is housed in the former stables. Among other things, it shows handicrafts made of silver and pewter from several centuries as well as landscape paintings. There are also some works by the painter Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein, who immortalized his friend Johann Wolfgang in the well-known picture “Goethe in der Campagna”. Tischbein worked at the Eutin court and also spent the rest of his life in the city.
Walk through the castle garden
The Eutiner See borders directly on the castle park.
The magnificent castle garden was laid out in the early 17th century, initially as a “Dutch-style” garden. Prince Bishop Christian August later had it expanded into a pleasure garden based on the Versailles model, and from 1787 it was redesigned into the English landscape garden in its current form. Worth seeing are the approximately 200-year-old avenue of lime trees on the castle bay, the sun temple and the historic kitchen garden. A monument in the castle park also commemorates Carl Maria von Weber. The composer of “Freischütz” was born in Eutin in 1786 and was baptized in the Castle Church.
A promenade along the lake leads from the castle garden to the Seepark with various playgrounds and picnic areas as well as fitness equipment. A pretty historical bathing establishment can be reached from there via a small bridge.
Greater Eutiner See: boat trips and historical outdoor bathing establishments
A boat trip on the Great Eutin Lake is popular with tourists. The round trip starts in the season up to four times a day at the city bay and lasts one hour. If you want to do sports, you can explore the lake by canoe or sailing boat. In summer, the historic outdoor bathing establishment attracts visitors with boardwalks, diving boards and lifeguards. Admission is free.
Groom’s Oak in the Dodauer Forest
The knothole in the groom’s oak is now so high that it can only be reached via a ladder.
The surrounding nature park Holsteinische Schweiz offers numerous opportunities for hiking and cycling tours. One of the oldest trees in the nature park is just a few kilometers west of Eutin in the Dodauer Forest: the so-called groom’s oak, which is around 500 years old. Lovers once used a knothole in the oak as a secret mailbox because their parents were against their marriage. Later they were allowed to marry at the foot of the oak. If you like, you can still write to the oak today (address: Brautigamseiche, Dodauer Forst, 23701 Eutin) or take out letters and find pen pals or even your partner for life. A postman delivers the letters to the oak tree, which come from all parts of the world, every day.
The city of roses and lights
Eutin calls himself “Rosenstadt”. The name probably comes from the time when the Duke of Oldenburg returned to Eutin after his exile in 1813. The population received him in the city decorated with roses. Today the roses in the castle garden and the annual Rosenstadt-Triathlon at this time. In midsummer, the city is all about Eutin Festival. Then operas and musicals are performed in the castle park. Due to the construction of a new grandstand, there will only be a slimmed-down program at other venues in 2023.
Pre-Christmas City of Lights
By the way, a visit to Eutin is not only worthwhile in the summer months, but also in the run-up to Christmas for the City of Lights campaign. Then light artists in the old town stage the facades of the historic buildings with tens of thousands of small lights.
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