Castle of Schwerin

The castle of Schwerin (in German, Schweriner Schloss ) is a medieval Château located in the town of Schwerin, capital of the Land of Mecklembourg-Poméranie Western, in Germany. During centuries, the castle was the residence of the Ducs and Large-dukes of Mecklembourg, then of Mecklembourg-Schwerin, before becoming the seat of the Parliament of Mecklembourg-Poméranie Western.

History

10th century

The oldest traces of a castle with Schwerin go back to 973. Going Arab Ibrahim ibn Jacub, which travelled in the Slavic zone of Europe, indeed mentions fort pertaining to the Slavic people of the Abodrites located on an island of the lake of Schwerin.

12th century

In 1160, the fort of Schwerin was the target of a forwarding of conquest directed by Henri {{XII}} of Bavaria within the framework of an attempt at expansion. The defenders Abodrites, carried out by the Slavic prince Niklot, destroyed it and gave up it in front of the enemy superiority. The German conquerors recognized them also the excellent strategic situation and built a new fortress there. The same year was born the town of Schwerin.

The city reached a particular significance with the establishment of one évêché in its walls. In 1167, Henri of Bavaria entrusted the county of Schwerin to its vassal Gunzelin von Hagen, and the remainder of the area to the son of Niklot, Pribislaw.

14th century

In 1358, the county of Schwerin was repurchased by the descendants of Niklot which had become dukes of Mecklembourg in 1348. They left then their residence of Wismar to settle on the strengthened island of Schwerin. At the time of the Gothic blazing, change of lifestyle of the dukes, and their growing desire of a representative castle to be able to them bring them to architectural changes. Buildings built at that time, there remains today only that which one names the house of the bishop.

16th century

It is with the duke Jean-Albert {{Ier}} (1525-1576), who subjected the castle of important changes, that its frontages were decorated of Terra cotta red. The use of terra cotta in the construction industry during the Renaissance was very current in Germany of North, as the castles testify some to Wismar or Gadebusch. The terra cotta came from a workshop of Lübeck.
A few years later, of 1560 to 1563, the duke Jean-Albert 1st made rebuild the vault of the castle. The first Protestant church of the Mecklembourg was carried out by the architect Christoph Hausbitz, who took as a starting point those of Torgau and Dresden, built a few years earlier. The gate of sandstone of the castle, with its pediment representing the port of the cross, is the work of the sculptor Hans Walther. In the niches of the windows of the northern gallery sculptures in Albâtre representing are biblical scenes. Five of them were carried out by Dutch Willem van den Broecke, called Paludanus, very known of sound temps.
As the castle needed additional defenses in spite of its insular situation, three bastions (in the North-West, South-west and South-east) were built in the middle of the 16th century, probably by Italian architects who worked for Francesco has Bornau with Dömitz. These constructions, which knew several modifications thereafter, exist always today.

17th century

Starting from 1612, and until the release of the War Thirty Year old, the architect of Mecklembourg Ghert Evert Piloot worked for a reconstruction project total of the castle of Schwerin, in the style of the Dutch Rebirth. In 1617 thus began under its control the first work, which had quickly to stop because of the war. Part of the plans of Piloot however was re-used between 1635 and 1643 when it is a question of raising the buildings above the kitchens of the castle and the church, and to give them frontages in the style of the Dutch Rebirth.

18th century

For this period, a building with half-timbering was built to shelter a collection of tables. The house of the ( Teepavillon ) was also carried out, with on its perron four cherubs of the sculptor Johann Christoph Lücke. In 1756, the court left Schwerin to settle with Ludwigslust.

19th century

When the court returned in Schwerin in 1837, the buildings of the castle were in a bad condition to be inhabited. Moreover, the buildings of architectures and styles different were not appropriate to the sovereign. This is why the large-duke Paul-Frederic de Mecklembourg-Schwerin decided to rebuild the castle, by calling upon the architect of the court Georg Adolf Demmler. The building site was stopped at the end of some month, bus Paul-Frederic died suddenly in 1842 and its successor Frederic-François II of Mecklembourg-Schwerin took distance with this project, by deciding a major reorganization of the historic site. This rebuilding was to relate to the site in its entirety, and only some buildings of 16th and 17th centuries were to be saved. An additional request of the large duke was the construction of a frontage representative in the axis of the street leading of the city to the castle, already developed by many news constructions. After the refusal by the large duke of the projects of the architect of Dresden Gottfried Semper and of the architect Berliner of the court Friedrich August Stüler, Demmler proposed to keep elements of those all while taking as a starting point the French castles of the Renaissance.
Born in 1804 with Berlin, and having grown with Güstrow, Demmler studied with the Academy of architecture of Berlin and obtained its first use in 1823 with Schwerin. It directed in 1825 - 1826 the building site of a building of the government in the street of the castle (sheltering the chancellery today). This mission was followed by good of others, like the realization of the frontage of the town hall of the old city, the rebuilding of the arsenal and the stables, and the studies of town planning, because Schwerin extended each year even more beyond its walls dating from the Moyen-âge. Demmler had initially proposed to him also as an architect a first reconstruction project of the castle, which was also rejected, like those of Sempler and Stüler. He then undertook a study trip in France, where he was inspired in particular by the Château of Chambord to propose a new project, which was accepté.
With the rebuilding of the castle of Schwerin, Demmler makes a success of its most remarkable work. It directed construction since the demolitions in 1843 until the beginning of the year 1851. At that time, the architect endeavoured to soften the social hardness of the workmen of the castle by the creation of a case of insurance accident and disease, and several times it gave an opinion in favor of right wages of the employees. Its engagement in the civic and democratic movement of 1848 - 1849 and its combat for the maintenance of the constitution were used by the preserving circles of the court which obtained finally its revoi in 1851. Demmler did not obtain any more any public order, and was put to deal with projects of town planning which were however not carried out of alive sound. In 1877 - 1878, it was appointed social democrat with the Reichstag. He died in 1886 with Schwerin.
The succession of Demmler for the control of work was allocated to the Berliner architect Stüler. It modified the project of its predecessor, in particular at the level of the frontage giving on the city, by enriching it by the equestrian statue of Niklot, and while making add an immense dome. The Berliner interior designer Heinrich Strack was also selected. Interior decoration was carried out by workmen of Berlin and Schwerin. The solemn inauguration of the castle took place in May 1857. The type-setter Friedrich von Flotow had written his opera Johann Albrecht especially for this occasion.

20th century

In December 1913, a fire devastator destroyed a third of the buildings. Following the revolution of 1918, the Large-duke of Mecklembourg-Schwerin abdicated, but then only the external rebuilding had been carried out. In 1919, the castle passed in the state-owned property, and starting from 1921, it became a museum, with certain rooms open to the public. In 1948, it accommodated the Parliament of Mecklembourg-Poméranie Western following alteration work carried out by the architect Friedrich Schmidt. Of 1952 with 1981, it was used by a school of nursery nurse, before becoming again a museum until in 1993. The Orangerie also accommodated a museum of 1961 with 1994. Starting from 1974, certain rooms were also used like museum of art.
Since the summer 1990, the Parliament of Mecklembourg-Poméranie Western again has its seat in the castle of Schwerin.

21e century

In 2007, the castle of Schwerin will be reproduced on the part commemorative of 2 euros emitted by Germany at the time of the Western presidency of the Land of Mecklembourg-Poméranie in the Bundesrat.

Bonds

The following sites are in German.

the official site of the castle of Schwerin
the castle of Schwerin on the site of the city
the official site of the Land of Mecklembourg-Poméranie Western

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