first sneak peak of glücksburg castle.
glücksburg is a small town ( germany's most northern ) and is situated on the south side of the flensburg firth, which basically forms the border to denmark. the most important attraction of glücksburg is its castle, which they call the 'cradle of european royalty', as many kings, queens, princes & princesses have had their origins here or were/are connected to it in some way or another. even the modern royal dynasties of europe are connected to this little place in the far north of germany. for more background on that you should check out this article on the official website of the castle, because it is far too complicated for me to explain it better to you :p
the castle itself is a moated castle that's based on remnants of a former monastery that existed on the area before the erection of the building you can see now. the lake wasn't there initially, but it was built artificially & flooded with the water of two little streams. the castle is one of the most important renaissance buildings of northern europe and definitely a must-see when you are travelling around in this region.
we also went inside to learn more about the castle & look at beautiful interiors. i love getting to see old castles or buildings from the inside, especially when things & rooms were arranged in a way that illustrate how people lived back then. castles are always places of luxury & splendor, so of course it only shows you how rich people lived ( or the servants who served them - which is a lot less luxurious ). while the splendor & glitz is often very nice to look at, i also really love more simple historic buildings like a medieval farm or a stuckwork house. i would even say that those buildings speak more to my soul than an oversized castle with hundreds of rooms and halls. they are much cozier, aren't they? castles can be found in varying sizes and strangely i am most enamoured with the smaller ones. glücksburg castle is one of the medium-sized ones, not too big to have mazy proportions, but also not too small ( in order to not let the ruling class feel like they are living in a farm house i suppose :p ). the overall feeling inside the castle was still pretty cozy & idyllic, though, which i really liked. it didn't feel at all like the prominent monument it actually is, especially considering its meaning for european royalties. later this year we would visit potsdam's castles & palaces and those were on a whole different level in terms of megalomania & oversize.
on another note, i really have a hard time following up with more recent going ons in my life as quick as possible, like i am always half a year behind... unfortunately i often don't feel like posting, especially in busy weeks... even on my days off i am often too lazy to sit down and write another post ( which often takes 3 to 5 hours to do, since i research a lot and also have the tendency to get distracted and shit like that ). often times i just end up uploading the pictures and then go on to do something different, like meeting up with a friend, doing chores or just bumming around. i know i should work on that probably, but seeing as my days off are basically there to let me disconnect from work - which more & more robs me off my energy, the energy i also need to concentrate on writing blog posts - it is hard to sit down and work on this. it just feels like i'm continueing work that i get no rewards for ( just in my everyday life ). sometimes i don't even know why i keep this blog. in the back of my mind there's always been this desire to have a blog that people read and from there things would develop to whatever direction it wanted to. like i would maybe work on writing stories, or drawing more, or doing music reviews or photography assignments. but over all this time only a handful of people read this blog and there's practically no interaction or feedback. i know, i always said that this blog is my personal diary, but at the same time... it is open for anyone. i guess i don't have the content people are searching for, no useful tips or tricks, no specialty that i can offer.
well, and in addition to my actual job as a saleswoman it all feels so meaningless. i guess i will try to continue to accept this little tiny blog of mine as a side thing that i am doing for myself basically. my own personal reminder of my life. strange, because i rarely go back & reflect on everything i've posted or written ( or experienced & lived through for that matter ). maybe i should do that first. ( but the energy needed for that as well... the lost time in which i could easily write another post ... ugh. yeah. i really should start considering if it still serves me. but it's with everything in my life... i have a hard time letting things go. )
okay, enough of that, let's enter glücksburg castle.
when you exit your car and leave the parking lot you approach this frame in the form of a stamp. loved this idea ( and it probably was photographed like this too many times, ha - how original ).
this is the main castle, but there's also an outer bailey. the castle was built around 1583 to 1587 under duke johann the younger. the architect was nikolaus karies.
the gate house towards the outer bailey.
this little garden was so romantic. absolutely idyllic.
the former cavalier house.
the chapel of the castle with its baroque interiors. i read that the church was the official community church of glücksburg city before & it is still used for ceremonies, weddings & christenings today.
loved this part of the chapel with the carved pulpit altar & the confessional.
the upper part of the baptistery & the marcussen organ.
the red hall. they call it that way because it once had red tapestry on the walls ( unfortunately not anymore, wouldn't it be amazing if it still was? it would look so much cozier. ) and how wonderful is this stuccoed ceiling?
one of the bedrooms.
beautiful empire chairs & desk.
there were a lot of empire design elements throughout the castle, but also a lot of biedermeier stuff. the castle was inhabited for a very long time, but the last owners - ducal family members - left the castle gradually in the 20th century for more modern homes. it is still in possession of the duke of schleswig-holstein christoph & his family, but they decided to preserve the castle for exhibiting & hosting/organizing purposes.
special tea ceremony corner.
i don't know who this lady is, but she was kind of impressive. i have the feeling that she's auguste viktoria, the wife of of wilhelm the II, but i am not entirely sure. i just know that she often was a visitor of glückburg castle.
details of the chandeliers.
even more empire furniture.
this is quintessential biedermeier.
look into a closet.
i don't know why, but chandeliers do have a strange pull on me. i guess this stems from my big affinity to light & illuminations.
i'd say this particular chandelier was produced in baccarat, france. how do i know? because i've seen the exact same style in the glass manufacture we visited in may, while on our little france trip.
i was fascinated with this stained glass mirror thing. anybody has a clue what these objects were used for? i imagine they might just be for illumination purposes, to tint a room in a special colour.
the dining room.
this tapestry was absolutely wonderful. especially the gold which was used as a highlighter, was lovely. i tried to photograph it in a way that you could see the shiny effect, but i didn't really succeed, right?
in the same room capturing reflections.
there was a part in the castle that was reserved for kids. you can celebrate kid's birthdays here, or have a tour of the castle that is especially tailored for children, with all kinds of experiments & exhibitions. i thought it was really cute. in my imagination this is absolutely a historically correct kid's playing room ;)
we stumbled upon this magnificent hunting scene sculpture. so intricate & detailed!
look at those elaborate carvings! so beautiful.
this is how a big dinner might have happened in former times.
well, this is one art piece of a sleigh, isn't it?
more of the kid's section. this room was all about fairytales.
and little mice were running around all over the place <3 p="">
the center piece of this room is obviously the round couch.
looked pretty comfortable to me. it wasn't allowed to sit on it though, for obvious reasons.
another real life scenery. don't understand though why everyone's standing in the corners. like, do they have some fear of contact?
there was also a tiny section dedicated to torture. i liked this scold bridle the most, because it looked like an actual sculpture.
the castle's main entrance. i love how minimal the castle's facade appears, especially when you keep in mind that most castles were representative buildings.
the orangery in the park of the castle.
beautiful tree alley.
on the other end of the castle park was this modern appartment building. apparently it's a retirement home. you have a wonderful view onto the castle lake & the castle itself, too.
nicely coloured duckies followed us for a little while. :3
the view from the retirement complex to the castle.
we continued walking to get to the beach of glücksburg, which lead you through a little green jungle. beware of the dragons trying to stop you on your way there :p
the strandhotel was first built around 1872, burnt down in 1912, was re-erected 1914 and to this day remains a hotel ( with a little break from the 50ies to 90ies when it was a recreation home ). there's something very art nouveau about it, with a slight nod to art deco even? it's a 4 star hotel - so, yeah very luxurious, with a long history & quite a few illustrious visitors in the past, like wilhelm II & thomas mann.
there's another former hotel around the corner which at the time we were visiting the beach was under construction. the intermar was built in the 70ies and was a hotel until 2010. after that it was rented out to condo owners and it continously deteriorated. at the beginning of 2017 it was reported that the owner of the building would try to renovate it and re-open a hotel again. well, i can't tell you about the progress, but when we visited a lot of windows were missing and apparently they were trying to refresh the facades. while i like older architecture a little bit more ( i don't really like the cold & sterile buildings of the 70ies & 80ies, like... there's nothing homely about them, they're just purely functional... ), this gloomy skeleton-like building made an impact. maybe because it seemed so lost & left behind? anyway, hopefully they will revive it and let new life take place inside. a huge plus of it is the view onto the flensburg firth and denmark on the other side of it.
it was definitely showing its age. why is it that modern buildings built up patina much faster than more historic ones? i mean, it always feels that modern buildings age so much faster & don't hold up very well in contrast to historic architecture.
after our little stint to the beach ( where i didn't take any photos, can you imagine? ) we returned to the lake & the castle.
approaching the castle again.
we soon said goodbye to the castle and made our way to another place we wanted to see: holnis peninsula. it's a little nature reserve with coastal cliffs & salt meadows. it was truly bliss walking this little spot of earth. landscapes by the sea are truly my cup of tea and i could wander these areas all day long without really getting tired.
this view of a tiny bit of the baltic sea & kleines noor, a little beach lake, was such a delight.
sun shining brightly on the firth. in the far back you can see the coast of denmark.
coastal cliff love 💗
passed by some highland cows. love these animals and their long, supercool fur ( and pointed horns ).
doesn't it look so stylish with its side pony and that sassy little expression on its face?
overgrown coastal cliff. the cows were grazeing directly next to them.
yeah, i may or may not have fallen in love with this one. such a beaut!
this little house was an observation ward ( as the peninsula is a nature reserve & a lot of animals, birds & plants are living & growing here, which some people document for studying purposes ). loved the growth on its roof!
not sure if i'm correct about it, but this little lake was called höftsee. and again, you can see the coastline of denmark! i'd really like to visit denmark itself one day, can't believe we were so close!
old remnants of fishing structures.
i can't get enough of those trees. they drop down the coastal cliff due to erosion, which is per se not really good for the coast, but it creates a dramatic scenery.
there's a grave of a sailor hidden on the beach and we stumbled upon it by accident. he died of cholera in 1850 and was buried on that exact place.
our day was slowly coming to an end and we made our way back to the car again. i really like this tunnel with the beeches on one side. so dreamy.
the last creatures we met on this little adventure were these grey horses ( that i didn't manage to take proper pictures of, haha ). it was such a nice ending to our little trip to glücksburg. like with almost all places i visit by the baltic sea ( or any area that i get to see in general ), i hope to return to explore the region even more. but only the future knows if i'll be able to.
Comments