Gottorf Castle in Schleswig is one of the most important secular buildings in Schleswig-Holstein. It has been rebuilt and extended several times in its over eight-hundred-year history, transforming from a medieval castle to a Renaissance fortress to a Baroque palace. It gave its name to the ducal house of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorf, which produced four Swedish kings and several Russian tsars in the 18th century. The largest castle in the state was owned by the Danish royal family and the dukes of Schleswig-Holstein. After the annexation of the Gottorf part of the Duchy of Schleswig by Denmark in 1713, the castle served as the seat of the Danish governor in Schleswig, after which it was used as barracks. Today it houses two Schleswig-Holstein state museums and the Schleswig-Holstein State Museum Foundation Schloss Gottorf. To the north of the castle, the Neuwerkgarten, one of the first Baroque terraced gardens in Northern Europe, has been reconstructed in recent years.
Gottorf Castle Castle Chapel © Stiftung Schleswig-Holsteinische Landesmuseen/Marcus Dewanger
