No self-respecting medieval town would have remained a town without a castle. Neustadt-Glewe’s castle was first built around 1167, the year the Saxon King Heinrich conquered the area. The river pattern and slightly raised land around it, made for a perfect site. Unfortunately, none of the original buildings survived. The earliest remaining part of the current building dates to the 13th century.
This castle is the oldest remaining one of its kind in Mecklenburg. The round tower includes a dungeon, two levels from which it can be defended and at the top a residential floor to which any damsels would be evacuated in the event of an attack.
During a recent refurbishment, co-funded by the EU (as was the castle restoration in Strakonice), wall paintings, window frames and old chimneys were found in a room now available to hire as a meeting room in one of the other buildings making up the castle courtyard. That room also had underfloor heating provided by fires in its basement which doubled for heating and cooking.
On the next floor up, an interactive visitor display has been created centred around a dining table. Little recipe cards are displayed on which recipes dating from 13th to 15th century recipe books found in the local area.
Luckily, the food served in the restaurant in the building on the other side of the courtyard reflects modern tastes and cooking methods!
travel tales 