Ralswiek

Castle Hotel Ralswiek
In 1891, the estate was sold to the factory owner Hugo Sholto Graf Douglas from Aschersleben. He had the castle built from 1894 to 1896 according to the designs of the Berlin architect Gustav Stroh; the neo-Renaissance architecture follows the models of French Renaissance castles. The rectangular building is flanked by two towers with conical roofs. The east side of the building faces the Bodden. The dome of the tower, which is located in front of the entrance, towers above the two outer towers. The main building has a roofed courtyard. In 1913, the Marstall was added according to the design of the Stralsund master builder Franz Juhre. The landscape park was created in 1810 and extended around 1900. The largely preserved interior (entrance hall, staircase, panelling, door handles, stained glass windows) was partly designed by the important Art Nouveau architect Henry van de Velde.In 1939, the castle was expropriated, the Bodden became a war port, and the Douglas Castle became a casino. After the Second World War, the castle was used as a home for the elderly and later as a home for the disabled and nursing home of the German Red Cross. From 1999 to 2002, the castle was converted into a hotel.


Ralswiek park - pyramid oak
The park at Ralswiek is home to many exceptional botanical rarities. Very well maintained, this park offers a recreational value that is second to none.


Ralswiek Chapel
The Ralswiek Wooden Chapel is a small Protestant church building in Ralswiek on the island of Rügen. It is one of the churches of the Protestant parish of Schaprode, which belongs to the Stralsund Provostry of the Pomeranian Protestant Church District.The small church is built entirely of wood in an architectural style common in Sweden and is an architectural peculiarity for Rügen.At the end of the 19th century, Hugo Sholto Count von Douglas from Aschersleben had acquired the Ralswiek estate and extensively rebuilt it. After building several houses, a school and the streets of the village, the intention was also to build a church in Ralswiek. At an exhibition in Stockholm, the count saw the wooden chapel exhibited there as a model church. Douglas bought the church in 1907, had it dismantled and transported across the Baltic Sea to Ralswiek. Here it was rebuilt on its present site and consecrated in 1907. Above the entrance to the church is the motto "Love never ceases to live".

Today, the chapel is also used for organ concerts.


Thatched roof cottage
Among roofers, a thatched ridge is considered the supreme discipline of all. Such masterpieces can be found above all in the east of Schleswig-Holstein, but also in Ralswiek. They challenge even the most expert: For a thatched ridge, the stalks must be turned with the root end upwards and the bundle beaten to height. Then the roofer sews the reed to the roof battens with stainless steel binding wire. Finally, he gradually cuts back the protruding stalks and ears with his reed knife..
Regional differences in thatched roofs
(Source: www.pro-reet.de)



The Störtebeker Festival has been taking place on the shores of the Great Jasmund Bodden in Ralswiek on the island of Rügen from the end of June to the beginning of September since 1993. The natural stage, which has been in operation since 1959, is Germany's most successful open-air stage. The name refers to the 14th century privateer and pirate, Klaus Störtebeker.


Compact



Ralswiek is an old settlement site and was the fiefdom of various noble families from Rügen. Ralswiek, which is small today, was one of the important ports on the Baltic Sea in the Middle Ages. The extensive trade relations that existed with other harbour towns on the Baltic Sea are evidenced by archaeological finds of soapstone bowls from Norway and hip handle vessels made in Sweden. Arab dirhms and Persian drachms indicate trade relations as far away as the Pontic region. A coin find of Arabic 2,203 dirhems minted between 459 and 847 AD is now on display in the Kulturhistorisches Museum in Stralsund. Of historical interest are the four boats up to 14 metres long and 3.40 metres wide that were discovered during excavations between 1967 and 1980. They document a seafaring and trading history with trade relations on the routes of the Vikings, who also lived and were buried here (grave finds with grave goods).

Translated with: DeepL

Rügen island in public sources

Information about the island of Rügen.

Stoertebeker Festival

(Image rights: © By Lapplaender - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0 de, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=794259)
(Source: Wikipedia)

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