Spycker Castle

The first documented mention of Spycker dates back to 1318, when it was owned by the Stralsund patrician family von Külpen. Through marriage, the property passed to the von Jasmund family in 1344, whose Spycker branch died out in 1648. In the same year, Pomerania fell to Sweden after the Peace of Westphalia. In recognition of his services in the Thirty Years' War, the Swedish Field Marshal Carl Gustav Wrangel received the lands from Queen Christina in 1649. From 1650, Wrangel had the original castle converted into a Renaissance palace and painted in the Swedish Falun red, which is untypical for Rügen. Around 1652, fully sculptural stucco ceilings were created in the bel étage. After Wrangel's death in 1676, the property passed to the Brahe family via his daughter Eleonore-Sophia. After being occupied by Napoleonic troops, Spycker briefly served as the seat of the French governor in 1806/07. In 1815, Rügen became Prussian, and in 1817, Magnus Fredrik Brahe sold the castle to Prince Wilhelm Malte I zu Putbus.