Wiligrad Castle

Wiligrad Castle with its parklands is located on the steep bank of Lake Schwerin between Lübstorf and Bad Kleinen.

It was built from 1896 to 1898 – as one of the youngest in Mecklenburg – for Duke Johann Albrecht zu Mecklenburg and remained in ducal possession until his expropriation and expulsion by the communists in 1945. The naming commemorates the first name of Mecklenburg Castle, which was located a little further north near the present-day village of Mecklenburg.

During the Imperial Maneuvers in September 1904, the Empress resided here.

In 1945, at the end of the Second World War, the castle became the headquarters of the 15th Scottish Division under Major General Barber. Barber, together with Major General Lyashchenko of the Soviet forces, concluded the Gadebusch Agreement in Wiligrad on the border demarcation between the British and Soviet occupation zones. Afterwards, the house served the Red Army as a typhus hospital, and the outbuildings as refugee accommodation. Until 1990, the castle was the school and training center for the police of the Schwerin district; in summer, it was also used as a children's holiday camp for children of police officers. The People's Police built bunkers in the middle of the park, which was famous for its rhododendron bushes.

After 1990, the collection of the former Archaeological Museum from Schwerin Castle was housed in these bunkers because the state parliament of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern moved in there. The collection is infested with fungi, and its relocation to former barracks in Schwerin is prepared.

Since 1991, the Kunstverein Wiligrad e. V. has had its domicile in five rooms of the castle. It organizes gallery exhibitions with various artistic genres, carries out extensive creative work with children and young people, and organizes and conducts concerts, lectures, readings, castle and park tours, and hikes along the Friedrich-Franz-Weg. The State Office for Monument Preservation Mecklenburg-Vorpommern also has its seat in the castle.