Dargun Castle

The origins of the complex date back to 1172, when Bishop Berno of Schwerin founded the Cistercian monastery of Dargun on the site of a destroyed castle. After its destruction by Wendish uprisings and a failed attempt at resettlement in 1209, a new foundation was only successful in 1216. In the mid-16th century, during the secularization, Duke Ulrich I of Mecklenburg-Güstrow took over the complex and had it converted into a palace. After the extinction of the Güstrow ducal line, the palace passed to the Dukes of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, who expanded it in the early 17th century and rebuilt it after the devastations of the Thirty Years' War under Duke Gustav Adolf. It later served as a widow's residence and administrative building before burning down in 1945 and becoming a ruin. Extensive safeguarding and restoration measures have been underway since 1991.