Eutin Castle

The castle of Eutin was founded in the 12th century. The four-winged palace originated from a medieval castle and was expanded over several centuries into a Residenz. The castle originally belonged to the Lübeck prince-bishops, later it became the summer residence of the Dukes of Oldenburg.

After a fire in 1689 the castle was rebuilt by baroquisations, this culminated by the foundation of a magnificent baroque park. In 1773/74 the Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorf became Duke of Oldenburg an Delmenhorst and the castle became summer residence of the Oldenburg dynasty. The French styled park was changed into an English landscape garden. With the end of monarchy the castle was used as a museum.

Today the presentation is connecting original architecture with original furnishing.

The castle was regularly occupied until the 20th century, and most of the interior has survived to the present day. Today the castle houses a museum and is open to the public in summer. It is now owned by a family foundation headed by Anton-Günther Duke of Oldenburg. The former baroque garden was converted during the 18th and 19th century to a landscaped park; this is the venue for the Eutin festivals.

Wide avenues, beautiful trees and a small sun temple are all part of the castle park layout, which naturally incorporates Lake Eutin as part of the landscape too. In line with the Enlightenment, Duke Peter Frederick Louis transformed the garden into an English landscape garden with a hermitage designed as a grotto at the end of the 18th century. The park also provides the setting for the annual Eutin Festival, which sees major operas and operettas performed on an open-air stage every summer.