Granitz castle

Granitz Hunting Lodge is one of the most popular castles in eastern Germany. The architecture is absolutely not typical for Germany, such castles can be seen in Italy, but not here.


Construction began in 1838. Curiously, the castle has become a tourist attraction long time ago. Putbus Princes, who built and owned it at the beginning of the last century, organized a museum inside, which turned out to be very popular.


The castle was also popular with celebrities and politics. Here were Prussian king Friedrich Wilhelm IV, king of Denmark Christian VIII, and German chancellor Otto von Bismarck. Hunting grounds are located around the castle, trophies of the guests can be seen in the museum.






Interiors are not particularly luxurious, since everything valuable was taken out by the Soviet occupation authorities. Most of it is lost forever. Current items were taken from other residences in the district.


Most interesting part is the central tower. It is hollow inside and you can climb it along a rather dangerous staircase. The steps stick out of the walls without other support. It will be scary if you are afraid of heights.


Upstairs there is an observation deck. Since the castle is located on the Temple Mount (Tempelberg), the visibility is pretty good. At the time of the GDR border guards were sitting on the tower. Not only in the USSR people wanted to escape to the west from the communist paradise. In the GDR was the same situation, some even sailed and swimmed 50 kilometers to Denmark! Border guards were looking for such "escapers".


Putbus family owned the castle until 1944, when it was taken away by the National Socialists (Nazis). The heirs tried to return the castle through court, but the state did not give it away.

Find here opening hours https://www.mv-schloesser.de/de/location/schloss-granitz/.

Getting there: paid parking is here N 54 23.464 E 13 36.942, you cannot get closer by car. Further 2 km through the forest on foot. There is also a tourist train Jagdschlossexpress from the parking. The same train goes from other places in the vicinity, its schedule can be found here https://jagdschlossexpress.de/. As of 2019 the stops are: Seebücke Binz (N 54 24.105 E 13 36.884), Hotel Rugard, IFA Ferienpark, Dünenpark. It is also possible to reach by Rügen narrow-gauge railway (schedule) to the Jagdschloß stop.