Culture in Schleswig-Holstein

The medieval Hanseatic German town of Lubeck is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and attracts visitors from the whole world as it offers a look into the house in which the writers Thomas und Heinrich Mann were born, the Günter Grass House and the valuable collections of the Hanseatic Middle Ages.

Holstentor at Lübeck © Staatskanzlei

Culture, architecture and landscape harmonise well in many parts of this state. The town of Eutin with its castle, library and garden is called the ”Weimar of the North“.Plon Castle features extensive lakes and forests, Glucksburg, Ahrensburg and Husum Renaissance Castles and the many manor houses typify this wide state. A commanding cathedral which has an altar dating from the 16th century is located in Schleswig, the oldest diocesan town of this Land.

State Museum "Schloss Gottorf" at Schleswig © TASH

Museums can be found everywhere in the most beautiful surroundings of Schleswig-Holstein, such as the Nolde Museum in Seebull, the Jewish Museum in the historic old part of the town of Rendsburg, the Museumsberg in Flensburg or the Heikendorf Art Museum, the Wenzel Hablik Museum in Itzehoe or the North Frisian Museum in Husum. The Schloß Gottorf Museum of the Land of Schleswig-Holstein impresses with its rich art collections and the reconstruction of a passable (you can walk through it) globe dating back to the 17th century and located in the baroque garden. The Kiel Arts Hall, which is located adjacent to the narrow coastal inlet of the City of Kiel displays its 150-year-old collection and also expositions made by artists who are internationally famous. Northern and Central Europe have been meeting in Schleswig-Holstein for thousands of years: the Viking Museum in Haithabu, well known for its archaeological open-air exhibition area and the Molfsee Open-Air Museum convey a vivid impression of life and of commercial practice in the last centuries in Schleswig-Holstein.

The music festival in the countryside © Staatskanzlei

Every summer, during the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, concerts are given on estates, in former barns and in parks, presenting a memorable experience, in great scenery. Other festivals have been internationally acknowledged, such as the Lubeck Nordic Film, the Jazz Baltica, the Eutin Festival, the Rarities of the Piano Music Festival at Husum Castle, the Thespis Theatre Festival, the Karl May Festivals in Bad Segeberg or the Wacken Open Air Heavy Metal Festival.

Something else characterises the culture in this most Northern part of Germany: Schleswig-Holstein is the only German Land in which two national minorities and an ethnic minority live. The Danish minority group lives in the region called Schleswig, whereas the German Sinti and Romani minority groups live everywhere in this Land. The Friesian ethnic minority live on the West Coast, the North Friesian Isles and on the German isle of Helgoland. Five languages are traditionally spoken in Schleswig-Holstein, and that is more than in any other German Land. In addition to High German, the regional and minority languages such as Low German, Danish, Friesian and Romanes are under protection of the European cultural heritage by the European Charta of Regional and Minority Languages.

Further information as to the Land of Schleswig-Holstein as a travel and culture destination can be found on the Tourist Agency Schleswig-Holstein website.