Germany (Lonely Planet, 6th Edition) - Andrea Schulte-Peevers [631]
The more contemporary collection is equally noteworthy, including an entire Jugendstil Abteilung (Art Nouveau Department), and 20th-century paintings, sketches, lithographs and woodcuts from German artists such as Emil Nolde and Ernst Barlach.
And we haven’t even reached the museum’s two main highlights: the first is the Nydam-Boot, a reconstructed and preserved 28-oar rowing boat from 350 BC, which is housed in its own hall (and sometimes goes on loan to other museums); while the second is a reconstruction of the famous Gottorfer Globus (Gottorf Globe; adult/child Sat & Sun €14/11, Tue-Thu €11/8.50, Mon & Fri €10/7.50; 10am-6pm Apr-Oct), which has been placed in its own house a five-minute walk behind the castle grounds. The original 17th-century globe was lauded as one of the wonders of the world – its first planetarium – but through war ended up being taken from Schleswig to St Petersburg. It’s still there (albeit fire-damaged) in the Lomonosov Museum. The exterior of the 3m-diameter reconstruction shows how the continents and seas were thought to look in the 17th century. The real magic is inside, however. Several people can fit on a bench inside the globe and watch the Renaissance night sky change as the globe spins around them; it takes eight minutes to simulate a day.
You’ll need at least half-a-day to do Schloss Gottorf justice. Kids can rent a special audioguide that weaves together fairy-tale-like stories as it interprets the collections. There’s a cafe and restaurant on-site.
The Schloss is 2km south of the centre (1km north of the Bahnhof).
WIKINGER MUSEUM
It would have been rather dangerous venturing into this area some 1000 to 1200 years ago, when Vikings ruled the roost from their base here at Haithabu, across the Schlei from Schleswig. Fortunately, these days the local warriors are a lot less fearsome, being merely actors and exhibits at the Wikinger Museum (Viking Museum; 813 222; www.haithabu.de; adult/concession/family €6/3.50/13; 9am-5pm Apr-Oct, 10am-4pm Tue-Sun Nov-Mar).
Located just outside the historic settlement (now an archaeological site), this kid-friendly museum features replica huts showing how the Viking families lived their daily lives. There are also seven exhibition halls (designed to resemble Viking boat sheds) with multilingual multimedia displays and artefacts discovered nearby. One of these includes a 30m longboat, since reconstructed.
Seasonal events include an autumn Messe (fair) of Viking crafts, Midsummer’s Day eve and New Year’s Eve, and celebrations during Schleswig’s ‘Viking Days’ festival in August of even-numbered years.
The museum lies east of the B76 that runs between Schleswig and Kiel, about 3km from Schleswig’s Hauptbahnhof. Between May and September, the easiest way to arrive is by ferry (Click here). Otherwise, bus 4810 to Kiel runs all year. Alight at Haddeby.
STADTMUSEUM SCHLESWIG
Another favourite with littlies, Schleswig’s City Museum ( 936 820; www.stadtmuseum-schleswig.de, in German; Friedrichstrasse 9-11; adult/concession/family €4/2/8.50) incorporates an adorable ‘Teddy Bear Haus’ in a half-timbered building off the courtyard. In addition to historic, well-loved bears (some a little worse for wear), there’s a ‘zoo’ of dozens of other stuffed, furry creatures. The museum’s main building charts the history of northern Europe’s oldest city through multimedia exhibits, audiovisual presentations (also in English) and artefacts. It’s signposted a five-minute walk north of the Bahnhof.
HOLM
This quaint-as-can-be traditional fishing village southeast of the Altstadt sits on a peninsula that until 1935 was an island. Its centrepiece is an almost toy-sized chapel in the middle of a small cemetery, which is ringed by a cobbled road and tiny fishermen’s houses.
A handful of locals still