Friedrichstadt
A Dutch-looking town founded in 1621 for religious refugees, built on a grid of canals by Dutch engineers.
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Duke Friedrich III founded the town in 1621 intending it as a trading city on a route to Asia, and to populate it he offered religious freedom, which drew Remonstrants from the Netherlands and later Mennonites, Lutherans, Catholics, Quakers and a Jewish community; several of these congregations built their own places of worship, some of which survive. Dutch settlers laid out the town on a grid of canals with stepped-gable brick houses, so it looks unlike anything else in Schleswig-Holstein. The Asia trade never developed and the town stayed small. Punts run trips along the canals in summer.
What you actually see
- The canal grid - a Dutch-planned town of waterways and bridges.
- The stepped gables - brick house fronts in the Dutch manner.
- The congregations' buildings - places of worship from several communities.
- The punt trips - boat runs along the canals in summer.
When to go
May to September for the canal boats and flowers on the bridges. The town is small and quickly walked. Winter is quiet with limited services.
Honest expectations
The town is tiny, seen in two hours. Boat trips are seasonal. Several historic buildings are in private or congregational use.
Nearby
Husum lies north; the Eiderstedt peninsula is west.
What to pack for Friedrichstadt
Chosen from what this place is for. Tap a kit for the full checklist.
Opening times, ticket prices and seasonal closures change - check the official source before you go: official site.
