Ratzeburg

Ratzeburg occupies an island in the Ratzeburger See connected to the shore by three causeways. Henry the Lion founded the cathedral around 1154 as part of the expansion of the Saxon church eastward, and it is one of the earliest brick buildings in northern Germany, built when the technique of firing brick was newly reintroduced to the region and before the mature brick Gothic of Lübeck. The interior is heavy Romanesque with later Gothic elements. The sculptor Ernst Barlach spent his childhood in the town and a museum in his father's house holds his work. Rowing is a strong local tradition on the lake.

History

Ratzeburg was founded in the 11th century as Racisburg, its name traditionally from the Wendish prince Ratibor, nicknamed Ratse; in 1044 missionaries under the monk Ansverus built a monastery here, destroyed in a pagan rising in 1066, and Ansverus, canonised in the 12th century, was later entombed in the cathedral. Henry the Lion took the town in 1143, founded a bishopric in 1154 and built the late Romanesque brick cathedral, and from 1180 part of the diocese formed a prince-bishopric, the last in northern Germany to stay Catholic, until it turned Lutheran in 1554. The town itself belonged to Saxe-Lauenburg from around 1296, became its capital in 1619, passed with Lauenburg to the Danish crown after the Congress of Vienna and to the Prussian king in 1865, and on 1 July 1876 the duchy became the district of Herzogtum Lauenburg, seated in Ratzeburg (Wikipedia, Ratzeburg).

What to look for

• The brick cathedral - one of the earliest brick buildings in the north.
• The island town - a settlement on a lake island with three causeways.
• The Barlach museum - the sculptor's childhood house and works.
• The rowing tradition - a lake used by a well-known rowing club.

When to go

May to September; boat trips run on the lake in season. The cathedral closes during services. The town is small and quiet year-round.

Things to know

The town is small, seen in half a day. Museums keep limited hours. Boat services stop in winter.

Nearby

Mölln lies south; Lübeck is north.

Key facts