I am planning a trip to Schleswig Holstein in February to do some genealogy research at the Land Archives center.

I would like to stay in the city of Schleswig. I have been in Hamburg and Luebeck but have never been north to the area around Schleswig before.

Could anyone tell me about the city in terms of nice hotels, things to see/do, and winter conditions for visiting as a tourist?

I know Schleswig is not big so will things be closed? Will it be tough to get around using public transportation as I will not be renting a car. Thank you

Schwerin is certainly a fine fine city with a famous castle on a lake

not sure how close it is to Schleswig, which i'm not familiar with

I do remember from school that the answer to the Schleswig Holstein question is that they are not worth the bones of a single pomeranian grenadier.

Can we do the Corn Laws next?

You will find some very basic information on Schleswig and the surrounding region here:
http://www.ostseefjordschlei.de/en/home/index.php

Getting there is no big problem as Schleswig is on the Hamburg-Flensburg-Denmark main railway line.

Getting around without a car will probably be not too much of a problem, unless you need or want to go to small villages in the countryside which may only have a limited number of bus services per day.

The coast of the Baltic sea is more a summer destination (no surprise, I guess), but you will always find some tourists there who like the sea better without the masses. Some or many restaurants in beach resorts will close for the winter, but since Schleswig is neither on the coast nor a touristy town in the first place, you won't much of an off-season impact there.

Museums are open, e.g. Gottdorf castle and the somewhat famous Vikings museum, but hours are usually shorter than in summer.

Schwerin is quite a trail from Schleswig, especially without a car. I think you will have to change trains in Hamburg.
You can check www.viamichelin.com for distances, and www.bahn.de for rail connections.

CW, you might also have learned what Lord Palmerston had to say about it: “The Schleswig-Holstein question is so complicated, only three men in Europe have ever understood it. One was Prince Albert, who is dead. The second was a German professor who became mad. I am the third and I have forgotten all about it.”

Anselm

Don't let them scare you wentwest...

Schleswig has two main sights to offer: Gottorf palace, now a museum, and the Viking museum of Haithabu. Both are open all winter.
More details: http://www.schloss-gottorf.de/ (in German, but I suppose you understand German)
Besides, there is the gothic cathedral.
The town is situated quite prettily above the fjordlike river Schlei, though in winter it won't be that lovely.
Close by is Arnim, Germany's smallest city (600 or so inhabitants).

Winter conditions? Prepare for lots of wind and lots of rain.

Sorry, can't tell about hotels.

The schleswig_Holstein Question:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schlesw...stein_Question

Don't you do this in school over there? Between this, the Concert of Vienna and the Corn Laws you pretty much have a British History O Level.

Um, no. It's something that History majors addicted to small details (e.g., me) might look into, but generally, no.

Do you do the Gadsden Purchase over there? Panama Canal Treaty?

- Emil Nolde Museum (modern painter) in Seebüll:
http://www.nolde-stiftung.de/index.php?LANG=EN

- Viking Museum Haithabu:
www.haithabu.de

- The charming towns Husum and Büsum (shrimp ports)

- The island Sylt (beaches, dunes, seafood restaurants)

Thanks for the responses from those not feeling emotional about the Danish/German border quandries.

If anyone has a suggestion on a hotel in Schleswig I would really appreciate it. Thanks again.

Last Winter we visited Schleswig during an extremely dreary, cold, rainy New Year's Eve. We numbered 7 in our group and it was often a chore finding a cuisine all could agree on. Very few restaurants were open, however my GPS unit indicated that there was a micro-brewery along the riverfront. We decided to check out the Asgaard Brewery and were amazed to find it open. (http://tinyurl.com/2g6aqh)

Inside, the restaurant features high ceilings, seafaring artifacts, dark wood floors and a welcoming ambience.

On a night where we were numbed by the cold and extremely tired, it was a relief to find menus already on the table (rare anywhere in Europe). We were able to find foods that all of us were eager to eat. Not exactly gourmet dining, but our 12 inch plates were almost completley covered by Jäger-, Wiener, or Rahm-schnitzel with tons of sauce. That alone would've fed each of us but like most German restaurants, we also got large sides of salad, rolls and the best fries ever. Of course the beer (especially the wheat) was superb. Our waitress was a lot of fun and took very good care of us. Dinner with 2 large beers was less than $25 per person.

We stayed just outside town in a quaint, cheap inn. The Ruhekrug (http://tinyurl.com/2xg65g)was nothing special, but the beds were big, the room clean and warm, and the breakfast was sumptuous. The hotel staff was very accomodating regarding our early departure and came in early themselves just to prepare the breakfast buffet.

The purpose of our visit was also to do some genealogy research. Our family came from further North near Haderslev, Denmark. We found that the hotel prices were much more reasonable in Schleswig than in Denmark.

As no one seems to have a hotel recommendation, I suggest that you look on the "Hotel Reservation website". They have two hotels. People who actually use the hotels through HRS are allowed to rate them. The ratings are generally pretty stiff so you can feel fairly safe with them. Plus HRS has a secure site through which to make a reservation. We have had very good luck with them.

http://www4.hrs.de/

Regards, Gary

We were in Schleswig this past June. We used it as a central location to tour the surrounding region. We unfortunately, did not give the city near enough time.

In addition to the suggestions already given, here are some others:
- St. Peter's Cathedral, Romanesque-Gothic hall church with 16th-century Bordesholm Altarpiece, with 400 carved figures.
- The Globe House behind the Schloss - an early planetarium, good English audio tour, we also had a guide that spoke some English
- The fishing village of Holm - it feels like a movie set!

We also ate at Asgaard and highly recommend it! Great local food and beer.

We stayed at www.hotelhahn.de on a residential street, about a 10 minute walk to the bus station, and to the pedestrian zone. The renovated turn of the century house has only open a little over a year. We thought it was a great value. Modern rooms and bathrooms with free wifi and international phone. The local owners speak English and are young, friendly and helpful. You can even get a small dinner meal there for an additional cost.

Suggesting Schwerin in connection with Schleswig makes about as much sense as telling people wanting to see New York to go to Boston, because it's nice, too.
Schwerin is about 230 km from Schleswig and not even in the same state (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern vs. Schleswig Holstein).

Hotels in Schleswig could be a bit of a problem. There aren't too many options and the ones that are there may be a bit dated. Strandhalle is asscociated with the Ringhotel chain, I believe, and could be an option.
http://www.hotel-strandhalle.de/

A bit of a drive (25 km), but compensating with Michelin starred cuisine, is Toepferhaus am Bistensee:
http://www.toepferhaus.com/en/home.php

Excellent accomodations and a very good spa can be found at Hotel Alter Meierhof in Glueckburg, but that is already a 50 km drive as it's on the Flensburger Foerde.
http://www.alter-meierhof.de/

For activities, I agree with Quokka: Haithabu and Schloss Gottorf are the things to do.
Arnis is a quaint and quiky little town, too.
The area would be more appealing in warmer months, but hikes along the Schlei fjord can still be attractive.

Arnis, of course - sorry for typo.

Zeus, The Asgaard looks like an interesting little joint. I will go there for sure.

Wanderfrau, I will definitely checkout the Hotel Hahn. Looks like a good location for non car users.

I have one more general question for those with knowledge of the area.

Just out of curiosity, how do you all feel about the German State of Schleswig Holstein in terms of its overall attractiveness? I know its not Bavaria, but how would you describe it relative to other German areas? Thanks so much for the info.

For Germans, Schleswig-Holstein belongs to the most attractive tourist destinations, much more attractive than Bavaria (and thus more expensive than Bavaria). In summer, on each weekend, there are long traffic jams on the autobahns leading from Germany's most populated Land, Nordrhein-Westfalen, to Schleswig-Holstein.

It is glacial drift country, with rolling hills and many small lakes. Furthermore, there are two attractive coasts: the Baltic coast with snow-white long-stretched beaches, and the north sea coast with a tideland coast. Sylt on the North Sea also has gorgeous beaches. Sylt is Germany's top-notch tourist destination.

You find many attractive ports&towns. Seafood everywhere. Büsum and Husum are ports for shrimp boats. Specialties are the small, greyish and very aromatic North Sea Shrimp (Krabben). They are consumed in large heaps on buttered whole-grain black bread with scrambled eggs. Smoked fish is abundant.

Nice houses, some thatched. Some nice traditions, like drinking "Pharisäer" (hypocrites): coffee with a generous shot of rum and covered with whipped cream to conceal the booze. There is also a version with hot chocolate. The North German beer is hearty and tasty - not the colored water which is brewed in Bavaria.

For those interested in history:

Schleswig-Holstein is the homeland of the Angles, the people who emigrated to the British Isles from 200 A.D. There they mixed with Saxons and formed the Anglo-Saxons. After 600 A.D., the name Angles changed to Engles from which the word "England" is derived. So you will be in the area where you find the roots of England and the English.

In fact, the English language is still a Germanic dialect, which was influenced by some French words after the Normannic conquest in 1066. As the Normans formed nobility, French words were associated with nobility, and anglo-saxon (German) words with peasants.

The English words for animals are basically German, like cow (Kuh) or swine (Schwein). The words for food are basically French, like beef (boef) and pork (porc). (Meat, however, comes from German "Mett&quot.

Still many words are identical or similar in English and German, like hand (Hand), finger (Finger), nose (Nase) etc. The north German dialect, which is spoken in Schleswig-Holstein, is even closer to English.

Traveler1959,

Wow. That is an amazing post. You must be a writer. Any chance I could get you to share more because I am very interested in learning all I can. Thanks alot.

One more try...asking for general opinions or interesting information on/about Schleswig Holstein. Thanks for all the help.

Reading <i>Royal Flash</i> by George MacDonald Fraser might give an interesting view on the Schleswig/Holstein Question.

Good book too.