Schwerin, Germany

May 24 -26, 2011

This entry falls under "job perks". Sometimes I have opportunities to visit someplace interesting while at the same time the trip is part of my job. This time it was a 3-day trip to the city of Schwerin, capital of the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in north-eastern Germany (one of the former East German states).

I had first visited Schwerin in 1996 but unfortunately didn't take many pictures. It only a couple of years after the Iron Curtain fell and the country was still in a sad shape. But now it has been beautifully fixed up!

It was a 6 hour train ride to get there.... on the high speed trains (the display showed 246 km/h during a section of the ride), along with my boss.

view of the cathedral behind the Pfaffenteich

The Ministry of Internal Affairs

The post office

parliament offices

Paul's Church

the market place

The main attraction, of course, it the castle, located on a small island on one of the many lakes surrounding the city.

This is me in front of the castle in 1996

1996

and the same view in 2011

view from the castle toward the theater

We had a treat on Wednesday afternoon... we were taken on a tour of the castle, which included up in the towers and on the roof!

The net protection is to keep birds out plus there was still construction going on.

this gadget pulls up the chandelier that hangs below this room in one of the greater rooms.

as our guide told us, there were always up to five coffins stored under the roof "just in case".

peeking through holes in the glass windows into the chapel. Due to construction work we couldn't go inside.

in the museum

Grand Duchess Alexandrien of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, 1825

Anna of Hessen-Darmstadt, born May 25, 1843

Grand Duchess Marie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, 1870