May 12, 2009, 8:57 GMT
Schwerin, Germany - The sun glints on the picturesque Pfaffenteich lake and a cathedral rises in the distance. From the smallest of many lakes which surround this north Germany city visitors have a fine view of one of the country's premier summer attractions. It is the annual federal horticultural show or BUGA which is expected to draw more than 1.5 million visitors this summer.
The historical state capital of Mecklenburg-Western Pommerania with its wealth of architectural gems and cobbled streets has always been well worth a visit but tourists now have seven more reasons for venturing to these parts. The BUGA gardens are laid out like pearls on a necklace or pools of lush green amid shimmering blue water. There are seven of them in all, reflecting the motto of this year's show which is Seven gardens right in the centre.'
From April 23 to October 11 the BUGA is being held in the heart of a German city again. The distances between the attractions in Schwerin are short and the Pfaffeneich itself is only a walk of a few minutes from the railway station. Visitors who tread this path will spot a building on the north bank but are unlikely to guess its purpose. The former electricity generating station is housed in a neo-Renaissance edifice whose castellated towers give it a much more whimsical appearance.
'The city theatre people use it as a staging area,' points out city guide Ingo Gundlach.
Fanciful buildings like this are typical for Schwerin where architectural experimentation was not frowned upon as it was elsewhere. After all, the city was for centuries the home of the dukes of Mecklenburg who were accustomed to the buildings they proposed being erected with no questions asked. Many an architect was willing to please, including Georg Adolph Demmler, some of whose unrealised plans have only now been completed.
The so-called 21st Century Garden at the show, which was constructed on an artificial platform last year, occupies a rectangular reclaimed area of meadow which has been dredged and returned to its former state.
'Demmler had planned to create a public park on this very spot,' explains Gundlach.
The area will remain a leisure facility after the BUGA closes its gates. Schwerin City Hall with its neo-Gothic facade was built by Demmler and it looks out over a handsome market square. Tourists like to sip their coffee below the classical columns of the nearby Market Hall and watch the world go by. In doing so their eyes inevitably fall on a modern monument to one of the most powerful of all German princes, Henry the Lion who founded Schwerin in 1160.
The city is the oldest in the state, much to the chagrin of the proud Baltic port city of Rostock which also has to content itself with second place in the spire-stakes. Behind the market place the spire soars 117.5 metres into the sky - 'Exactly half a metre taller than its counterpart in Rostock,' says Ingo Gundlach.
Yet Schwerin's most celebrated landmark is not this house of worship but the castle, whose many turrets and battlements give it a fairytale air reminiscent of Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria. 'The history of this building goes back a thousand years,' says Gundlach. Its present appearance dates back however to the middle of the 19th century and not surprisingly architect Demmler was largely responsible for that too.
Renovation at the castle has been going on for years and the bulk of the work was completed in time for the floral festival. The neglected six-hectare southern section of the historic garden area had reverted to mixed woodland in recent decades. It has now been opened-up again as a part of the park and visitors can enjoy a historic hippodrome riding area along with a maze.
The waterside and natural gardens lie directly on the banks of one of Germany's largest lakes while a 340-metre-long pontoon bridge links them with the Ducal stables or Marstall where the ministerial buildings of Mecklenburg-Western Pommerania are currently located. These parts have been freshly renovated too and a rose garden has been laid out.
Internet: www.schwerin.info.
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