Visiting Schwerin, Germany: Top Sights on Foot

The best things to do in Schwerin include visiting Schwerin Castle, exploring the Old Town, admiring Brick Gothic and Baroque churches, and walking through the grand Schlossgarten. The capital of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania combines a historic royal residence with lakeside scenery and a compact collection of cultural landmarks. Neywo offers a free audio guide for Schwerin with 46 narrated places, so you can discover the city while walking at your own pace.

What to See in Schwerin

Schwerin Cathedral

Schwerin Cathedral is one of the city’s essential sights and a major monument of North German Brick Gothic. Dedicated to the Virgin Mary and Saint John, it is an Evangelical Lutheran cathedral and the only true cathedral in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. It is also Schwerin’s sole surviving medieval building.

Construction of the stone cathedral began in 1172, and the building was consecrated in 1248. The nave and transept were completed during the fourteenth century. Its transept gives the church a distinctive form, while the north cloister dates from near the end of the fifteenth century. The tower is much later, having been built between 1889 and 1893.

Schwerin Castle

Schwerin Castle is the city’s defining landmark. Built on an island in Lake Schwerin, the palace was the main residence of the dukes and grand dukes of Mecklenburg and Mecklenburg-Schwerin for centuries.

The unusual five-wing complex combines several architectural periods. Construction began in 1560 under Duke Johann Albrecht the First in the Renaissance style, while the present complex was completed in 1857 in the Neo-Renaissance style. Georg Adolf Demmler and Friedrich August Stüler worked on the building, drawing inspiration from French Renaissance castles.

Today, part of the castle houses the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern state parliament. Other areas contain a palace museum, a restaurant and spaces for cultural events. Inside, the ancestral gallery, throne room and castle church are among the notable rooms.

Alter Garten and Staatliches Museum Schwerin

The Staatliches Museum Schwerin stands beside Schwerin Lake and the Alter Garten. Together with Schwerin Castle, the State Theatre, the State Chancellery and the Altes Palais, this area forms one of Germany’s few completely preserved historicist squares.

Commissioned by Frederick Francis the Second, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, the museum opened in 1882. Hermann Willebrand designed the building according to the most modern principles of the time. Its collections contain well over 100,000 works, including paintings, works on paper, sculpture, coins, medals, weapons, furniture and decorative arts.

Altes Palais

The Altes Palais, also known as the Altstädtisches Palais, Prinzenpalais or Alexandrinenpalais, is a timber-framed building at the Alten Garten. It once served as a residence for members of the ducal family and is now the seat of the state parliament administration.

The two-storey building has two wings set at right angles, along with a hipped roof, dormer-like gables and roof windows. It dates from the end of the eighteenth century and was extended to the north in 1799. Georg Adolf Demmler later connected the neighbouring house at Schloßstraße 3 to the palace with an archway.

Mecklenburgisches Staatstheater Schwerin

The Mecklenburg State Theatre is Schwerin’s principal theatre and a six-part theatre presenting drama, opera, musical theatre, ballet and other performances. Its main building, the Großes Haus, seats 650 people.

The present theatre was designed by Georg Daniel and built between 1883 and 1886 after the previous court theatre was destroyed by fire. It opened on 3 October 1886 with a performance of Christoph Willibald Gluck’s opera Iphigénie en Aulide. The complex also includes the State Museum and a 240-seat concert hall used for chamber music.

Schlossgarten Schwerin

Schlossgarten Schwerin is one of northern Germany’s most important Baroque garden complexes. Covering 33 hectares, the park combines formal design, water, sculpture and nature.

Its present form began in 1748, based on plans by Jean Laurent Legeay, although the garden was extensively reshaped and expanded during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The Cross Canal forms the heart of the design, reflecting Schwerin Castle in its water. Avenues, bosquets, pavilions, arcades and fountains shape the grounds, which also include a large grotto, a hippodrome and a cascading lawn.

Reiterdenkmal Friedrich Franz II.

In the Schlossgarten, the equestrian monument to Grand Duke Friedrich Franz the Second commemorates the ruler who lived from 1823 to 1883. Created in 1893 on the commission of Friedrich Franz the Third, the monument was designed by Ludwig Brunow in the Neo-Baroque style.

The nine-metre-high monument shows Friedrich Franz the Second on horseback in a general’s uniform. Allegorical figures representing strength, justice, wisdom and faith stand beneath him. Since 2024, it has formed part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site known as the Schwerin Residential Ensemble.

Schelf Church of St. Nicholas

In the Schelfstadt quarter, the Schelf Church of St. Nicholas—also called Schelfkirche or St. Nikolai—is notable for its brick walls and Baroque design. Built between 1709 and 1711, it was commissioned by Duke Friedrich Wilhelm the First and designed by Jakob Reutz.

The church is one of the few Baroque churches in northern Germany and was the first major post-Reformation church built in Mecklenburg.

St. Anna and Paulskirche

St. Anna, or Propsteikirche Sankt Anna, holds a special place in Mecklenburg. It is regarded as the mother church of all Catholic churches in the region. At certain periods, it also served as the seat of an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Hamburg, acting as the bishop’s vicar in Mecklenburg.

Paulskirche, also known as St. Paulskirche, is a striking Neo-Gothic church and another prominent place of worship in Schwerin.

Historic buildings in the Old Town

Several smaller landmarks add character to Schwerin’s historic streets. Buschstraße 15, also known as the Zettler House, is a distinctive half-timbered building at the corner of Buschstraße and 3. Enge Straße, with a shop in the building today.

The Demmlerhaus at Arsenalstraße 10, on the corner of Mecklenburgstraße, is a listed building and one of the sights of the historic city district. The Arsenal am Pfaffenteich is another protected historic building; it now serves as the seat of the Ministry of the Interior, Building and Digitalization of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.

Schweriner Marstall and Jagdschloss Friedrichsthal

The Schweriner Marstall is an office building on a small peninsula extending into the inner lake area along Werderstraße. The site is now known as the Marstall Peninsula.

Further away, Jagdschloss Friedrichsthal recalls Mecklenburg’s grand-ducal past. The former hunting residence belonged to Friedrich Franz the First, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg. Both the lodge and the former Cavaliers’ Houses associated with the estate are protected as historic monuments.

Explore Schwerin with a Self-Guided Walking Tour

A Schwerin self-guided walking tour is an easy way to connect the city’s main sights without joining a group. Neywo’s two walks cover the castle district, the Old Town and Schelfstadt:

• Island Castle and Baroque Gardens: The Neuschwanstein of the North — 1.96 km, 116 minutes and 10 narrated stops.
• Brick Gothic Spires, Half-Timbered Lanes and the Schelfstadt — 2.62 km, 120 minutes and 10 narrated stops.

The first walk includes Schwerin Castle, the Altes Palais, the Alter Garten, the State Museum, the Schlosskirche, the Friedrich Franz II monument and the Schlossgarten. The second follows Schwerin Cathedral, St. Anna, Buschstraße 15, Demmlerhaus, the Arsenal am Pfaffenteich, Paulskirche and the Schelf Church.

Download the Free Schwerin Audio Guide

Download Neywo to explore Schwerin with stories for 46 narrated places and two walking tours. Narration is available in 11 languages. The app tells the story of each place as you reach it, at your own pace, with no group and no schedule.

After Schwerin, continue exploring Rostock or Binz, and discover more destinations in Germany.