“The love of one's country is a splendid thing. But why should love stop at the border?” — Pablo Casals

The small coastal resort town of Glücksburg is situated in the northeasternmost corner of Germany a bit off the beaten path. Summer vacationers familiar with the area come here to sail, swim, and relax while most travelers whizz by on the motorway, unaware of the unusual combination of nature and culture on offer. Two beaches and the long, connecting promenade provide a beautiful view over the Flensburg Fjord, an inlet of the Baltic Sea, in any weather to the Kingdom of Denmark that lies on the other side of the border in the water. Frequent regattas organized by the Flensburg Yacht Club and the Hanseatic Sailing School take place here from spring through summer and into autumn, with boats zigzagging casually between the two countries.

During the Middle Ages, only a forest village existed in this area until Cistercian monks built a monastery and a small mill on a low-lying spot in 1210. From this Rudekloster they worked their substantial land holdings and wielded immense political power for over 300 years. The Protestant Reformation of 1517 caused the monks’ departure, and sixty-five years later Duke Johann the Younger of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderborg used many of the granite stones as a foundation for his Renaissance castle. The monastery remains were sunk, along with the cemetery and the graves of a thousand monks, in the lake that now surrounds the castle.

Duke Johan called his magnificent water castle Glücksburg, or happiness castle, after his motto “God grant happiness with freedom”. This historic building has direct connections to Germany’s neighbor to the north because Johann was the son of the Danish King Christian III and the brother of another king, Frederick II. It is an enchanting, white-washed castle three stories high with four octagonal towers at the corners that have peaked tile roofs. Curiously, each tower has at least one, if not two, small closet-sized rooms that jut out over the lake. These closets house nothing more or less than a toilet with an outlet to the lake below, giving literal meaning to the term WC- water closet. The lovely chapel and the knight’s hall with its white vaulted ceiling shouldn’t be missed, nor should the stunning castle views from the footpath that circumnavigates the lake.

The town that grew alongside the castle first became a “residence city” for the duchy. Eventually, Glücksburg received market rights and became independent, yet it remained a favorite summer residence for Danish kings until the 1850s. Since then, Glücksburg has been transformed into a German spa town that revolves around visitors to the seaside, though its border location invites many Danish as well as German guests. There are a variety of shops and restaurants as well as a fancy café whose menu exists exclusively of layer cake. The wonderfully fragrant Rosarium garden next to the café is an alluring place to stop and literally smell the roses, while the adjacent castle gardens lead to a shady walking path that snakes through the woods around the castle lake.

Don’t miss:

Visiting the castle to see the beautiful chapel, tapestries, and the knights’ banqueting hall.

Lunch Tip:

Sandwig Strandbistro for good fish, soups, and sandwiches and a view of the Flensburg Fjord

Bedtime:

The intimate, family-run Hotel Am Wasserschloss, up on the hill overlooking Glücksburg Castle, that serves excellent German fare.

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*All photographs are mine, taken with my Nikon D3100 or iPhone 8.*