Raben Steinfeld lies between Lake Schwerin and Lake Pinnow. For a stay combining landscape and culture, the area offers a variety of attractions, including protected shores, a path right by the water, a historic castle park with ancient oaks, and geological collections.
Shoreline landscapes and trails
Raben Steinfeld’s nature and landscape conservation areas can be explored via a well-developed network of hiking, cycling and horseback riding trails. This offers a choice of ways to get around while discovering the landscape. The “Görslower Ufer” nature reserve has particularly well-defined boundaries: it forms an approximately ten-kilometre-long shoreline along the eastern shore of the Schweriner Innensee. A hiking trail runs right along the shore. Its waterside location is therefore a defining feature of the area when planning a hike.
At Görslower Ufer, a cliff slope approximately 10 to 15 metres high rises steeply. It was formed by deposits of soil sediments along the main ice-margin positions of the Weichselian glaciation. The steep terrain and its origins add a geological dimension to the view of the shoreline landscape.
Castle, park and ancient oaks
Raben Steinfeld Castle was converted into a grand ducal summer residence at the end of the 19th century and later served as the widow’s residence of Marie of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. The landscaped park surrounding the castle dates back to 1851, when Theodor Klett, court gardener to the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, laid it out. The history of the gardens therefore predates the conversion into a summer residence. In the wider travel destination of Ludwigslust-Parchim, Ludwigslust Palace was the former residence of the Dukes of Mecklenburg.
The park includes a group of 34 so-called “Raben Steinfeld Oaks.” The trees are between 300 and 650 years old and are designated as natural tree monuments. The largest oak has a circumference of 7.40 metres. Raben Steinfeld Castle is also closely connected, both in its location and through its sightlines, with the UNESCO World Heritage Site “Schwerin Residence Ensemble – The Art of Historicism.” The castle grounds thus bring together park history, ancient trees and an art-historical connection.
Glacial erratics and geological discoveries
The Raben Steinfeld boulder garden displays 138 selected glacial erratics from the region. They are considered evidence of the Weichselian glaciation and represent the diverse geology of Scandinavia and the Baltic Sea floor. The Geological Museum Raben Steinfeld focuses on a different geological subject: it gives particular prominence to the 30-million-year-old Sternberg rock, popularly known as “Sternberg cake.” The museum presents it as the fossil-richest rock in northern Germany, with more than 520 species. The two attractions therefore have distinct focuses: the boulder garden features selected rocks from the region, while the museum highlights a particularly fossil-rich rock.
Discover more destinations: Langen BrĂĽtz, Gneven, Cambs, Leezen, Pinnow, Dobin Am See.
Return to the travel overview: Amt Ostufer Schweriner See.
