Slavic Castle / Gord - Groß Raden Open-Air on Lake Sternberg

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Slavic Castle / Gord - Another highlight during our stay in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania was the Groß Raden Open-Air Museum on Lake Sternberg, which was completely unknown to us until then.

We had heard a few stories about the Slavic ethnic group, but nothing about the open-air museum of a Slavic Castle / Gord on the peninsula in Lake Sternberg... and we highly recommend the site for a thorough visit, especially if you want to experience a real adventure with the children.
A little knowledge about the Slavs and their era would be important, however, because even historians disagree on the origins of this ethnic group.

For example, the fact that the Slavs consist of many different nations and peoples, including Russians, Belarusians, Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, Ukrainians, and, of course, the former Yugoslavs. These include the Slovenes, Croats, Bosnians, Serbs, Montenegrins, North Macedonians, and their neighbours, the Bulgarians. Things, we hope we could learn at the Slavic Castle / Gord.

But more on the ethnic group later, as the reader will surely be interested in details about the open-air museum first.

Slavic Castle / Gord - Entrance building as museum and exhibition space

Those arriving by car will be directed to a paid parking lot at the entrance to Groß Rhaden, which is recommended, although there are additional parking spaces near the entrance building.

However, the route through the village is also worth considering as it is interesting.

In addition to the small museum, the ticket office and restrooms are also located in the entrance building of the open-air area, located halfway between the parking lot and the open-air area.

The building of houses as a permanent exhibition at Slavic Castle / Gord is based on the history of the museum, the "Treasure Chamber," changing special exhibitions, the museum shop, and vending machines (water and coffee). The exhibition building also has rooms for museum education.

Opposite the exhibition building, on the shore of the lake, are a playground, a boat dock, and a small swimming area.

The Groß Raden Archaeological Open-Air Museum with Slavic Castle / Gord belongs to the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern State Office for Culture and Monument Preservation.

Its scientific foundation was laid by excavations conducted in the 1970s under the direction of Ewald Schuldt on the peninsula in the lake where the open-air grounds are now located.

As director of the then Museum of Prehistory and Early History in Schwerin, Ewald Schuldt drove the open-air museum project forward.

It was finally opened in his presence in 1987.

Forest path leads to the Groß Rhaden open-air grounds

Through the forest, the path leads to the open-air grounds, which jut out into the Sternberg inland lake as a peninsula. A ditch and a palisade separate the grounds from the mainland.

Over a bridge and the gatehouse, the path leads to the reconstructed settlement of the Slavic period.

Here, one can truly feel transported back several centuries and behave accordingly. In the summer months, "real Slavic people" can often be found here, filling the camp with life.

Thus, anyone who passes through the gatehouse of the Slavic Castle / Gord enters a world from another time.

The houses and workshops, furnished as they were in the Slavic period, are located in an open space.

This is also where the medieval camps are held, where participants arrive in historical costumes, pitch their tents, and offer their wares. At the far end of the settlement is the sanctuary, a rectangle of vertical oak planks, the upper ends of which are decorated with heads.
The route continues along a planked path that leads to a bridge.

This connects the settlement to a hillfort, whose tunnel gate has been faithfully reconstructed.

A section of the original facade has also been reconstructed.

From the hillfort, the view sweeps over the lake, the settlement, and the replica boats with which the Slavs once travelled on lakes, rivers, and seas.

All of the reconstructions found here have an archaeological model. Most were even excavated on site, as a settlement with a sanctuary and hillfort already stood on this site around 1,000 years ago.

Their remains formed the basis for the reconstruction.

When true medieval enthusiasts visit the grounds during the summer months, life is in full swing: from bread baking and cooking medieval meals to blacksmithing, there's movement and activity everywhere, always something to join in at slavic castle / gord.

It's definitely worth spending the day out there, especially since the program for adult visitors also offers a wide range of activities.

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