Güstrow is a town of thirty-one thousand in central Mecklenburg, and one of the best places in the region to walk around for an hour with a coffee in your hand. It was once a ducal residence, and in the sixteenth century the dukes built a splendid Renaissance palace here, one of the finest in northern Germany, with decorated gables, a big courtyard and an Italian-influenced design. The old centre, with its market square, brick gothic houses and half-timbered corners, is compact and pleasant, and the cathedral, a vast brick church from the thirteenth century, rises above the roofs.
The artist who made Güstrow famous was Ernst Barlach, the sculptor and writer, who lived and worked here from 1910 until his death in 1938. His angel, a bronze figure hovering with closed eyes, hangs in the cathedral, made in 1927 as a memorial to the dead of the First World War. The Nazis removed it as degenerate art and melted it down, but a cast had been secretly kept, and a replica now hangs in its place. Barlach's studio house and workshop beside the lake are open as a museum, and the Inselsee, a large lake at the edge of town, makes a pleasant place to stroll or swim in summer.
This is a stop for food and a short wander, not for corners. The surrounding country is flat to gently rolling farmland with avenues of old trees, and the roads are straight and quiet, with views over fields of rape, which blaze yellow in May, and maize in late summer. Surfaces are variable, with patches of cobbles in the villages, and there are often farm vehicles. Wind from the Baltic can be strong across the open land.
Fuel and supermarkets are easy to find, and restaurants around the market square serve regional dishes such as fish from the lakes, duck with red cabbage, and rhubarb cake. Park on the edge of the old town and walk in, as the cobbled streets can be slippery in the wet. Spring and early autumn are the pleasantest seasons, and the long summer evenings are good for a late meal. The palace courtyard hosts concerts in summer.