Itzehoe – Breitenburg Forest, Breitenburg Castle and Stördeich (No. 6)

(S/E) The walking tour starts at the weekly market square in Itzehoe. There are also parking facilities here. We walk to Schumacherallee, follow it a short way to the left and turn right behind the car park.

(1) We walk along the shore of Lake Malzmüllerwiesen, past the Itzehoe Rowing Club, and then turn left through Cirencester Park. We leave the park at the first opportunity by turning right onto the road, then take the second left.

(2) We walk along a narrow path past a few houses and then enter the Breitenburger Forest. We follow the signposts along beautiful forest paths. At the Eichtal junction, we turn right. We come to a pond, turn right and follow the path for about 1.5 km.

(3) Near the fish ponds, we keep to the right at the fork and turn right at the second junction, walking past the fish ponds. We reach Charlottenberg Road, which we follow to the left.

(4) We pass the Wallenstein Oak. There, we leave the woods and turn right. We cross the road ‘Am Schloß’ towards the Breitenburg Ferry, which was a popular day-trip destination until a few years ago.

(5) We continue to the small bridge at Breitenburg Castle and enter the castle courtyard. The
beautiful old fountain harbours a secret – here, on the inner wall of the fountain, grows Asplenium trichomanes L. – the brown-stemmed striped fern. This species is now found in only eight locations worldwide!
Breitenburg Castle in Breitenburg is one of the most significant secular buildings in the Steinburg district and was one of the political and cultural centres of Schleswig-Holstein in the 16th and 17th centuries.

(6) We follow the footpath running parallel to the road ‘Am Schloß’ to the right and reach Osterholz Street; we walk past the golf course and soon come to the ‘Fuxbau’ restaurant, which invites us to stop for a bite to eat.

(7) We continue our walk towards Münsterdorf, following the signposts; we turn right onto Osterstraße, then take the second left onto Anscharstraße and then right onto Deichstraße, which we leave at the next opportunity by turning right.

(8) Turn left onto the Stördeich to head back to Itzehoe.

(9) We reach the L119, follow the signpost to the right and, just past the river, turn right again. Then take the second left onto Schumacherallee, which we follow to the right.

(S/E) We turn left and arrive back at the weekly market square.

Marker: green dot with a white 6

Further information: Steinburg District Hiking Club

Wallenstein’s Oak (4)
In 1627, the imperial troops under Commander-in-Chief Wallenstein advanced into northern Germany. In late summer, they laid siege to Breitenburg for two weeks, plundered the extensive library and burnt down parts of the castle grounds. Wallenstein chose a very special spot from which to observe the castle: according to contemporary accounts, he used an oak tree – which was felled in 1875 – on Breitenburger Weg at the junction with Charlottenhöhe. A memorial stone was placed at the site, inscribed with the words
“Wallenstein’s Oak, felled on 16 August 1875”.

Breitenburg Ferry (4)
Since 1979, a bronze sculpture by the sculptor Karlheinz Goedtke has served as a reminder of the past and history of this crossing over the Stör. It depicts the various stages of development, from a ford to a ferry, a wooden bridge, a steel bridge and finally the present-day prestressed concrete bridge.

Breitenburg Castle (5)
Over the course of its nearly 500-year history, this two-winged complex has been converted from a fortified Renaissance residence into a historicist country estate. As it remains in the family’s possession and is still inhabited, public access is limited.

The history of the castle grounds
Johann Rantzau, the castle’s builder, in a 16th-century painting. In the Middle Ages, the area around Breitenburg Castle in the Stör lowlands formed part of the extensive estates of Bordesholm Abbey. In 1526, the military commander Johann Rantzau acquired the lands. Rantzau served the Danish king as governor of the Duchy of Holstein and hailed from the neighbouring town of Steinburg. The Rantzaus were among the wealthiest and most influential families in Schleswig-Holstein and already owned extensive lands and productive estates. Johann Rantzau intended to build a residence for himself and a further estate on the site, which had been left barren following a flood in 1521. The only hill in the wider vicinity was a grassy dune topped by a small monastic farmstead, known as the Breitenberg. In the 16th century, it was still very much necessary to fortify a noble residence, and from a strategic point of view, the gentle hill offered the ideal conditions for this. The old farmstead was demolished and, from 1530, a manor house was built – the future Breitenburg.