In Dargun Castle Park you can walk along historical paths.
Today's palace garden shows traces of the Renaissance, Baroque and 19th century, as well as careful reconstruction in recent years. The parterre fields around the pavilion, indicated by slightly lower grass paths, are reminiscent of the design of the palace garden in Güstrow. The Renaissance complex was created under Duke Johann Albrecht, who often stayed in Dargun.
During the 30-year war the garden was devastated. Under Duke Gustav Adolf the palace garden was redesigned in the Baroque style. The old yews are remnants of baroque shaped trees. The garden quarters are aligned by way crosses to the tea pavilion, which was built around 1690.
The relationship with the castle was important for the baroque garden. The garden was accessed from the double flight of steps at the southwest tower. According to a plan by Klett, court gardener in Schwerin, the four-rowed chestnut avenue with red flowering chestnuts was planted along the western castle entrance to the Yellow Gate in the last century, and the arbor with hornbeams south of the church entrance was created.
The agricultural school, which moved to the castle in 1873, used the castle garden for teaching purposes. After 1945, the grounds were parceled out for allotments and a small zoo was established. With the garden reconstruction, the allotments were relocated and an open orchard was re-established. Klett's pergola was reconstructed and one row of the four-row avenue was planted with red flowering chestnut trees.
Today, in the extensive park, you can see, among other things, yew trees over 300 years old, a hornbeam arbor, a ginkgo tree, a large orchard, a fish ladder completed in 2016, and the tea pavilion, which is used as the local registry office. A barrier-free loop trail for visitors with mobility impairments was completed in 2020. The park is open to the public and has ample free parking and a public restroom. You can combine a walk through the park with a tour of the monastery and castle grounds, a visit to "Uns lütt Museum" or a shopping trip to the Darguner Klosterladen.
