Holstein Switzerland

Most of the area falls within the districts of Ostholstein and Plön, roughly between the cities of Lübeck and Kiel and extends as far north as the Baltic coast.

Its major towns include Bad Malente-Gremsmühlen, Lütjenburg, Oldenburg in Holstein, Preetz and the old Residenz seats of Eutin and Plön.

Small woods alternate rapidly with hedged, arable fields and the terrain is characterised by its many lakes nestling amongst low hills.

Rivers and water meadows abound, such as the Schwentine, which flows into Kiel Fjord or the Kossau, which discharges into the Großer Binnensee.

At the beginning of the recent era, these manorial seats formed the basis of aristocratic estates (Adliges Güter) which dominated the landscape and the economy from about 1500 until the 20th century.

Until the middle of the 19th century the area was dominated by Denmark, which initially ran the region as a feoff, but eventually integrated it into the Danish nation-state.