Mecklenburg Castle

[5] Henry, a younger son of Gottschalk, avenged his father's death by killing the pagan usurper Kruto in 1093.

As part of Duke Henry the Lion of Saxony’s expansionary goals, the Archbishop of Bremen placed a bishop named Emmehard at Mecklenburg in 1149, as the bishopric had been vacant since 1066.

[6] In 1160 King Valdemar the Great of Denmark and Henry the Lion campaigned against the Obotrite prince, Niklot, who burned his castles at Ilow, Mecklenburg, Schwerin, and Dobin in order to avoid being pinned down in sieges.

Niklot was ultimately killed at Werle during the campaign, however, and the Obotrite territory was partitioned between Saxon ministeriales; Mecklenburg Castle passed to Count Heinrich von Schaten.

Niklot's son Pribislav led a Slavic rebellion in 1163 against Henry the Lion and the German lords occupying Obotrite castles.

In need of an ally against the Saxon nobility three years later, Henry allowed Pribislav to receive his father's Niklot's inheritance and became the Prince of Mecklenburg, Kessin, and Rostock.

Although the princes in Schwerin rebuilt the castle at Mecklenburg in 1277 for use as a staging point for raids, it was demolished 45 years later.

The wall was established as a memorial in 1854 by Grand Duke Friedrich Franz II of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, while reforestation with oak trees began two years later.