Schleswig Cathedral

In 1134, the Danish King Niels’ headless body was laid out in St. Peter's Cathedral after it was pulled from the Schlei in the nets of local fishermen.

The monks who attended the corpse heard strange noises and thought that the spirit of King Niels was wandering about in the church.

Legend has it that King Niels' still haunts the cathedral, and that he still hunts across the moors and forest of Schleswig with his hounds.

After the collapse of two towers and some parts of the basilica in 1275, the High Gothic Hall Choir was constructed and completed around 1300.

In 1879 Schleswig became the provincial capital in 1879, and in 1888 the construction of a Gothic revival western tower began at the request of the King William II of Prussia.

A variety of materials were used for the portal's construction: granite, red sandstone from Skåne, limestone from Gotland and tuff from the Rhineland.

Also, frescos were added, depicting the Annunciation, the Coronation of Mary, St. Catherine, St. Philippus, St. Peter, Deesis and angels.

The choir banks were manufactured by an unknown artist working under the pseudonym Magister rusticus at the beginning of the 16th century.

The three-winged cloisters at the northern end of the nave, were constructed from 1310 to 1320, called the Schwahl (Danish: Svalen).

The oak wood altar, carved by Hans Brüggemann from 1514 to 1521, is 12.60 meters high and depicts biblical history from Christ's arrest to Ascension (modelled after Albrecht Dürer's "Little Passion").

After the priory's dissolution, the Duke Christian Albrecht of Holstein-Gottorp arranged for the altar's transfer to Schleswig Cathedral in 1666.

In the northern choir nave, an elegant renaissance cenotaph for Frederick I, King of Denmark and Norway and Duke of Schleswig and Holstein, can be found.