Every family is unique. However, I have always felt that my family’s uniqueness is, nevertheless, quite special. This is particularly expressed in the fact that my family is genuinely passionate about music. And by genuinely, I mean they adore nearly every kind of music there is. I grew up with the craziest mixtapes you can imagine: gospel choirs after Midnight Oil in between German Hip Hop and so on. This passion was also decisive for one of my favourite family traditions: an open-air concert at Schloss Bothmer.
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Bothmer castle is the biggest baroque castle in MV and is located in the very northwest of MV, near the coast and only 23 km from Wismar. You wouldn’t expect this impressive red-brick building with its majestic avenues and elegant gardens in the middle of nowhere when you drive by car past the little town of Klütz. Its grandeur still recalls its passed golden times and is revived by the Festspiele MV every summer, classical concerts by a renowned orchestra, and well-known soloists. The event attracts large numbers of enthusiastic fans into the sweeping gardens of the property. My family included, of course. Tickets cost between €30 and €58 and sell out quickly. The greatest highlight is this: you can enjoy your own picnic while you listen to the spectacle in front of the imposing backdrop of the castle. It creates the most comforting atmosphere to sit somewhere on the soft lawn in the old baroque park, surrounded by young couples cuddling intimately on a small picnic blanket or by large bizarrely prepared families who have brought several tables, real plates and multi-armed candlesticks with them to enjoy the heart-moving compositions with a proper banquet.
The festivities always end with a fabulous firework over the castle before the visitors slowly collect their tables and picnic utensils and stroll back home down the stately avenues. Every year I felt at inner peace and deeply delighted after experiencing something so magical. And, although I have often cursed my family’s strange taste in music, I have been always really grateful that it lead to bringing me here regularly.
