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The palace tower is visible from afar, already miles before you enter our town it stands out from the town's silhouette. The old palace has not only played a memorable part in history but is an architectural monument since it belongs to the rare late Gothic buildings that present the odd development of Gothic style architecture in West Pomerania in extraordinary beauty.
Historyof the Ueckermünde palace dates back to the 12th century. Reports have it that Bogislav I. and Casimir I. held a parliament in this place in the year 1178. This leads to suppose that as early as in Wendish times a princely residence existed here.
The first time for the palace to be mentioned in documents was in 1284. In 1295 the building changed into the possession of Pomerania-Stettin.
The ancient Ueckermünde palace used to be a frequent meeting place of the country's nobility.
At that time it looked completely different. It enjoyed double protection consisting of a town wall and two moats. The palace was built on an artificial hill and is situated near the river Uecker. The royal garden could be reached via stone steps and north of the castle complex, there was the paddock of the palace.
 Duke Bogislav X. played a special part in the history of both our town and the palace. He imposed the re-division of the lands into administrative districts and often spent his time in Ueckermünde. During their separation Margarete, first spouse to Bogislav X., lived in the Ueckermünde palace and the second of the Duke's spouses died here in 1503.
By the 16th century the palace had become quite dilapidated. Large parts of the medieval castle complex were torn down. In 1546 Duke Philipp I. had a new palace built in the same place.
Quite remarkable about this new building are the cross vault in the south wing and the sandstone relief above the portal of the tower. The portrait shows the architect Philipp I. posing sideways wearing armour and a feathered beret (right).
 In the 17th century many a battle was fought for the palace. A lot of dukes and generals went to Ueckermünde and made use of the fortified structures of the building.
After the Franzburg treaties of 1627 Pomerania was charged with the obligation to accommodate eight of Wallenstein's regiments. This affected Ueckermünde as well and caused great suffering and endless misery.
In the subsequent years the palace of Ueckermünde was annexed by either the Swedes or the Prussians by turns.
The palace was badly damaged by all this.
Since 1871 the town has been the user of the palace. On 16th November, 1908, the cupola of the palace tower burnt down and destroyed the fire station on the castle-yard, too. The year after the palace tower got a new cupola, which was now closed and 2.70 m higher than the previous one.
In 1950 the idea was born to accommodate a museum in the palace and a lot of contributors helped collecting exhibits quickly. The museum was enlarged continuously and now carries the name Haffmuseum.
It displays exhibits from the pre- and early as well as local history, is dedicated to the traditional crafts practised in this town and hosts a maritime exhibition in the palace tower. In addition, the tower offers a magnificent view over the old part of town and the Szczecin Lagoon.
In 1960 the town turned 700 years old. On this occasion, the roofing of the palace tower was replaced by bituminous roof sheeting and a new weather vane was put on the top.
In 1986 another building was added to the eastern wing. That is where ever since the wedding room has been after the old one in the palace tower had become too small for the purpose.
A long struggle had to be fought to be given permission to cover the roof with copper again. The old roof covering had become so poor that rainwater was already leaking through to the anteroom of the museum. It took the town more than 5 years of struggling to finally succeed over the then planned economy and countless resolutions that inhibited the use of copper sheet. On 27th July, 1988, a new weather vane was attached and the copper roofing was handed over.
Since the early 90's a lot has been invested in the palace. Windows as well as the heating system were renewed, the façade was painted, the roof got a new cover and the conference hall can be used again. Because this hall with a cross vault accommodated the local library, the vault could not at all display its beauty. On 31st July, 1992, the hall was used again by the public after a long time and on 22nd October, 1992, the town councillors held their first meeting here.
The castle-yard was refurbished in 1996 by the town, which set new trends for the Ueckermünde palace. On occasion of the 450th anniversary of the reconstruction of the palace, a palace festival was held on 29th and 30th June, 1996.
You can obtain further and more detailed information from the brochure "Das Ueckermünder Schloss und seine Geschichte" (the Ueckermünde palace and its history) by Jürgen Kliewe. You can buy the brochure at the Haffmuseum, the tourist information and from book shops.
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