DEUTSCHLAND	GERMANY
Bundesland: Schleswig-Holstein
Kreis: Plön

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Plön is situated at an elevation of 27 m on the lake Großer Plöner See in eastern Schleswig-Holstein. The first mention of Plune in a document dates from around AD 1000. The first castle on this site was built by slavic princes. These were followed by the Counts of Schauenburg. The settlement beneath the old castle obtained the status of a town in 1236. In 1623, Plön became the residence of the Dukes of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Plön. When the house of Sonderburg-Plön became extinct in 1761, the country came into possession of the Kings of Denmark. In 1866, Plön and the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein became part of Prussia.

The castle [left, no. 1115: background centre] was built in 1633–1636 by Duke Joachim Ernst of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Plön in place of the old Schauenburg castle that had been built in 1173 and was destroyed by fire in 1534. After 1761, the castle was used as summer residence of the Kings of Denmark. In 1867 it was converted into a Prussian cadet school, and since 1918/19 is home of a boarding school. The four sons of the last German Emperor Wilhelm II received their education from 1896 until 1912 in the 'Prinzenhaus' [right, no. 1748] in the park of the castle.

The church Sankt Nikolai (Altstädter Kirche) [left, no. 1115: background left] goes back to a church that was founded around 1156. That church was replaced by a second one in 1689–1691, which was destroyed by fire in 1864. The present church was built on the foundations of the previous church in 1866–1868.

The picture on the glass also shows the old railway station [left, no. 1115: right]. The railway line from Kiel via Plön to Eutin and Neustadt (Ostholsteinische Eisenbahn) was opened in 1866.