When my last Blog was about the Schwerin Castle and the different ways people can use and enjoy it, I wrote about the possibility to get married in the castle, for example in the castle church.
The Schwerin castle church has an active church community, but if there is no church service or wedding ceremony taking place, it can be visited on request. The inside of the church does not lack glory with its divine ornamentation, and its bewitching, angelic decoration but is cozy and personal at the same time. The three bays of the vault located above the galleries are decorated with golden stars on a blue background. So visitors find themselves under a blue and golden night sky at all times of day and night. There are 8,758 stars painted in shining colors on the vaulted sky. However, visitors can´t only gaze these beautifully decorated art; they also have the ability to acquire the stars as symbols: when they renovated the castle church some years ago, they started a donation campaign called `Kauf dir deinen Stern vom Himmel – 8758 Sterne suchen ihre Paten´[1]. By doing that, people become sponsors and support the reconstruction of the church. Today, the money flows into further refurbishment measures of the castle. Owning these celestial bodies for an honor helps to preserve this important sacral building and make it shine again in new splendor. To this day, this campaign has been going down well with the public. Many citizens use it as an opportunity to give those stars as a natal gift, a present for a baptism, decadal birthdays, or a special honor. For example, every hundredth newborn baby which comes into the world at Schwerin´s hospital, ´Helios Kliniken´[2], gets bestowed with a star at Schwerin´s castle church. Do you want to now how much it is? Well, because it is a donation, there is no set price, but the lowest amount of donation is at least €50 for each star. If you want a special one, for example a star located next to that of someone you know or a star with a preferential position, you pay €150. Over 7,000 stars are already sold. The ones that are still available are positioned disadvantaged, and barely visible. For this information there is a site map in the vestibule of the church
I myself got a star when I won the German Championship with my volleyball team in 2012 as an honor. I got an official document with the number of my star and a corresponding map which reveals how to find it on the vaulted sky. Back then we played away, against Dresden. After we had won a thrilling, demanding game, we drove back to Schwerin. As soon as we had arrived, the crowd welcomed us ceremonially. Our team had a motorcade through the whole city, celebrating our success and sharing it with everyone. Afterwards we were officially honored by our former Minister-President, who gave us the stars which made us godparents in the Schwerin castle church.
[1] https://www.landtag-mv.de/schloss/schlosskirche/spendenaktion.html
[2] https://www.helios-gesundheit.de/kliniken/schwerin/