Neustrelitz, once the seat of the Dukes of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, lies on the Zierker See. It is the gateway to the Neustrelitz lake district (Kleinseenplatte) with its 300 lakes.
The Municipal Park, which still maintains some of its original Baroque characteristics, contains the 1840 Temple of Hebe, the Avenue of the gods, the Orangery, and an 1891 temple dedicated to Queen Luise.
There are a number of handsome mansions northeast and southwest of the Schloss and in the town center of Neustrelitz. Particularly notable is the Gymnasium Carolinum (by F. W. Dunkelberg, 1806), with a commemorative tablet recalling that Heinrich Schliemann, the discoverer of Troy, and the painter Wilhelm Riefstahl were pupils at this grammar school.
The Late Baroque town center of Neustrelitz is laid out in a star shape radiating from the Markt. The Markt, originally square, was given a circular form in 1866 and surrounded by two-story houses, of which the Savings Bank, the pharmacy, the Cafe am Markt and the "Goldene Kugel" ("Golden Ball") have been preserved. The Town Hall (by Buttel, 1841) is in neo-classical style. There is a plaque commemorating Engelbert Humperdinck, composer of the fairytale opera "Hansel and Gretel," who died in Neustrelitz in 1921. A more recent monument is the memorial to the Soviet dead of the Second World War.
Southeast of the site of the Schloss in Neustrelitz lies the Tierpark, originally established in 1721 as a ducal hunting preserve, with fine old trees and numerous enclosures for animals. The stock of animals was built up again in the years following the Second World War. The fine entrance gateway, with two figures of stags, was built by Buttel and Rauch to the design of K. F. Schinkel (1822).
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