Schleswig-Holstein combines Danish and German aspects of culture. The castles and manors in the countryside are the best example for this tradition; some dishes like Rote Gr�tze are also shared.
The most important festivals are the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, an annual classic music festival all over the state, and the Nordische Filmtage, an annual film festival for movies from Scandinavian countries, held in L�beck.
The annual Wacken Open Air festival is considered to be the largest heavy metal rock festival in the world.
The state's most important museum of cultural history is in Schloss Gottorf in Schleswig.
The coat of arms shows the symbols of the two duchies united in Schleswig-Holstein, i.e., the two lions for Schleswig and the leaf of a nettle for Holstein. Supposedly, Otto von Bismarck decreed that the two lions were to face the nettle because of the discomfort to their bottoms which would have resulted if the lions faced away from it.
The motto of Schleswig-Holstein is "Up ewich ungedeelt" (Middle Low German: "Forever undivided", modern High German: "Auf ewig ungeteilt"). It goes back to the Vertrag von Ripen or Handfeste von Ripen (Danish: Ribe H�ndf�stning) or Treaty of Ribe in 1460. Ripen (Ribe) is a historical small town at the North Sea coast in Northern Schleswig. See History of Schleswig-Holstein.
The anthem from 1844 is called "Wanke nicht, mein Vaterland" ("Don't falter, my fatherland"), but it is usually referred to with its first line "Schleswig-Holstein meerumschlungen" (i.e., "Schleswig-Holstein embraced by the seas") or "Schleswig-Holstein-Lied" (Schleswig-Holstein song).
The old city of L�beck is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
German is the official language, Low German, Danish and North Frisian enjoy legal protection or state promotion.
Historically, Low German, Danish (in Schleswig) and Frisian (in Schleswig) were spoken. Low German is still used in many parts of the
