Saturday, February 18, 2023

Luckau & Dahme (14/12/2021)

After taking a train from Berlin I had to switch in the town of Lubben and take a bus which brought me to the first town of the day, Luckau. I got off right outside the old town and as I walked to enter the city center, I passed by the nice Roter Turm or Red Tower, a 30m high medieval tower built between the 13th and 14th centuries. It was once, and still is, part of the medieval walls which used to completely enclose the old town now the most part of which still remains intact. Continuing onwards I then reached the main square, the Markt, surrounded by numerous baroque residential buildings from the 17th century, which were last restored in the 1990s as most of the city was spared damage during WWII. Some of these buildings were richly stuccoed by Italian baroque master builders and provided with magnificent facades, particularly those on the eastern end with magnificent gabled colored facades. In the center of the square was the Georgenkapelle, a late romanesque brick chapel that featured a tall bell tower known as the Hausmannsturm which reaches 47m in height. Next to it was the town hall, built in the 17th century but refurbished in a neoclassical style. Walking further on through town I then passed by the Kulturkirche, once the church of the Dominican monastery founded in 1291 and turned into a prison until 2005. It nowadays hosts the Lower Lusatian Museum in Luckau. Not too far ahead I then passed by the large structure of the St Nikolai church, a Gothic hall church with two towers that was built from 1375 to 1437. Unfortunately, as I got there I found out the church was closed during winter time and would only reopen in April. From the church, I then continued my walk around town and decided then to follow the perimeter of the medieval walls, most of which were still surviving. After completing the round of the town I then headed back to the small bus station where I then got a ride to the nearby town of Dahme. Here I got off the bus in the city center and continued on foot. I first passed by the largest half-timbered building in Dahme, the Granary, built in 1724 and used until 1989. Right next to it was the structure of the Schloss Dahme, once a medieval moated castle that turned into a baroque building from 1711 to 1714. Now it is mostly in ruins with some parts restored and used as a cultural center. Walking onwards I then passed by the church of St Marien, originally dating to the 13th century, and rebuilt in baroque style after a fire in 1666. It was unfortunately closed so I continued on through the rest of the town. I passed through the central and main square, the Topfermarkt, and by the town hall, a large neo-renaissance structure built in brick around 1894. Right in front of it, was a Saxon post distance column from the 18th century. Continuing on I walked by some nice timber-framed buildings and reached the western end where the so-called bird tower was located, one of the two city gates, which was badly damaged in a city fire in 1563 and rebuilt in 1892. I then decided it was time to go, so from there I crossed back through the old town, and left Dahme heading northeast along the main road. I decided to walk all the way to the train station of Drahnsdorf, neatly 15km away. Luckily the road was not trafficked, and after a short while, I walked through the small village of Zagelsdorf with its 15th-century stone church. After a bit of walking through the countryside, I then took a small detour to skip the main road and take a trail that led me through a nice pine forest. Once out of the forest, I passed through the village of Wildau-Wentdorf with its old watermill on the Dahme river. After the last couple of kilometers, I then reached the village of Drahnsdorf, with its stone church probably built in the first half of the 15th century. I then finally reached the train station from where I was able to take the next train into Berlin. 

Decorated houses in the old town of Luckau

The Georgenkapelle with the Hausmannsturm 

The 47m high Hausmannsturm 

The church of St Nikolai

A street in the old town with the Roter Turm

The ruins of the Schloss of Dahme

A Saxon milepost

Dahme's town hall

Sheep along the way

The forest near Wildau-Wentdorf

Wildau-Wentdorf's watermill

Drahnsdorf's church


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