On the way back from Hamburg to Berlin by train, we decided to stop and visit the town of Salzwedel, about halfway between the two cities. We had a short stopover so didn't have so much time to visit the town. However, once we got off the train we immediately headed on to visit the nice old town. We first passed by the church of St Catherine, of Romanesque origin but now featuring a typical brick gothic style. It was unfortunately closed so we continued on. Circling around the church we then followed a nice street line by some timber-framed houses, which apparently the town of Salzwedel is particularly known and filled with, and reached then the Neuperver Tor, one of the few surviving city gates of the medieval fortifications. From there we continued on, reaching the southern part of the old town, which is the oldest and the one with the highest and most beautiful concentration of timber-framed houses. I had planned to visit Salzwedel before but I wasn't expecting it to be so nice and full of picturesque streets and buildings. If I had known I would have planned our stopover to be longer. After some walking, we then reached the Marienkirche, the main church in town. This one was fortunately open so we headed in to quickly visit the interior. Built as a Romanesque stone church in 1150, it was later turned into the current brick gothic building around the 14th century. The interior was quite nice, large, airy, and elegant, with a medieval triumphal cross hanging high above the chancel, and a 15th-century Gothic large wooden altar. After exiting the church we continued on through picturesque streets until we came upon another church, that of St Lorenz. Built in a late Romanesque style it was unfortunately closed as we walked by so we decided to press onwards. Nearby we then passed by the Amtsgericht, or District Court of the city, located inside a 16th-century Gothic building that used to be once the town hall. Continuing on along the main street, the Burgstrasse, we passed by what was once the old castle, hence the street's name. Now turned into a park, it is right in the center of the town and there is now just the 24-meter-high round keep tower remaining. Right in front of it, on the other side of the street was the Monchskirche, another brick gothic church, now used as a concert and art hall. A couple of minutes' walk brought us then back to the northern part of the old town, formally known as the new town, as it was built later. Here we passed by the building which was once the town hall for this newer part of the city, now featuring a restaurant, but still showing off its elegant renaissance tower. Walking further and passing some more nice timber-framed houses, we then came to the second of the city gates, the Steintor, very similar to the previous one we saw, and which reminded me a lot of those city gates found around Brandenburg. It was then time for us to head back to the train station, so after walking through the rest of the old town, we eventually managed to get our connection which brought us on to Berlin.
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| The Katharinenkirche in Salzwedel |
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| A street in the old town with the Marienkirche |
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| The Marienkirche |
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| The baroque organ |
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| The apse with the 15th-century gothic winged altar |
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| Another street in the old town |
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| The new town hall |
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| Some timber-framed houses |
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| Tet another street in the old town |
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