Tom`s travels: Ueckermünde & Pasewalk (14/05/2023)

On another sunny May weekend day, I decided to head north close to the Baltic coast and visit a couple of places. My first stop was the town of Ueckermünde which I reached after several hours by train. Once there, I walked along the pretty harbor with some old buildings and houses still facing it, and enlivened by some sailboats anchored there. I crossed over the Ucker River which forms the town's harbour, and then walked along the main street admiring the architecture as I went. I reached the baroque church of St Mary but found it closed so I continued on my walk, reaching the nearby Markt, the main square. Surrounded by nice buildings some of which were quite old as well, it was rather empty and dead as is typical on Sundays throughout Germany. Walking on I reached the Schloss Ueckermünde, a partly surviving baroque residence of the Dukes of Pomerania, once surrounded by a water ditch and accessible over a drawbridge and now used as the town hall. From town I then followed a path and in less than half an hour reached the city beach, facing the Szczecin, or Oder, Lagoon. It was still rather cold and windy but I enjoyed the sun partly covered by thin clouds for a little while, eating the sandwich I had brought with me from home. After the nice break, I headed back into town and then caught the next train which brought me to the city of Pasewalk. Once there I walked through the city center, heavily bombed during WWII and later many of its buildings were demolished during the DDR period, it now contains just a few old buildings. I reached the main square, the Am Markt, and then tried visiting the nearby church of St Mary, the town's main and largest religious building. Despite the opening hours on the door, which were as usual in Germany, dumb and short, the church was unfortunately closed. Its style is brick Gothic dating from the 14th century, and despite having survived WWII its tower suffered damage and collapsed having to be rebuilt. At that point, I decided then to walk around the town's perimeter and admire the surviving fortifications. I first passed by the Prenzlauer Tor, one of two city gates and the southern one, with its simple brick structure. At that point, it started drizzling a little but I continued on my walk as it then stopped shortly after. I passed by part of the walls and the Kiek in de Mark, a 15th-century defensive tower now the symbol of the city and in the city coat of arms. Moving on I then reached the other main church, St Nicholas, the oldest in the city, first mentioned in 1176 it consists of mainly field stone with a bit of brick. Nearby I walked by another of the defensive towers, the Pulverturm, while across town on the opposite side, I reached the Mühlentor, the second of the surviving city gates, facing westwards and from the 15th century. After one last round the city center admiring what old houses and architecture I could find it was time to head to the train station and eventually back to Berlin.