Tom`s travels: Freyenstein & Meyenburg (25/08/2024)

On a day trip from Berlin, I decided to head to northern Brandenburg and visit a couple of towns. After taking the train and then a bus I arrived in the town of Freyenstein. Here I first headed to visit the town's main attraction, the castle. The castle actually consists of two castles, the new and the old. The Neues Schloss located on the main road, originally started as a small house in the 15th century and then rebuilt in its current style in the 17th century. It was built next to the medieval Wittstock gate, once part of the walls encircling the town. Around the castle was a nice park and at the other end of the Altes Schloss, the old castle. This originally dated to the 14th century and took its current renaissance style in the 16th century. It was once much larger and with a moat around it but it was heavily damaged during the Thirty Years' War and partially ruined leaving only the southwestern wing. From the castles, I then walked westward to reach the Archaeological Park. This used to be the site where the town of Freyenstein, once called Vrigenstene, was located and founded in 1263. The town was destroyed several times during military conflicts and eventually, in 1287, it was decided not to rebuild the town on the old site, but to relocate it to the adjacent lowlands to the north-east, where it is set nowadays. What remained of the old settlement was abandoned, its buildings and stone used for construction, and the foundations covered to be used as arable land. The place is now a rare and important archaeological site as it allows unique insights into the former appearance of a medieval town that didn't develop like other towns throughout the centuries and stayed as it once was in the 13th century. I didn't go inside the park but still managed to see it from the outside. Then I walked back into town and walked the main street until I reached the main square. There was also the parish church of St Mary, built in a Gothic style in the 14th century. Unfortunately, it was closed so I continued on my visit to the rest of the town. Once I was done, I left Freyenstein heading westwards through the countryside. I followed a partly paved road with thick stones lined by so many apple trees. As I walked I picked a couple of apples to eat on the way. Then I came across a rapeseed field in bloom with its bright yellow color, quite surprising at the end of August, especially as nearby was an already cut field of wheat and a fully ripe one of corn. I then reached the village of Schmolde with its small nice church built in a timber-framed style in 1730. After some more walking, I passed through another village, Penzlin, with the Guthaus, a manor house, originally dating to the 16th century but refurbished during the 18th and 19th centuries. A bit more walking eventually led me to the town of Meyenburg. Here I walked through the old town, admiring the nice architecture. The town was damaged during the Thirty Years' War and also in 1795 when a great fire largely destroyed it. The houses were then rebuilt after the fire and there are still some nice timber-framed ones from that period. On the northern end of town, I reached the nice castle, originally dating to the 14th century but refurbished in the 19th century in a neo northern German Renaissance style. It holds a fashion museum nowadays so I skipped visiting the interior. In the nearby park, I then sat on a bench and ate my sandwich while enjoying some sun. Next to it I then passed the parish church, with the main building dating to the 18th century that had survived the fire and the bell tower rebuilt in a neogothic style in 1850. Finall,y after one last round of the town admiring the rest I then eventually reached the train station from where I took a ride back to Berlin.