Gusow, Neuhardenberg, & Altfriedland (23/11/2024)

For the weekend, I decided to visit a few towns in the eastern part of Brandenburg, not far from Berlin. I took a train and reached the station of Seelow-Gusow, heading northwards from there to reach the small town of Gusow. Once there, I passed by the Schloss Gusow, originally probably a Gothic castle expanded and refurbished in the 18th century, and completely restructured in its current neo-Gothic style around 1873. I could only see it from the outside, and it looked a bit run down, but nevertheless quite nice to see. Continuing on through town, I passed by the village church, a Gothic building expanded during the 17th century but damaged during WWII and thus rebuilt thereafter. As it was also closed, that meant that I had to continue my walk by just seeing it from the outside. Leaving the town behind, I then followed the cycling path along a main road leading through the countryside and eventually reaching the town of Neuhardenberg. Spread out along a thin line of houses on each side of the main street passing through the town, it featured a castle at its western edge. The Neuhardenberg Schloss was built at the end of the 18th century and then expanded and refurbished in its current neoclassical style around 1822 by the famous architect Schinkel. On the street side was the church, also built by Schinkel, with an obelisk in front of it, and then to the south, the rest of the complex with the main palace building and the service buildings to the side of it, including the former orangerie. Behind it, a nice English garden which I walked through. After the walk around, I then continued on the cycling path along the road and passed by the Napoleon Eiche, a more than 350-year-old oak tree which is said Napoleon Bonaparte had rested under on his campaign to Russia in 1812. A little further on I then reached the village of Altfriedland, Known for its once grand monastery, today it is a rather sleepy village. The Friedland monastery was probably founded during the 13th century by the Cistercian order. After the reformation, the monastery buildings were used for agricultural purposes and as living spaces, and then slowly, many were left to ruin. Nowadays, only the church and part of the refectory survive. Despite the refectory being closed, I could admire its Gothic vaults and architecture from the exterior. I then visited the church, refurbished in a baroque style in the 18th century it then also received a new bell tower in 1864 after a plan by Schinkel. Once I visited the church I had one more walk round the village and eventually waited for my bus to take me to a nearby train station and then back to Berlin.

Schloss Gusow

The Gusow village church

Walking along the way

The town of Neuhardenberg

The Neuhardenberg Schloss

The park around the castle

The town in front of the castle

The Friedland monastery

The gothic refectory

Interior of the monasery church

Wittenberge & Lenzen (17/11/2024)

From Berlin, a direct train took me to the city of Wittenberge, on the far northwestern corner of the state of Brandenburg. Once there, I started heading towards the city center, like many towns, it suffered greatly during WWII with many historic buildings being destroyed, as well as later during the East German period when the ruins were removed to make way for cheap, fast housing for the re-growing population. I passed by the Rathaus, the town hall, built in 1914 to replace an older one, which was not enough for the growing population due to industrial development. I continued on through the quiet and empty streets passing by some examples of timber-framed houses and reached then the southern edge of town where the dike on the Elber River was set. I followed the dikes perimeter and then reached a grassy part of land directly on the river, from where I had a great view. At that point, I turned around and headed back through the city, reaching the main church built at the end of the 19th century with a 53m high bell tower. It was closed, so I moved on, passing by a larger timber-framed building known as the old castle, which now hosts a museum. Not far from there, I then reached the Steintor, originally from the 13th century but rebuilt in its current form in 1450, this medieval city gate in the only surviving and the oldest building in town. At that point, I headed to the nearby bus stop and waited for the next bus that brought me west all the way to the town of Lenzen, at the edge of Brandenburg, next to the border with Mecklenburg–Western Pomerania and Lower Saxony. Once there, I approached the old town from the east, passing by the Stumpfer Turm, the only remaining of three medieval tower gates that granted access to the town and part of the medieval walls surrounding the town. I then continued my tour of the pretty city center, made up of mostly nicely kept timber-framed houses. In the little main square, I then approached the church of St Catherine, a Gothic church with an 18th-century baroque rebuilt tower. It was closed, so I continued my walk, passing in front of the Prussian milepost signaling distances to nearby cities. I walked through other streets, enjoying the timber-framed structures, and then headed to the edge of town where the Burg Lenzen is set. Originally dating to the Middle Ages, it was extended and refurbished in the baroque period, taking its current form. Nowadays, the tower can be visited and climbed, part of the castle holds a visitor center for the Elbe-Brandenburg River Landscape Biosphere Reserve, while the other holds a vegan hotel. After that, I headed back to the town center and visited the rest of the pretty streets. Then it was time to go. As there was still quite a bit to the next bus, I decided to walk a bit and catch the bus later and a few stops after. I walked on a nice forest path along the nearby Rudower See, and then through some open and windy countryside, and through another forest before reaching the village of Sterbitz. It was in a circular form with sparse houses, and at its center, the village church, Gothic in form. Eventually, I reached the bus stop of the village and got the bus back to Wittenberge and then the train to Berlin.

The Wittenberge town hall

The Elbe river

The old town with the main church

The Stadtmuseum Alte Burg

The Steintor

The Stumpfer Turm in Lenzen

The church of St Catherine

The castle

A street in the old town

Another street in the old town

The Rudower See

Fall colors

The countryside along the way

The Sterbitz village church

Chemnitz & Augustusburg (16/11/2024)

After taking an early train from Berlin, I reached the state of Saxony and specifically the city of Chemnitz. After getting off the train, I headed towards the city center, reaching shortly after the Theaterplatz. This late 19th-century square was built following the city's expansion north of the old town walls and is surrounded by some of the main buildings, such as the neo-Gothic Petrikirche, the King Albert Museum, and the large Opera House. Continuing onward, I then reached the Karl Marx Monument, a more than 7m high stylized head of the famous philosopher. Between 1953 and 1990, Chemnitz was renamed Karl-Marx-Stadt in recognition of its industrial heritage, and this monument, to honor the city's name, was unveiled in 1971. A little further on, I passed the Roter Turm, one of the few vestiges of the old city, built in the late 12th or early 13th century as part of the city wall. Entering the old town proper didn't seem different; in fact, the city had been heavily bombed during WW2, and what wasn't destroyed then was demolished to make way for the typical East German plattenbau buildings. After passing a large mall, I then reached the main square, refurbished with old buildings. Here stood the New and Old town halls, the former built around 1911, while the latter dates to the 15th century in a Renaissance style. A new town hall had been built right next to the old town over some old burgher houses due to the city's rapid growth, and the old one wasn't enough. Apart from most other modern buildings around the square's perimeter was also the nicely refurnished Siegerthaus, an 18th-century baroque burgher house. Behind the two town halls stands the church of St Jakobi, a Gothic hall church built over a previous Romanesque one. Its simple facade was remade in the 1910s in Jugendstil. After visiting the interior, I then headed to walk around the rest of the old town, which consisted mostly of modern buildings. Heading westwards I left the old town and started heading up a slightly hilly area, entering the Kaßberg, a neighborhood that sprung up following the city's growth in the latter part of the 19th century, It is known for being one of the largest Gründerzeit and Art Nouveau neighbourhoods in Germany, with beautiful houses and buildings from that time. I walked around admiring the nice architecture. At that point, I walked back to the city center and entered a large building, the 1913 Kulturkaufhaus DAStietz. Inside its foyer was the impressive Chemnitz petrified forest, a collection of tree trunks from the Early Permian. Finally, it was time to head back to the train station from where I took a regional train to the nearby town of Augustusburg. Once there, right across the street, I took the funicular railway, which brought me to the top of the hill where the town is located. I first passed by and entered the church of St Petri, a 19th-century neoclassical church with nice interior fittings. From there, I then walked through the tiny old town featuring nice timber-framed houses with gray shingle roofs typical of the surrounding Ore Mountains area. Next up, I approached the main site in town, the Jagdschloss Augustusburg, a Renaissance hunting lodge built from 1568 to 1572. Rather than just a hunting lodge, this impressive structure, built on top of a solitary hill surrounding the landscape, is rather a large palace castle built by Prince Elector Augustus to create a prestigious palace for his hunting trips as well as underlining his leading position in Central Germany. As I passed through the first outer gate, crossed the bridge over the moat, and entered the large main courtyard through the inner gate framed by a beautiful sandstone portal. Built in a geometric form, it features a square complex with thick towers at its corners and a large courtyard in the middle. I first admired the building from the outside as the sun had come out, despite being low in the sky, which allowed a nice view of the complex. I headed in the back through another gate to where some annex buildings, now a youth hostel, are located. From here, a small terraced area granted a beautiful view of the surrounding landscape. Then I headed to the main entrance and bought a ticket to visit the interior. Unfortunately, a visit to the castle church was only possible on a guided tour at a specific hour (as is typical with many castles in this part of Germany), so I had to skip it. However, I enjoyed visiting the main building, with some rooms featuring old decorations and wall paintings. There were a few exhibits on medieval furniture and objects, a section on natural history, and a large section on the history of motorcycles, one of the largest apparently, with many examples from the beginnings to the most recent period. Included in the ticket was the ascent of one of the castle towers, the northeastern one, on top of which I then had an even greater view of the landscape. Finally, after a visit to the cellars, which had a short exhibition on torture machines and methods, it was time to leave the complex. I walked through the old town and then down the hill alongside the funicular railway until I reached the train station, where, after a switch again in Chemnitz, I then took a ride back to Berlin.

The Theaterplatz in Chemnitz

The Karl-Marx monument

The new town hall

The old town hall

The church of St Jakobi

The old town hall tower

The Kaßberg neighborhood

Another view of the neighobrhood

The Chemnitz petrified forest

The old town of Augustusburg

Entrance to the Jagdschloss Augustusburg

The main building

View from the south

The interior

View of the town and surrounding landscape

Elsterwerda & Bad Liebenwerda (10/11/2024)

On a rather cold and cloudy day, I decided to visit a couple of towns in Brandenburg that I hadn't managed to visit previously. I took the train and reached then the first town, Elsterwerda. Once there, a short walk from the train station led me through the old town. As is usual in these places, it was rather empty with barely anyone around and most things closed. I headed along the main street and then reached the church of St. Katharina, the main one in town. Originally a building from the 15th century, it was heavily refurbished during the 18th century in its current baroque appearance, and a bell tower was added. The church was closed, so I continued on, walking through the nice elongated square set in front of it. At its center stood a Saxon milepost, like many others in the area, used to signal the distance to nearby towns. After crossing the Black Elster river, I then reached, amidst the fog, the Schloss Elsterwerda. This 18th-century palace was built over a previous castle, most probably dating to the 13th century. Made up of a central manor flanked by two service buildings, it is typical baroque in style. I couldn't enter it as it is now used as a school, but I could see it from the outside and walk around its surrounding park. From the castle, I then moved back to the city center, walking past some older buildings and then through the main square with a curious fountain at its center featuring a bird, a pair of lilies. At that point, I started heading out of the old town, and after some time, reached the train station of Elsterwerda-Biehla serving the west-east line. From there, a short time led me to the town of Bad Liebenwerda. From the train station, I started heading towards the old town and passed by the imposing Lubwartturm, a 13th-century tower once part of a larger moated castle. Nowadays, the complex is split between a restaurant, a museum, and the district court, and a road runs through the complex encircling the tower. A further walk led me through the old town and past a Saxon milepost and then to the town's main square. Here was the church of St Nikolai, a late Gothic brick building with a bell tower rebuilt in the 19th century in neo-Gothic style following a fire. The church was closed, so I walked around the square admiring the rest of the building, including the nice memorial fountain right in front of the church and the town hall across the square. I then walked through the rest of the town, passing by some examples of timber-framed houses and baroque and neoclassical tenement houses. Eventually, I made my way back to the tower and then to the train station, from where I got a ride back home.

The old town of Elsterwerda

The Schloss Elsterwerda

A street in the old town

The church of St Nikolai in Bad Liebenwerda

The central fountain

The main square and town hall

The Lubwartturm

Seddin to Trebbin hike (26/10/2024)

Kyle and I decided to go on a hike on a chilly but nice late Sunday weekend day. We decided to head southwest of Berlin reaching the train station of Seddin. From there we started walking eastwards, following a road lined by nice trees showing their orange and yellow fall colors. After some walking, we reached the banks of the Großer Seddiner See. We took a short break at one of the small sandy beaches on its western end and enjoyed the nice view with no one around. After the break we continued along the northern side of the lake, passing by a large golf course and then reaching the village of Wildenbruch. There was a nice Romanesque church from the 13th century built in fieldstones with its bell tower topped with a baroque timber-framed structure. It was closed so we continued on our walk. We passed on the eastern side of the Großer Seddiner See and then headed eastwards through open countryside and later through a nice forest. Once out of the forest, we reached the village of Stücken where we visited its church. Once a medieval church it was destroyed by a fire in the 19th century and rebuilt in its current neo-gothic style. After visiting its interior we decided to sit on a bench right in front of it and enjoy the lunch we had brought from home. Leaving the village behind we continued eastwards and at one point passed by a field of sunflowers, a thing I had never expected to see at the end of October. After a bit, we reached the village of Blankensee and passed its church. Originally dating to the 14th century it was refurbished in the 18th century. Unfortunately, it was closed because I had read it contained a marble fountainhead dating to the 11th century from Venice and really wished to see it. A little further on, surrounded by a nice park, was the Schloss Blankensee, and 18th century manor house. Leaving the village and manor house behind we headed through a hilly formation with a dense pine forest and some sand dunes. The walk was pleasant and at least different from the rest of the flat hike. We then descended the hill and continued on through more forest first and then through the open countryside along a canal. After quite a way like that, we eventually reached the town of Trebbin. We walked through its small but nice city center with some timber-framed houses and past the town hall and 18th-century church of St Marien. A bit more walking eventually brought us to the town's train station from where we then took a ride back to Berlin.

Fall colors in Seddin

The Großer Seddiner See

Walking through the countryside

The village of Wildenbruch with its Romanesque church

Some more countryside

More fall colors

The village of Blankensee

Through a pine forest

Trebbin's old town