Tom`s travels: Preetz (29/09/2024)

For Ania's father's birthday, we went to the Lakeland area north of Hamburg, near the city of Plön, in a small town called Ascheberg. The town is scenically located on the northern shore of the Großer Plöner See and having an apartment right by the water meant that I decided to take a quick swim in its quite chilly waters. As the town didn't have anything historic to visit we decided to take a short train ride to the nearby town of Preetz. Once there we left the train station and walked to the northern edge of town where the Preetz Priory was located. Once a former Benedictine nunnery, it was suppressed in the 16th century due to the Protestant Reformation and turned into a collegiate residence for ladies which still is in operation today, and thus the buildings around are still in use. The highlight is the church built during the 14th century in Gothic brick but which was unfortunately closed during our visit. Because of that, we continued on, walking around the rest of the monastery grounds admiring some older 17th, 18th, and 19th-century buildings that served as service buildings or housing. From the priory, we then headed into town to visit its small historic center. Consisting of an elongated main square and a street sided by some nice buildings. Walking along it we then reached the parish church, originally dating to the 13th century but rebuilt in its current style during the 18th century. Its interior, mostly with baroque wooden fittings, featured a 13th-century baptismal font, and an early 15th-century wooden crucifix. From there we continued on our walk passing some old buildings such as a nice timber-framed house and then reached the bank of the Kirchsee, a small lake smack in the middle of town. Eventually, after a walk around the area, we decided to head back to the station and from there back to Ascheberg. That evening, heading out for dinner, we arrived in the village of Bosau across the water of the Großer Plöner See. Here, before sitting down for dinner in the Gasthaus Zum Frohsinn, we visited the church St Peter. It was built in stone during the 12th century, and established during the Christianisation of Slavic East Holstein. Its interior was quite surprising, with a baroque pulpit and painted gallery from the 17th century, a beautiful painted wooden crucifix from 1470, a 12th or 13th-century baptismal font, and an impressive wooden winged altar from 1370 which had to be heavily refurbished due to deterioration in 1915. After visiting the church we admired the view over the nearby lake and then headed inside the restaurant for dinner.