BIKE ADVENTURES
Depressing charm of villages east of Berlin. Part 1
Medieval churches, frozen ponds, and gloomy wilderness
The famous painting “American Gothic” by Grant Wood depicts a grim farmer holding a pitchfork and his daughter standing near their old-fashioned house. I haven’t seen this artwork live but seems I experienced a similar effect recently. On a grey winter day, roughly 30 kilometers from Berlin, I discovered the German Gothic.
It was overcast and chilly (+2°C), but I didn’t want to procrastinate the whole day glued to the phone screen. So, I grabbed my bike and took a train to Strausberg Nord, the line terminus. Although it was the closest station to the “Brandenburg Switzerland” Nature Park, which I initially planned to visit, I still had to ride 13 kilometers to it.
In 20 minutes, I reached an intersection. A minimalistic stone church immediately grabbed my attention. The village church of Klosterdorf was built in the 13th century in the Romanesque architectural style.
I didn’t realize that I would see other medieval buildings and, after gazing at the church for a while, just rode to the east. Google Maps built a route through the fields since I chose the “Walking” mode; otherwise, I would’ve ridden on dull asphalt roads. Just look at all the fantastic textures in the picture below!
It was not as cold as I expected. The wind blew only in open areas, but it turned out to be calm and even warm near the trees. The air felt extremely wet but without fog.
Then I finally saw the forest and turned in that direction. Here and there stood farmers’ and hunters’ makeshift wooden towers.
But it was just a small forest, not the large nature park I was searching for. The map showed another village with a medieval church nearby, Grunow, so I decided to check it.
And you know what? I was not disappointed. This church looked even more “medieval” to me than the previous one. It was also erected in the 13th century, but the bell tower didn’t survive (demolished in 1829). A unique feature of the Grunow church is seven stones with a checkerboard pattern. I didn’t notice them on the site, and only now, while writing this article, I found them in the photos (you’ll find them at the end of the article).
This church really excited me; I didn’t expect my trip to shift from enjoying nature to rural romanticism.
Like historical architecture? Then follow my Instagram with architecture photos every day — from 🏰 Gothic to 🏢 Modernism.
A perfect musical genre to match this ride would be Gothic Country. Next time I’ll take a Bluetooth speaker and will listen to the Ukrainian band “Zwyntar” (“Cemetery”) or the U.S. crew “16 Horsepower.” Their songs tell spooky stories and are full of unsettling Biblical references. Try to listen to “Haw” or, let’s say, “Choven (The Boat),” and let me know in the comments if it sounds like a great match to you.
According to the map, I was several kilometers away from the nature park, so I decided to cut off the path to get there faster. Instead, I got into a dead end (but a picturesque one).
There was no path forward, but I didn’t want to return. Fortunately, I found one more medieval village church nearby and decided to go there first and then to the nature park.
The village of Ihlow bears a Slavic name, just like Grunow, which I visited half an hour ago. Back in the day, this area was populated by West Slavs, and Germans fought with them a lot. The modern-day federal state of Brandenburg that encircles Berlin like a doughnut was called the Margraviate of Brandenburg, or Mark Brandenburg. The word “mark” meant “borderland,” and the local lord (margrave) was not only a politician but also a military commander.
But let’s not dive into history too much. Ihlow is a scenic village with frozen ponds and dense reed. I spent quite a lot of time here because it was so atmospheric.
The church in Ihlow was built in the 13th century. Its original bell story was replaced with a square tower in the 19th century. The church area was fenced, so I didn’t come closer.
There was almost no one around. I only heard a couple of voices from afar but didn’t see who it was. Smoke was coming from some chimneys, and I assumed people just stayed at home.
I almost forgot about my initial destination. Remember the nature park? It was time to finally go there. Fortunately, there was a direct road from Ihlow to the lake in the middle of the park. But also it was around 5 p.m., and the sky started getting darker.
Soon I reached a thick pine forest. Huge piles of logs were lying by the road. Brown mud mixed with snow was sticking to the tires, and it was not so easy to pedal uphill.
Thank god I didn’t forget to charge my bike’s front light because it was getting darker quickly, and I couldn’t clearly see numerous puddles and branches on the trail.
Finally, the place I initially wanted to visit. The Schermützelsee lake and the resort town of Buckow — both right in the center of “Brandenburg Switzerland.” But what I forgot to do before the ride was to charge my camera. Its battery indicator was already red and dangerously blinking, so I snapped the picture below almost blindly, without proper focusing. I pressed the shutter button within a second before the device automatically switched off (that’s why the photo is a bit blurry).
Now, the last place before going back to the S-Bahn station. Although it was pretty dark, I decided to check the lake viewpoint. I knew that my camera would probably have some “battery leftover” — just enough for one more shot, which I made, of course. Oh, if only you could hear that insane crow cawing around. Gothic as hell!
Then I was riding over 13 kilometers to the station. I forgot to switch from the “Walking” to “Bicycle” mode, so Google Maps led me through the fields in complete darkness. My front light was powerful enough for seeing the path, but not the landscape — I took a wrong turn twice. It started snowing, but, for some reason, I enjoyed it.
I’ll definitely go here again, and now my goal is to explore the remaining medieval village churches in the region — in Hasenholz, Bollersdorf, Garzau, Garzin, and Werder. I’ll show them to you in the next article. Stay tuned, folks.
As promised, here is the checkboard pattern on the medieval church in Grunow. I took this picture on a sunny day in a week.
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