The best traffic-free bike rides around Pritzwalk

A beautiful little church and the highlight of Helle.

The Holy Cross Church in the small town of Kemnitz near Greifswald is a busy and much-visited gem. Not only do local bands and choirs rehearse and give concerts here, but others from the region, such as the Greifswald University Choir, also appreciate the church space. A village idyll prevails around the church: the brick building with its neo-Gothic tower rises from the center of a well-kept churchyard surrounded by rubble. Opposite it, thatched houses from the 18th century and a large village pond line the street. But the idyll is deceptive; the church in Kemnitz was last extensively renovated 110 years ago. Numerous, only hastily patched cracks run through the masonry, and moisture damage has left the roof structure dilapidated, threatening to lose its stability.

The eclectic hall church was built in 1913 to replace the dilapidated half-timbered church, designed by Georg Büttner in accordance with the ideas of the Heimat movement, incorporating characteristic Romanesque and Baroque motifs. It consists of a nave, a semicircular choir to the east behind a choir arch, and a church tower at the northwest corner of the nave. The top floor, made of timber framing, houses the bell cage behind the sound arcades designed as bifora. The church tower is capped by an eight-sided, slate-covered, shingled roof. The façade to the west of the nave is topped with a spire gable. The interior is spanned by a segmental-arched, coffered barrel vault. The altarpiece from the previous building, created around 1470, depicting the coronation of Mary, has been preserved.

The clinic was built around 1886 and is listed as a historic monument in the city of Pritzwalk

Fieldstone church from the 15th century. West transept tower with hipped roof and ridge turret. Inside, medieval wall paintings, a baroque pulpit altar and a remarkable floating baptismal angel by H. J. Schultz from Havelberg

The church here in Helle immediately captivated me, what a beautiful village church.

The village church consists of a nave and a recessed choir with a straight eastern end. To the southeast of this, a baroque bell tower stands alone. This replaces the west tower that was destroyed in 1739. This also explains why the west side of the nave was completely renovated using half-timbered brick techniques.

The fire disaster of November 1, 1821 reduced the old Pritzwalk and the old town hall to rubble and ashes. The reconstruction of the public buildings took several years. Construction of the town hall did not begin until 1826. The smaller new town hall only partially used the foundations of the previous building. The result was a building of simple form in the style of late classicism. At first, this was only the 28-meter-long main building with a protruding central section. The side buildings and the inner courtyard of the town hall were not built until the middle of the century.