Landow Village Church, Dreschvitz, Germany

The village church of Landow built around the year 1312. It was built as a Wegekirche, a church which is designed such that the location of the priest and congregation gives the impression that they are on their way to the Lord, facing the Christ, usually in the symbolic form of a cross or painting.

In 2004, dendrochronological research of the oak timber-framing was carried out. This demonstrated that the church is one of the oldest on the island of Rügen and may be the oldest timber-framed church building in North Germany and the entire southeast Baltic Sea region.

The church was sited on an old salt and herring trading route. It was first mentioned in the records when reference was made to a priest at Landow dating to the year 1333. In 1369 a Kaland Brotherhood was mentioned, something which was important for churches in the Middle Ages.

The original timber-framed of the building was bricked in around 1542. The interior was decorated in the baroque style in the 18th century. The altar, font, pulpit and painted wooden ceiling of the church all came from the workshop of the most important Pomeranian sculptor of the baroque style, Elias Kessler from the town of Stralsund. The vestry attached to the church later became a crypt chapel for the family of the church patrons. After 1945, the coffins were removed from the crypt chapel and buried in the cemetery.

During the GDR period, major repairs were carried out, most recently in 1959 on the church roof. In the late 1960s, the continued preservation of the church building became an issue. The consistory of the Evangelical Church of Greifswald felt in 1970 that it was no longer in a position to fund the preservation of the isolated church building. In 1982 the church was assessed as in danger of collapse and, in the 1980s, it was also removed from the county monument list.

The cemetery and its graves, some of which are very old, are also worth seeing.

References:

Wikipedia

Visby Cathedral

Visby Cathedral (also known as St. Mary’s Church) is the only survived medieval church in Visby. It was originally built for German merchants and inaugurated in 1225. Around the year 1350 the church was enlarged and converted into a basilica. The two-storey magazine was also added then above the nave as a warehouse for merchants.

Following the Reformation, the church was transformed into a parish church for the town of Visby. All other churches were abandoned. Shortly after the Reformation, in 1572, Gotland was made into its own Diocese, and the church designated its cathedral.

There is not much left of the original interior. The font is made of local red marble in the 13th century. The pulpit was made in Lübeck in 1684. There are 400 graves under the church floor.

Da Ba (14 months ago)
Beautiful old church. A visit is a must.

Christian Eschert (3 years ago)
Very nice cozy little village church.

Birgit Klüglich (4 years ago)
Off the beaten track but worth a visit

rena (4 years ago)
A wonderful place, unfortunately last year the entrance area, incomprehensible to me, was equipped with a modern sliding door and the stairs to the gallery were renewed with a strange wooden construction. For me it is questionable whether the installation of a lift was necessary. You can never make it up to you. It's a shame about this gem. Old should stay old too. Everything else has been lovingly and tastefully preserved.

Landow Village Church

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