Bishop's Tour

Route between the Havelberg cathedral and the “Alte Bischofsburg” Wittstock: approx. 108 km
currently being planned: a continuation until Rübel—48 km.
The tour runs along well developed and sign-posted bike routes the entire way. The train station in Glöwen (for Havelberg), Bad Wilsnack, Pritzwalk, Heiligengrabe and Wittstock have train connections to Berlin and Hamburg.

Havelberg – Toppel – Nitzow – Quitzöbel – Roddan – Bad Wilsnack – Plattenburg – Kletzke – Hoppenrade – Lindenberg – Groß Woltersdorf – Mesendorf – Giesensdorf – Pritzwalk – Sadenbeck – Neu Krüssow – Alt Krüssow (ca. 2 km) – Heiligengrabe – Blandikow – Papenbruch – Scharfenberg – Wittstock – and as a tipp: continute further to Röbel over Alt Daber, the Glambeck lake and the Ice Age route

(GPSies – Tracks for Vagabonds is a free portal for routes for almost all outdoor activities. All of our recorded data is available to download for free.)

Havelberg is regarded as the “cradle of the Prignitz”. On a plateau above the actual town that is situated on an island in the middle of the river Havel thrones the cathedral. Today it's the 13th stop on the “Straße der Romanik” and the starting point of the Bishop's Tour. The cathedral was built between 1150 and 1170, and was remodeled to fit the Gothic style in 1269. However, it kept its Romanesque core. The attached cathedral monastery houses the Prignitz museum with a number of exhibits about the history of the region. The old town island invites you to take a walk through history, to the church, the Beginenhaus and the cute half-timbered houses from the 17th and 18th century.

The church in Quitzöbel is worth a visit because of its stepped gables. Don't miss to check out the fish smoke house and the inland dune.

The spire of the timber-framed church in Roddan was restored in 2011.

The village Wilsnack became a famous place of pilgrimage in 1383 when three bloodied Hosts were found among the debris of the church after it had been attacked. The Hosts attracted a lot of pilgrims. During the Reformation, the first Protestant pastor burned the Hosts, thus ending the pilgrimage. The present Wunderblut chuch was constructed in the 15th century. The Wunderblut shrine which held the Hosts can still be viewed today, as well as the medieval windows, altars and statuaries.
Today, Bad Wilsnack is a renowed medical resort. The Kristall Kur- und Gradier-Therme (medical spa and graduation works) opened in 2000.

The Plattenburg is the oldest preserved water castle in Northern Germany and used to be the Havelberg bishops' summer residence. The renaissance interior is worth seeing.

In Lindenberg, the tour makes a trip to the 20th century. The narrow-gauge railway museum tells the story of the narrow-gauge train “Pollo”. Today, the train operates as a museum vehicle and runs between Lindenberg and Mesendorf.

On the way to Pritzwalk, the route runs through the—for the Prignitz' standards—quite undulating Wahrberge but offers spectacular views of the landscape.

In Groß Woltersdorf a recreational area with a lake and an extensive forest park was created to offer natural experiences, and a place to rest and meditate.

Behind Neu Krüssow at the junction towards Wilmersdorf the way leads you to the Slavic village Alt Krüssow (approx. 2 km detour to see the church St Anna).

Completed in 1520, the pilgrimage church St Anna in Alt Krüssow has been restored bit by bit with a lot of dedication. This little village is the third place of pilgrimage in the Prignitz after Bad Wilsnack and Heiligengrabe. People revered a mircale-working image of the holy Anna which attracted many pilgrims.

The convent Heiligengrabe was founded in 1287 as a Cistercian convent. After the Reformation it turned Protestant and became a chapter of nuns in 1740. Heiligengrabe is still the place of a Protestant community of women.

The core of the conventual complex is almost entirely intact and unique in Brandenburg because of it. The conclave building with its inner courtyard, the convent church from the 14th century and the Heiliggrab Chapel which was built in 1512 create the core.

We recommend a detour to Blumenthal (5,9 km) past the highest wooden observation platform and further to Horst where you can visit the estate and castle ruins (2,3 km more). In summer, the display garden in Papenbruch invites you for a visit.

The tour passes an observation and memorial deck in memory of the battle between Swedish troops and the imperial army in 1636 shortly before Wittstock.

In Wittstock the bishops used to reside in the “Alte Bischofsburg” (old bishops' castle) of which the only thing left today is the municipal tower. The bishops' age ended in 1548 with the death of the last bishop, Busso II. von Alvensleben. Today it houses the museum “Museen Alte Bishofsburg” - the Eastern Prignitz museum with exhibitions about regional history, and the Thirty Years' War museum.

The story of the Havelberg Bishops began a good 800 years ago when Emperor Otto I. founded the diocese in 948. Until the Reformation the bishops reigned over a large territory reaching from the Elbe over the North-Western Brandenburg to big parts of Southern Mecklenburg.

The Margraviate's Christianization started with the diocese Havelberg, and the Havelberg bishops encountered fierce resistance from the native Slavic people. Only during the Wendish Crusade in 1147 could the region be conquered.

Package offer: By bike on the tracks of the bishops

or as a circular route combining the Bishop's Tour and the Dosse Towns Tour

oder als Rundkurs die Bischofs- und Dosse-Städte-Tour als Kombination