Pilgrimage from Berlin to Bad Wilsnack

When the robber knight Heinrich von Bülow burned down the village Bad Wilsnack, he had no idea what he had put in motion with his heinous crime. The pastor at the time, Johannes Cabbuez, found three sacred, bloodied hosts, that had withstood the fire, in the ruins of the village church. Afterwards, people from all social strata, including princes and kings, pilgrimaged to the holy blood in Wilsnack, thus making the village famous.

At the same time, the Wunderblut worship created great infighting among Europe's religious elite, until the hosts were burned during the Reformation in 1552. Although the onslought of pilrgims subsided, previous travellers had left impressive traces on their way to Wilsnack.

You can travel the 130 km long path on foot or by bike, alone or in a group, and discover solitary field roads, pass forests and meadows, and traverse along picturesque alleys. Explore lovely little village churches und get to know people who take care of your wellbeing along the route. The path's destination, the health resort town Bad Wilsnack, relaxaction for both body and soul await you. Take a walk around the late-Gothic hall church St Nikolai and marvel at its greatness and originalty, and don't forgot view the exhibition “Wunder, Wallfahrt, Widersacher” (“wonders, pilgrimage, adversaries”) to follow the traces of the old oilgrims.

In the health resort town Bad Wilsnack, a local club works to keep up the church and is also the iniator of the pilgrim's path. Here, you find all information on the path. The pilgrim festival takes place every year in August, offering a lot of fun, tasty delicacies, an artisan market as well as concerts and plays, performed by laypeople, of the history of the pilgrim's route to Wilsnack. There's more: the “Theater am Pilgerweg” (theater at the pilgrim's path) takes place as a “wandering theater” on the road on selected dates.

The route leads from Hennigsdorf to Flatow, Linum, Hakenberg, Tarmow, Fehrbellin, Garz until you finally reach the Prignitz. The first stop in the Prignitz is Barsikow with its age-old willows and oaks which have accompanied not only the early pilgrims in the Middle Ages but also the modern ones. The local congregation offers sleeping quarters for pilgrims in the tower of the Barsikow church.

After a good night's rest, you continue your journey to Metzelthin where you can find several different signs of pilgrimage on the medieval bells of the old fieldstone church. Visible from afar is the great parish church St Peter and Paul which shows the pilgrim the right way to Wusterhausen.

Discover idyllic resting and swimming sites along the Klempow lake (also called Untersee (lower lake)) at the Kyritz lake chain. The gardens of the former Franciscan monastery in Kyritz offer a backdrop for medieval festivals. Passing the little half-timbered church in Rehfeld, the path continues along a lovely scenery, which presents the vastness of the Prignitz landscape, and leads through Berlitt, Barenthin, Görike, Söllenthin, Klein Leppin and Groß Leppin until it reaches Plattenburg.

Amidst a picturesque scene in the woods stands proudly Northern Germany's oldest and biggest still preserved water castle, which used to be the summer residence of the Havelberg bishops during the age of the Wunderblut. The last kilometres lead to Bad Wilsnack.

The modern pilgrim finds history and present day at the journey's destination. The Kneipp court by the Karthane, the Kristall thermal and graduation works spa, the Kurmittelhaus as well as a variety of gastronomies offer holistic relaxation for mind, body and soul.