Discover Breddin

Get to know Breddin through tangible traces of its local history: the Maria Magdalena Church, the railway station and—in Damelack, a locality within the municipality of Breddin—the Gestütsweg. The wider destination of Ostprignitz-Ruppin also offers nature and route experiences beyond these local sights. When planning your trip, you can distinguish between local architectural and art history and regional highlights such as heathland, hiking, cycling and riding.

Maria Magdalena Church: Architecture and art

Maria Magdalena Church in Breddin is open free of charge during the day from Easter until Reformation Day. As access is listed as seasonal, check the information before your visit. The building’s history gives your visit a specific historical context: in 1847, the church was extended eastwards in a cruciform, Romanesque Revival style, ending in a semicircular fieldstone apse with brick edges. “Romanesque Revival” describes the style of the extension; the construction phase itself is dated to 1847.

The interior furnishings also date from the renovation period around 1847 and were restored after 1963. The altarpiece depicts “Christ in Gethsemane” and is a copy after an Italian master. The church therefore brings together a specific artistic subject, its architectural form and the materials used. Dating the furnishings adds to the building’s history without confusing it with the later restoration date.

Local history in Breddin and Damelack

Breddin railway station opened in 1886—exactly 40 years after the opening of the Berlin–Hamburg Railway. This sequence of dates provides a precise historical counterpoint to the church’s earlier architectural history.

Damelack, a locality within the municipality of Breddin, lies on the Gestütsweg between the Brandenburg State Stud in Neustadt (Dosse) and the Mecklenburg State Stud in Redefin. The square around Damelack’s listed church is lined with old lime trees, oaks and chestnuts; the so-called Eierhaus is also a listed building. The local points of interest are therefore distinct: in Breddin, the focus is on the church and railway history, while Damelack also connects the church square and Eierhaus with the Gestütsweg.

Ostprignitz-Ruppin: Nature and routes

In the wider destination of Ostprignitz-Ruppin, the rural landscape is shaped by open spaces and tranquillity, beech and pine forests, meadows, shady avenues, and numerous lakes and rivers. A distinctive natural feature is the Kyritz-Ruppiner Heath: it covers 12,000 hectares in Ostprignitz-Ruppin, has been part of Stechlin-Ruppiner Land Nature Park since 2021, and is one of Europe’s largest contiguous areas of Calluna heathland. The heath provides a habitat for many protected and endangered animal species, including more than 70 bird species; the wolf has also been found here since 2008.

The Ruppiner-Land Circular Hiking Trail follows part of the European long-distance path E 10. In the Kyritz-Ruppiner Heath, electrically assisted fat bikes can also be ridden on unpaved, often sandy tracks, offering a gentle way to experience the flora and fauna. Hiking, cycling and exploring these tracks each offer a different focus.

The cycling routes also each have their own themes. The Fontane Cycle Route leads to places and landscapes described by Theodor Fontane in “Wanderings through the Mark Brandenburg.” The 108-kilometre Bischofstour passes through Heiligengrabe and Wittstock, among other places, and invites you on a journey through the Prignitz landscape back to the Middle Ages. It runs entirely on developed, signposted cycle paths; Heiligengrabe and Wittstock have rail connections to Berlin and Hamburg.

For horse-riding enthusiasts, the Brandenburg State Stud in Neustadt (Dosse) is a special attraction in Ostprignitz-Ruppin. The 160-kilometre Gestütsweg between the studs in Redefin and Neustadt (Dosse) forms a supraregional network of riding trails together with Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Damelack’s location on the Gestütsweg adds a specific local connection to this regional route highlight within the municipality of Breddin.

Discover more destinations

Discover more destinations: Wusterhausen/Dosse, Storbeck-Frankendorf, Lindow, Heiligengrabe, Langen, Temnitzquell, Neustadt, Berlinchen.

Back to the main travel guide: Ostprignitz-Ruppin.