Lenzen (Elbe): Castle, River Meadows and Old Town

Lenzen (Elbe) brings together cultural history and river-meadow landscapes. Lenzen Castle is a visitor centre in the Elbe-Brandenburg River Landscape Biosphere Reserve; the largely preserved half-timbered town centre, church architecture and nature activities each add their own distinctive touches. If you would like to include both in your travel plans, you will find a range of ways to explore here: from exhibitions on the town’s history to trails through the river landscape.

Lenzen Castle: River Landscape and Town History

At the BUND Visitor Centre at Lenzen Castle, the natural and cultural history of the river landscape, floodplain ecology, flood protection and the biosphere reserve take centre stage. The “River Landscape on the Green Belt” exhibition spans four floors and reaches up to the dome of the medieval castle tower. A section on cultural history brings Lenzen’s 1,000-year history to life. The visitor centre thus connects themes of the landscape with the town’s development.

The Museum of Town History traces Lenzen’s history from prehistory and early history to the present day. A diorama depicts the 929 Battle of Lenzen between the Slavs and the East Frankish Empire using around 8,000 tin figures. Lenzen Castle itself also represents a long period of change: it evolved from a Slavic royal castle into a European centre for floodplain ecology, environmental education and visitor information.

Old Town, Church and Garden Design

Lenzen’s town centre has largely retained its half-timbered character and has been lovingly restored in recent years. St. Catherine’s Church adds a different architectural touch: it is a three-aisled Late Gothic hall church with a transept and choir. In Lenzen’s old town, SEETOR.art adds to the cultural scene as a gallery for contemporary art.

At Lenzen Castle, the Nature Poetry Garden combines nature and poetry, with nine works of art and nature-philosophical quotations along its paths. A naturalistic pond, flower-rich herb meadows, perennial beds and groves also shape the garden. They provide habitat and opportunities for observing butterflies, grasshoppers, bats and amphibians. In the castle park, a platform also invites visitors to pause and learn about the biosphere reserve’s nature and history.

Experience the River Meadows and Compare Routes

AuenReich at Lenzen Castle is a circular trail around 400 metres long and the first interactive floodplain experience site of its kind in Germany. Six stations explore the function and biodiversity of a river floodplain. Visitors can create a river landscape and see how it changes during floods. The trail makes the floodplain a tangible subject; the nearby Nature Poetry Garden, by contrast, focuses on observing nature and the connection between art and landscape.

Nearby, the 14-kilometre Auenwildnis circular hiking trail runs through floodplain forests, over the Elbe dike and along a former ferry embankment, just outside the gates of Lenzen. After the Elbe dike was relocated, a habitat for many rare plants and animals was created there across 400 hectares. At Auenwildnis, the elevated “Auenblick” observation platform invites visitors to pause and look out over the new floodplain wilderness. The Rambower Moor lies a few kilometres from Lenzen. With its distinctive flora and fauna, it is considered one of the most beautiful through-flow fens in the state of Brandenburg; a 12-kilometre circular trail leads through its diverse habitats. The different route lengths can help you decide how long you would like your outing to be.

Cycling and Finding the Right Accommodation

The town of Lenzen and Lenzen Castle lie directly on the 195-kilometre Four-Country Border Cycle Route, which explores the Green Belt region between the Elbe, Altmark and Wendland. Another option is the Lenzerwische Tour: it runs from Lenzen along the Elbe dike; after around 26 kilometres, you are back at the starting point, with the tower of Lenzen Castle visible in the distance. A Pocket PC guide for the Beaver Castles Tour can be borrowed from the Lenzen Castle Visitor Centre.

If you would like to include longer trails through the river-meadow landscape, also take each route and its starting point into account when planning.

Discover More Destinations

Discover more destinations: Lanz, Lenzerwische, Pritzwalk, Bad Wilsnack/Weisen, Gerdshagen, Plattenburg, Weisen, Gumtow.

To the main travel overview: Prignitz.