Discover Vollrathsruhe: Castle Park, Church and Nature

Vollrathsruhe offers a variety of reasons to visit: a castle and church, walks, and the “Wüste und Glase” nature reserve. Visitors interested in historic architecture will find plenty to explore, as will those who prefer to plan their days around landscapes and natural history. To get your bearings, it is worth considering the attractions in the village, the surrounding municipality and the Mecklenburg Lake District as distinct areas of interest.

Castle Park and Architectural History

A neo-Baroque castle with a park stands at the entrance to Vollrathsruhe. The English landscape park covers about two hectares and is a listed historic site. The castle park contains two separate 19th-century buildings: a Neo-Gothic mausoleum and an octagonal castle chapel. Together, these architectural styles offer a glimpse into different chapters of local building history. If you enjoy noticing details as you explore, you can appreciate the castle’s neo-Baroque style, the English landscape park and the mausoleum’s Neo-Gothic design as distinct features.

The church in Vollrathsruhe also has a distinctive architectural feature: its wooden ceiling is designed in the English cast-iron architectural style. It also has a long religious history. Protestant services have been held there since 1543—even before the Reformation was officially introduced in Mecklenburg. Architecture and history come together in this particular building, while the castle, mausoleum and chapel each add their own character to the village.

Walks and Landscapes in the Nature Reserve

A chestnut and lime-tree avenue runs between Vollrathsruhe and Kirch Grubenhagen. Another walk leads through woods and fields from Klein Luckow to the “Wüste und Glase” nature reserve. This walk begins in Klein Luckow, so it is distinct from the avenue connecting the other two places. The walks offer different landscape experiences and need not be combined into a single route.

“Wüste und Glase” encompasses hilly grazing land, Lake Ohgang, kettle holes, thickets and old beech forests. Its landscape also tells a story of geological and archaeological traces: during the Ice Age, two converging glacier lobes formed a forked terminal moraine here. The reserve also contains the remains of an old glassworks. A massive rampart is another notable feature; its age is unknown. Landscape, Ice Age history and surviving traces of human activity can all be found here.

The observation tower in Vollrathsruhe offers views across the landscape of the Mecklenburg Lake District. This adds a broader nature perspective to your visit, while the nature reserve—with its varied landscapes and historic traces—offers a focus of its own.

Other Places in the Surrounding Municipality

The surrounding municipality also has notable architectural and landscape features; these are not in Vollrathsruhe itself. The church in Kirch Grubenhagen was originally a fortified church and was built in the first half of the 13th century. The remains of the keep at Grubenhagen Castle stand up to ten metres high, and the walls are more than three metres thick. From the church hill in Kirch Grubenhagen, you can see Lake Malchin and the Malchin Basin.

In Klein Rehberg, a fallow deer enclosure lies within the “Hellgrund” nature reserve. It can be reached from Vollrathsruhe via Kirch Grubenhagen. A walk along the stream offers a chance to enjoy nature there; Klein Rehberg is near the nature reserve. In Hallalit stands “dat lange Hus,” a 104-metre-long building described as the longest house in northern Germany. The long farmhouse was built around 1855 and provided accommodation for 16 families. These destinations broaden the picture to include other places in the municipality without conflating them with the sights in Vollrathsruhe.

The Mecklenburg Lake District as a Wider Natural Area

Beyond Vollrathsruhe, the Mecklenburg Lake District provides a wider setting for nature experiences. Müritz National Park is part of the region and is characterised by forests, bogs, lakes and broad meadows. Its hiking trail explores the landscape in nine stages: it runs along lakes, through ancient forests, past inland dunes and to the source of the Havel. This is on a different scale from a walk through woods and fields to the “Wüste und Glase” nature reserve: here, the focus is a multi-stage hiking route through Müritz National Park, while there it is the landscape and history of a single nature reserve.

Plan Your Visit Around Your Interests

If you are also interested in nature across the Mecklenburg Lake District, a broader regional perspective may be useful.

Discover more destinations: Peenehagen, Dratow-Schloen, Klink, Hohen Wangelin, Kargow, Groß Plasten, Neu Gaarz, Moltzow.

View the broader travel guide: Amt Seenlandschaft Waren.