Steinreich brings together village history and varied landscapes. Steinreich’s Glienig area, which includes Damsdorf and Schenkendorf, lies in the border zone between the Mark, Lower Lusatia and the Lower Fläming. This provides a thematic framework for planning your trip: historic village and architectural styles sit alongside distinctive descriptions of vegetation and products from the Sellendorf distillery. Depending on whether you are mainly interested in churches, historical traces, landscapes or regional produce, you can focus on different aspects.
Boundary Markers and Schenkendorf’s Local History
A boundary stone on the road between Schenkendorf and Damsdorf marks the former provinces of Brandenburg and Saxony-Anhalt. It thus refers to a historical division. Schenkendorf’s local history can also be traced through specific details: the village is considered a green-village settlement and a former estate village. It was first mentioned in a document on 3 August 1301 under the name Schenkendorp. Its settlement form, its former designation as an estate village and its historical name offer different starting points for placing the village’s development in context.
Fieldstone Church and Historic Architectural Styles
The medieval fieldstone church in Schenkendorf has a tower on its west side. An external staircase leads to the tower levels and is a striking feature of the church’s architecture. The interior dates from around 1700. Its furnishings include a patron’s gallery from 1713 and an altarpiece from around 1724. Thus, the same building combines medieval fieldstone construction with furnishings from the early 18th century. The approximate dates for the interior and altarpiece should be distinguished from the exact year of the patron’s gallery.
Schloss Glienig tells a different architectural story. The plastered building, with Baroque elements and a multiply curved gable, was built between 1875 and 1906. Next to the Schloss is a park with a pond, an artificial coral stalactite cave and an animal enclosure. These features differ clearly from the medieval fieldstone church and its later furnishings: at Glienig, the focus is on when the Schloss was built and the distinctive design of its gable; in Schenkendorf, it is on the church building and its furnishings.
Juniper Gorge and the Landscape around Sellendorf
The landscape, too, is described in terms of specific features. The Juniper Gorge near Hohendorf covers 34 hectares. Its vegetation includes juniper stands, Scots pines, broom and birch stands. Sellendorf, in turn, is characterized as a wooded area with meadows, avenues and small bodies of water. These descriptions emphasize different aspects: the Juniper Gorge is notable for particular trees and shrubs and its area, while Sellendorf is defined by the combination of woodland, meadows, tree-lined avenues and smaller bodies of water. If you choose Steinreich for its landscapes, you can consider these two descriptions of local areas as different reasons for your trip.
Products from the Sellendorf Distillery
The Sellendorf distillery is a local culinary highlight. Its range includes wheat grain spirit, grain brandy, apple liqueur, herbal liqueurs, fruit liqueurs and other fruit-based spirits. As the range may change, check current availability before visiting. Local products complement the historical and landscape-related themes, so you do not have to limit your trip to just one kind of discovery.
Discover more destinations: Luckau, Neuendorf Am See, Halbe, Teupitz, Unterspreewald, Niederlehme, Schönefeld, Straupitz.
For the regional travel overview: Dahme-Spreewald.
