Glienicke lies east of Lake Herzberg and stretches towards Lake Scharmützelsee. Two distinct historical themes stand out in the village: the listed railway viaduct on the southern edge of the village and the sculpture “Autumn of Life,” made from the wood of the former village oak. One links architectural history with the Blabbergraben valley, while the other uses the former oak as the starting point for a work of art. The wider destination of Rietz-Neuendorf also offers its own local histories, distinct from Glienicke’s local landmarks.
Viaduct and Architectural History
On the southern edge of the village, the listed Glienicke Viaduct spans the Glienicker Gorge in the Blabbergraben valley. The 95-metre-long, four-arched brick railway viaduct was completed in 1898, rebuilt in 1949 and extensively renovated in 2014. These dates distinguish completion, rebuilding and extensive renovation from one another. Its length and arches describe the structure, while the gorge in the Blabbergraben valley locates it in the landscape. This timeline links the completion of the original construction with two later phases of work, showing that the viaduct’s history encompasses more than a single construction date.
Sculpture and Local History
The sculpture “Autumn of Life” stands in the cemetery at the corner of Hartensdorfer Straße and Radlower Straße. Steffen Böttger created it from the crown base of the former village oak; it was installed on 2 October 2015. Unlike the viaduct, its historical reference is a single point in time: a fixed installation date rather than several construction phases. The locations also differ in scale: the viaduct is on the southern edge of the village, while the sculpture is in the cemetery at a precisely named street corner. This makes it possible to distinguish two different local stories: that of an engineering structure and that of a work of art made from the wood of the former village oak.
Distinct Local Histories in the Wider Destination of Rietz-Neuendorf
Rietz-Neuendorf is a rural municipality comprising 14 villages and covering 184.81 square kilometres. The Spree flows through Neubrück, and much of the village is surrounded by water. Along the road to Neubrück, carp ponds covering around 44 hectares lie on both sides of the main road. In Birkholz, visitors can observe fallow deer, red deer and other animal species in an ecologically managed enclosed wildlife area. Check visiting arrangements before your trip. Near Buckow, two landscape conservation areas lie along the road to Lindenberg; they are home to protected and endangered small animals. Thus, the destination’s waterways, wildlife observation and protected areas are associated with different places.
The churches in Rietz-Neuendorf also reflect different periods. Herzberg Church houses listed historic objects, including a silver-gilt chalice from the first half of the 16th century and a brass baptismal bowl from 1668. Neubrück Church was solemnly consecrated on 15 May 1955; its half-timbered transept extension was renovated in 2018. Birkholz Church has medieval origins; its entrance door, fitted with wrought-iron straps, is around 300 years old. In Buckow, both the church and the Slavic rampart near it are protected as listed monuments. These examples range from historic furnishings and architectural history to archaeological traces.
For the wider travel overview: Rietz-Neuendorf.
