The Old Castle in Penzlin brings together a museum about everyday magic and witchcraft, distinctive historic architectural features and knowledgeable guided tours. The bathing area on Lake Penzlin offers a different focus. You can shape your time in Penzlin around cultural history, architecture or a stay at the bathing area.
The Old Castle: Themes and Architectural Features
The museum in the Old Castle in Penzlin is devoted to the historical phenomenon of everyday magic, as well as witchcraft and its legal prosecution in Mecklenburg during the Early Modern Period. Beliefs and their legal prosecution are therefore both part of the museum’s subject matter. The historical context explicitly extends to the Early Modern Period and relates to Mecklenburg.
The architecture also offers specific points of interest: the Knights’ Hall in the Old Castle has a Gothic cross-ribbed vault. The black kitchen contains a twelve-metre-high smoke hood. These two features offer different points of interest: the vault’s form takes centre stage in the Knights’ Hall, while the kitchen is notable for its precisely stated height.
Knowledgeable guided tours at Penzlin Castle provide information about the castle’s history and take visitors through the torture chamber and the witches’ dungeons. They offer another way to explore the historic rooms and the castle’s history. If you are planning a guided tour, check the latest dates in advance, as the specific arrangements may change.
The bathing area on Lake Penzlin
The bathing area on Lake Penzlin includes a beach area and a sunbathing lawn with a kiosk. Its character is clearly different from that of the Old Castle: the focus there is on the museum, architecture and castle history, while the bathing area’s named features are the beach, sunbathing lawn and kiosk. These are two distinct options in Penzlin, not necessarily a combined programme.
Nature in the wider Mecklenburg Lake District destination
The wider Mecklenburg Lake District destination offers a distinct regional perspective. MĂĽritz National Park is part of the Mecklenburg Lake District and is characterised by forests, moors, lakes and broad meadows. This landscape provides a setting for a range of nature experiences, each with its own focus.
The Müritz National Park Hiking Trail explores the park’s landscape types and special features over nine stages. The route passes lakes, winds through ancient forests, goes by inland dunes and leads to the source of the Havel. Certified nature and landscape guides also offer informative tours through Müritz National Park. These include guided tours in the Serrahn UNESCO World Heritage beech forest and tours from the water. The hiking trail and the guided tours thus differ in format: the former has nine stages, while the latter are led by experts and visit various themed locations.
Another nature attraction in the Mecklenburg Lake District is the Damerower Werder Bison Reserve. It is located on a peninsula in Lake Kölpin and also within Nossentiner/Schwinzer Heath Nature Park. Visitors can observe bison there. The reserve also has a forest adventure trail with climbing opportunities, an ant house, an exhibition with touch-and-see panels, and a dendrophone. Wildlife observation and the trail’s various stations offer different ways to enjoy a visit.
Discover more destinations: Kuckssee, Ankershagen, Möllenhagen.
For the wider travel overview: Amt Penzliner Land.
