Grabow-Below offers several ways to explore local history: the village centre with its green-village character, the English landscape park of Below Manor House, the Old Wheelwright’s Workshop and places of remembrance commemorating the death march of Sachsenhausen concentration camp prisoners. If you choose a destination based on its themes, you can explore a range of topics here: settlement patterns and architectural history, manor-house landscapes, events and commemoration.
Village Centre and Green Village
The church, school and village pond form the centre of the village. The school, which included a schoolmaster’s residence, was built around 1790. The church is a new building designed by Privy Court Building Officer Möckel in the second half of the 19th century. Modernised and well-maintained settler houses form a horseshoe-shaped row around these buildings, making the village’s green-village character clearly visible once again. The village’s appearance is therefore defined not just by individual buildings but by the way they are arranged. The village pond is as much a part of the centre as the school and church. Anyone interested in settlement history will find a clear connection here between the buildings and the horseshoe-shaped layout of the village.
Manor Park and the Old Wheelwright’s Workshop
Below Manor House has an English landscape park laid out in 1860. It provides a contrast to the built heritage of the village centre: here, the focus is on the historic design of a landscaped park. Another aspect of local history is presented by the Old Wheelwright’s Workshop, completed in 2016. It houses an espresso bar where culinary and artistic events are held. Groups of all sizes are welcome to come and enjoy the space and linger by prior arrangement. Group visits must be arranged in advance; the events programme may also change. If you are planning a visit, allow time to arrange an appointment and check which event suits your stay.
Places of Remembrance in Grabow and Below
In Grabow, one of the four-colour enamel plaques installed in 1976 marks the route of the death march of Sachsenhausen concentration camp prisoners. In Below, a glacial erratic from the series of memorials created in 1949, 1950 and 1951 commemorates this death march. The two forms of commemoration have different focuses: the plaque marks the route, while the erratic serves as a memorial. The history of the death march thus adds a sombre historical dimension to the architectural and manor-house history.
Things to Explore During Your Stay
The dates also help place the different themes in context: the school dates from around 1790, the landscape park was laid out in 1860, and the new church was built in the second half of the 19th century. This makes it possible to distinguish the school chronologically from the two later features of the village, without treating the park and church as a single building history. If you are looking for holiday accommodation in Grabow-Below, you can first consider whether the village’s appearance, the manor-house history or the events at the Old Wheelwright’s Workshop matter most to you. If you are planning a group visit to the workshop, remember to arrange it in advance.
Discover more destinations: Rechlin, Priborn, Altenhof, Groß Kelle, Stuer, Röbel/Müritz, Buchholz, Ludorf
For the higher-level travel overview: Amt Röbel-Müritz.
