Barlt combines a distinctive history of church and building architecture with the literary heritage of the Frenssen House. St. Mary’s Church, the Harmonie inn and Ursula Mill offer different insights into architecture and technology. Dithmarschen broadens the picture with regional topics such as cabbage, cycling and museums.
Barlt between the Geest and the North Sea
The municipality of Barlt stretches from the Geest to the North Sea and is bordered by the Schleswig-Holstein Wadden Sea, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the Speicherkoog. The historic village centre developed as a ribbon settlement on marshy ground in connection with the first dike, which was intended to hold back the North Sea. To understand the village’s history, it is worth looking at both scales: the ribbon settlement tells the story of the development of the village centre, while the municipality extends from the Geest to the North Sea.
Church and historic buildings
The protected St. Mary’s Church complex includes its furnishings, the bell tower, the churchyard and graves dating from before 1870. Particularly striking is the completely preserved roof structure from 1458, considered one of the oldest dated roof structures in Schleswig-Holstein. The Harmonie inn is another historic building: the protected brick building dates from 1897 and has a two-storey hall and a wooden gallery.
Frenssen House and film history
The Frenssen House was Gustav Frenssen’s birthplace, home and place of death. Its preserved furnishings illustrate middle-class domestic culture in the 1920s and 1930s. As part of the Dithmarschen museum network, the house belongs to a network of 19 museums in eleven locations. Barlt also has a connection to film history: the village served as a filming location for the television adaptation of Hans Fallada’s “Farmers, Bosses and Bombs”.
Ursula Mill: Technology and exterior view
Ursula Mill is a gallery Dutch windmill dating from 1875. Its equipment includes a fantail, two milling mechanisms, a motor drive, shuttered sails and a complete wheat mill. It is not currently used for milling and can only be viewed from the outside. The mill also has a rural ice cream café.
Cabbage and cycling in Dithmarschen
Dithmarschen is known as a cabbage-growing region and is considered Europe’s largest contiguous cabbage-growing area. Around 90 million heads of cabbage are grown there each year. Farm shops in the region sell vegetables, meat and dairy products directly from producers. The availability of individual offerings may change; check in advance if you have a particular farm shop in mind.
Dithmarschen’s flat marshland is well suited to longer cycling tours, including the North Sea Cycle Route. One walking option in the wider area is the approximately nine-kilometre circular route “From Donner Kleve to Gudendorfer Forst”. The start and finish are at the sports ground in St. Michaelisdonn. The route follows the boundary between the marsh and the Geest towards Gudendorfer Forst. Route details may be updated, so it is advisable to check them before setting out.
More cultural destinations in Dithmarschen
Those wishing to discover more sides of Dithmarschen can also visit destinations elsewhere in the region. The Dithmarschen State Museum in Meldorf traces 1,200 years of history, from the wealth of the peasant republic to everyday rural life in the 1960s. At the Dithmarschen Stone Age Park, hands-on activities such as flint knapping, archery, making Stone Age jewellery, fire-making and bread baking are part of the programme. Activities may vary, so check the current programme in advance.
Discover more destinations: Büsum, Süderdeich, Schmedeswurth, Strübbel, Oesterdeichstrich, Odderade, Dingen, Schafstedt.
For the overarching travel overview: Dithmarschen.
