Krüzen combines a village history dating back to the 13th century with an animal park and an agricultural landscape. This offers several starting points for planning a trip: the town’s historical development, wildlife watching and a landscape shaped by hedgerows, a ridge and the Augraben stream.
Village History and Cultural Heritage
The first documented mention of the village appears in the Ratzeburg tithe register of 1230, where Krüzen is listed as Crutsem. In 1627, Krüzen was completely burned down by Tilly’s Croatian troops. St. Martin’s Chapel was built around 1300; from 1835 to 1968, it served as a schoolhouse with a teacher’s residence. The village’s history therefore links a medieval religious building with its later use for education and housing.
The name Krüzen also bears traces of linguistic history: it probably derives from the Old Polabian *krusina, meaning either “gravelly place” or “blackthorn.” Local heritage also includes prehistoric cup-marked stones at the sites known as Krüzener “oolen Heed” and “Steinrie.”
A village renewal program ran from 1988 to 2000. Krüzen was subsequently designated a “Beautiful Village” in 2009 and 2012. A section of the historic Old Salt Road ran between Krüzen and Juliusburg towards Lütau. The Old Salt Road is also a tourist route and a long-distance cycling route; its course between Lüneburg, Lauenburg and Schwarzenbek includes, among other roads, the B209.
Krüzen Animal Park
The Krüzen Animal Park is home to wild animals as well as old and endangered breeds of domestic animals. Through its breeding program, the park aims to preserve rare wild animals and endangered domestic breeds. Visitors can observe the animals up close and, with a little luck, can even handle some of them. The animal park is considered easy to walk around and offers child-friendly stops. Wildlife watching and conservation breeding therefore give a visit a different focus from the historical traces in the village.
Landscape and Regional Setting
The landscape around Krüzen and Juliusburg is shaped by agriculture and has a moderate to high diversity of landscape features. These include a denser network of hedgerows, the Heidberg hill north of Krüzen and terrain that slopes west towards the Augraben stream. The hedgerows, elevation and slope bring the area’s varied landforms into focus and help visitors understand their geographical layout.
In the wider Herzogtum Lauenburg travel region, the view opens up to forests and water. The district is 26 percent forested and has 48 lakes; the Lauenburg Lakes Nature Park lies at its heart. Visitors can hike, cycle, canoe and swim in forest lakes there. The nature park has four signposted cycling routes. These regional activities complement the village’s history and animal park with nature and water-based pursuits across the wider destination.
Discover more destinations: Hollenbek, Güster, Hohenhorn, Ratzeburg, Nusse, Roseburg, Gudow, Berkenthin.
Go to the main travel overview: Herzogtum Lauenburg.
