Things to See Along the Via Imperii

Sightseeing on the Via Imperii Jakobsweg

Description:

The Via Imperii Jakobsweg leaves Berlin along the Teltow Canal. 

Teltow Canal, Berlin

My Camino de Santiago along the Via Imperii will wind through wide fields, dense forests, heath and pasture areas and a variety of different landscapes such as the Fläming Glacial Plateau and the Düben Heath. 

Fläming Glacial Plateau with sandy bottom

Düben Heath Terminal Moraine Landscape

Additionally the Seddiner See and Bergwitz See, which I will walk along, may invite me to refresh myself with a dip, but given that it will be January, there is a high chance that I will pass on the opportunity.

Route information for the 10 individual stages:

• Berlin - Teltow (23.7 km): Berlin-Mitte, Berlin-Schöneberg, Berlin-Marienfeld, Brandenburg Staat
• Teltow - Saarmund (21.8 km): Stahnsdorf, Güterfelde, Philippsthal
• Saarmund - Beelitz (16.5 km): Wildenbruch, Seddiner See, Kähnsdorf, Kietz, Schlunkendorf
• Beelitz - Treuenbrietzen (22.2 km): Elsholz, Salzbrunn, Buchholz, Niebel
• Treuenbrietzen - Marzahna (17.5 km): Rietz, Dietersdorf, Schwabeck, Feldheim, Schmögelsdorf
• Marzahna - Wittenberg (25, 0 km): Wergzahna, Saxony-Anhalt Staat, Kropstädt, Köpnick, Mochau, Thießen
• Wittenberg - Kemberg (15.9 km): Kienberge, Klitzschena, Bergwitz, Reuden
• Kemberg - Bad Düben (26.6 km): Lubast , Tornau, Hammermühle,Saxony Staat
• Bad Düben - Krostitz (21.5 km): Glaucha, Krippehna, Wölkau, Krensitz, Niederossig, Lehelitz
• Krostitz - Leipzig (21.4 km): Mutschlena, Gottscheina, Merkwitz, Plaußig, Thekla, Schönefeld
• Leipzig

Attractions:

• Berlin: Brandenburg Gate, Potsdamer Platz, Park am Gleisdreieck, monastery complex “The Good Shepherd”, Berlin Wall Trail
• Border of Berlin Staat and Brandenburg Staat
• Teltow: 12th century St. Andrew's Church. Pre-dates1265. Sits on the Teltow plateau, a moraine of the last glacial period. Urban planning of the 1960s resulted in the almost complete demolition and redevelopment of Teltow’s downtown. Only the church, the cinema and a part of Kuppelmayrschen settlement were preserved. In the 1980s, planners in Teltow rethought the process, listing historical monuments, and setting aside parts of the old town as area features.

Teltow Glacial Plain Features

• Bäkefließ, Alte Hakeburg, Bäkemühle
• Stahnsdorf: Südwestkirchhof, one of the largest forest cemeteries in Europe with graves of famous personalities and a Norwegian cemetery chapel

Cemetary at Südwestkirchhof

• Large Seddiner Lake. "Stunning Glacial Lake" . A quiet and beautiful  of body of water, the Großer Seddiner See is a shallow lake, created sometime during the Ice Age. It is now a popular swimming and wind surfing destination among the locals and travelers alike.

Großer Seddiner See

• Kähnsdorf: Heimatstube (Home Parlor Museum) and 25,000 square meter boulder garden
• Schlukendorf: The Schlunkendorf village church is a hall church that was built in the 18th century. Inside the simple building there is a horseshoe gallery and a pulpit from the time the church was built.

Schlunkendorf Village Church

• Beelitz: asparagus educational and hiking trail, windmill, parish church of St. Marien - St. Nikolai
• Niebel: ancient trees welcome the pilgrim at a shifting dune for a reststop
• Treuenbrietzen: Church of St. Marien with a baroque organ by master organ builder Joachim Wagner, baroque town hall with the Sabinchenbrunnen, local history museum
• Rietz: village church from the 12th century, wooden altar and crucifixion painting
• Wergzahna: one of the oldest village churches in Fläming

Wergzahna

• Border of Brandenburg Staat and Saxony-Anhalt Staat
• Schloss Kropstädt: moated castle. Castle Kropstädt with garden, built around 1850 on the place of the former water castle Liesnitz, which was built in 1150. Possibly a B&B? Architect Inform Website. The old castle was demolished in 1842 and rebuilt between 1855 and 1856 in the English Neo-Gothic style.

Schloss Kropstädt circa 2007

• Lutherstadt Wittenberg: City Church of St. Mary “Mother Church of the Reformation”, Luther Oak, Luther Monument, Cranach Houses, Castle Church with “These Door” by Martin Luther, Wittenberg Castle, Luther Garden
• Bergwitzsee

Bergwitzsee

• Kemberg: The town's most striking sight is the soaring Church of Our Lady ("Unser Lieben Frauen"), in which Martin Luther gave sermons during the Reformation period, and which can be seen from as far away as the Elbaue, a tract of land reclaimed from water. It is a hall church with a nave and two aisles dating from the 15th century (or so it is believed) with an 86-m-tall tower built in the 19th century. Remnants of wall paintings from the late Middle Ages, a sacrament house made of sandstone and a carved altar (both from the 15th century) and a very nice baptismal font remain. Also worth seeing are the late Gothic town hall with its Renaissance additions and the old town wall from the 14th century, parts of which are still well preserved.

Unser Lieben Frauen Kirche - Kemberg

• Düben Heath Nature Park

Düben Heath Nature Park

• Tornau: wooden sculpture meadow

The Holzskulpturenwiese, or wood sculpture meadow, is a unique gem of the Düben Heath. 

• Border of Anhalt-Saxony and Saxony
• Bad Düben: over 1000 year old castle
• Krippehna: Protestant parish church with a multi-story altar structure, carvings and an octagonal baptismal font made of sandstone
• Leipzig: Nikolaikirche, the first Romanesque church dedicated to St. Nicholas