Marlow: Town Church and Recknitz Landscape

If you are looking for a hotel in Marlow, you can get to know the town through two distinct focal points: the architectural and furnishing history of the town church and the landscape around the Recknitz glacial valley. Marlow is located on the western slope of the glacial valley through which the Recknitz flows. The town’s profile thus brings together a specific building and a broader natural and historical area.

The Town Church and Its Layers of History

Marlow Town Church was built in the 13th century and was probably completed and consecrated in 1244. It is a red-brick building on granite rock; its tower dates from the 15th century. These different dates reveal the building’s successive stages.

The furnishings include a tombstone dated 1229. It is considered one of the three oldest in the state and the best preserved. The organ’s original structure dates from 1839 and was expanded by 1993 to include two manuals, a pedal and a total of 1,151 pipes. These dates offer insight into several distinct and widely separated phases in the church’s history and furnishings.

A major trade route is also said to have crossed the Recknitz at Marlow in the 12th and 13th centuries. Marlow can therefore be understood not only through its church building, but also through the river’s historical significance.

Glacial Valley, Recknitz and Exploring the Surrounding Area

For centuries, the glacial valley has formed a natural boundary between Mecklenburg and Western Pomerania. Its role is therefore both geographical and regional-historical: the Recknitz flows through the valley, which itself serves as this boundary. Marlow’s location on the western slope gives the town a clear connection to this river and valley landscape.

You can explore the area around Marlow by bicycle, on foot and from the water on the Recknitz.

The Marlow waterway rest area is located between Marlow and Semlow, right by the Marlow Recknitz Bridge. Its facilities include sanitary facilities, tent camping, car parking, and launch sites for canoes, motorboats and fishing boats. The rest area welcomes visitors from April to October. If you plan to include it in your trip, check its operating arrangements before you travel.

Vorpommern-Rügen as a Broader Travel Destination

The broader travel destination of Vorpommern-Rügen also includes landscapes and cultural sites that form the wider regional setting. The Fischland-Darß-Zingst peninsula chain is part of the district of Vorpommern-Rügen, as are the island of Rügen and the offshore islands of Hiddensee and Ummanz. The district is estimated to have around 60 museums.

Regional cultural and natural highlights include the old town of the Hanseatic city of Stralsund, which forms part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site “Historic Centres of Stralsund and Wismar.” The beech forests in Jasmund National Park on Rügen are also part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site “Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe.” The Störtebeker Festival is among the cultural events for which Vorpommern-Rügen is known. This gives you two distinct scales to keep in mind: Marlow, with its town church, the Recknitz and the glacial valley, and the broader travel destination of Vorpommern-Rügen.

Discover more destinations: Zingst, Amt Ribnitz-Damgarten, Binz, Amt Mönchgut-Granitz, Putbus, Amt Niepars, Amt Barth, Amt Franzburg-Richtenberg

To the broader travel overview: Vorpommern-Rügen.