Kenz-Küstrow: Church, Spring and Landscape

Kenz-Küstrow brings together St. Mary’s Church and the healing spring in Kenz, village centers, and the landscape along the Bodden coast. For travelers looking for a hotel in Kenz-Küstrow, these local features offer a tangible impression of what makes the place distinctive: Brick Gothic architecture and church windows, a spring with a spa history, and villages in gently rolling surroundings. This makes it easy to choose your focus between cultural history and rural village character.

St. Mary’s Church, the Spring and Local History

St. Mary’s Church in Kenz was built around 1398 in the Brick Gothic style near a healing spring. It served as the burial church of the Pomeranian dukes. Its choir windows form the largest surviving collection of early medieval stained glass of this kind in northern Germany. The restored former pilgrimage church is a visitor attraction.

A wooden cenotaph of Barnim VI is dated to 1410. According to one account, the well house in Kenz was rebuilt in 2004 based on 18th-century plans. The dates and design references give the historic sights different points of reference in time.

The spring also shaped the town’s spa history: because of its spring, Kenz became the first spa town in what is now Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. At the Kenz Spring, a pump provides visitors with fresh water, which is considered refreshing and healing. The spring and church are therefore connected both to the history of the place and to a tangible visitor experience.

The ensemble of church, spring, and trees invites visitors to linger from spring through late autumn. Seasonal access conditions may change, so check them before your visit. If you are particularly interested in architecture and art, the Brick Gothic style and choir windows offer a different focus from the history of the spring and spa.

Village Centers and the Bodden Landscape

The villages in the municipality of Kenz-Küstrow lie in a gently rolling landscape along the Bodden coast, crisscrossed by springs and streams. This gives the landscape a different character from the view of the church: waterways and gentle rises shape the setting shared by the villages.

The village center of Rubitz covers one hectare. Springs, mature trees, and thatched houses define it and invite visitors to linger. In Küstrow, approaching from the west opens up a wide view across the surrounding landscape and the Bodden. Rubitz thus offers a compact village center, while the view of the Bodden brings the wider landscape into focus.

The Dabitz waterway rest area is another local point of interest, with more than 60 berths for recreational and sailing boats. The harbor attracts sailors and visitors seeking relaxation. Since facilities can change over time, check the current information if you plan to include the harbor in your itinerary.

Vorpommern-Rügen as a Regional Setting

The wider travel destination of Vorpommern-Rügen has an estimated 60 museums. The district includes the Fischland-Darß-Zingst peninsula chain, as well as Rügen and the nearby islands of Hiddensee and Ummanz. This geographical range provides a broader setting than the local views of Kenz-Küstrow.

The old town of the Hanseatic city of Stralsund is also part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site “Historic Centres of Stralsund and Wismar.” The beech forests in Jasmund National Park on Rügen are part of the “Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe” World Heritage Site. The gallery at the monastery in Ribnitz-Damgarten offers another perspective on art in the district: it mainly shows contemporary regional art, as well as a permanent exhibition of prints by Lyonel Feininger. The district’s art collection is also preserved and managed there; it comprises around 500 works in various genres, dating from the late 19th century to the present.

Discover more destinations: Saal, Divitz-Spoldershagen, Karnin, Pruchten, Löbnitz, Trinwillershagen, Lüdershagen, Bartelshagen II bei Barth.

Go to the regional travel overview: Amt Barth.