Blievenstorf: Village Church, Remembrance and Carriage-Driving Tradition

Blievenstorf offers a range of reasons to visit: the village is laid out in a circular pattern, lies on the southern edge of the Lewitz European Special Protection Area for Birds, and has its own carriage-driving tradition. It also has a Neo-Gothic brick church and memorial sites commemorating the history of the 1945 death march. Which holiday apartment in Blievenstorf is right for your trip therefore also depends on whether you are mainly interested in local history, nature or the driving tournament.

Village Church in the Centre

At the centre of the circular village stands the single-nave Neo-Gothic brick church of the Evangelical Lutheran parish. The branch church of Brenz in Blievenstorf was renovated and rebuilt in 1892 by G. L. Möckel; its exterior has changed very little since then. Its architectural form, building material and style give the church a clearly recognisable architectural character. This makes it possible to explore the village’s history through a specific building, rather than treating it only as general local history.

The altarpiece is another distinctive detail of the church: Bertha Albin created the painting “Christ on the Cross”, which was restored a few years ago. The church is open on Saturdays and Sundays; a service is held once a month on Sunday afternoon. Visitors interested in church architecture or sacred art will find several points of interest here: the building’s design, the history of the altarpiece and its use as the parish church.

Memorial Sites Commemorating the History of 1945

A memorial stone dating from 1976 in the village square commemorates the victims of the death march of April 1945. Among them were 60 women driven by the SS towards Wöbbelin from a subcamp of the Ravensbrück concentration camp. The precise timing and the reference to the women affected make clear what the stone commemorates. For anyone exploring local history, this is a specific reason to engage with this chapter of the past.

There are also 20 war dead buried in individual graves in the church cemetery. The memorial stone and the individual graves represent different forms of remembrance in the village. They give the exploration of Blievenstorf’s history a solemn historical focus alongside the themes of architecture, nature and carriage-driving tradition.

Birdlife in the Lewitz

Blievenstorf lies on the southern edge of the Lewitz European Special Protection Area for Birds; the protected area, home to more than 250 bird species, is nearby. These include white-tailed eagles and ospreys, owls, cranes, bitterns and kingfishers. The Lewitz therefore adds a nature-focused perspective to travel planning, distinct from the village’s cultural and historical themes. If you are particularly interested in birds and natural landscapes, this is another reason to consider Blievenstorf as a destination.

Driving Tournament and Local Tradition

A special event in the annual calendar is the driving tournament held every May. It is described as the largest driving tournament in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, and competitors from the international carriage-driving community take part. The competitions include single, pair and four-in-hand teams, which compete in dressage, cross-country and obstacle driving. The different team configurations and disciplines make the sporting nature of the tournament tangible: it is not limited to a single type of event, but covers several areas of carriage driving.

Carriage driving is also a longstanding local tradition in Blievenstorf beyond the tournament. The Blievenstorf Driving and Riding Club works to preserve it. If you would like to plan your trip around the tournament, May is the annual date given for the event. For other travel interests, the church, memorial sites and birdlife of the Lewitz offer their own points of interest. These themes can help you tailor your holiday apartment search to the reason for your trip.

If you would like to discover more places, you can also find Brenz here.

For the broader travel overview: Amt Neustadt-Glewe.