After thousands of German towns and villages, I think I’ve found yet another one that’s managed to make me a tad… what’s the word? Speechless. Yes, that’s it. Leggebruch has made me speechless.
Not for the reason you might think, though. You see, Leegebruch is small. Very, very small. It isn’t even 6.5 square kilometers, and it’s totally dwarfed by its bigger neighbors of Oranienburg and, um, Berlin.
Heck, it’s so small there’s only one hotel in the entire town. It’s the Hotel Leegebruch, if you wanna know. Touted as a “better alternative than either Berlin and Oranienburg,” the hotel is conveniently located, if you ask me.
While Leegebruch might have only one hotel, it’s very close to a number of castles. Not really medieval ones, if that’s what you’re looking for, but castles nonetheless.
With some imagination you can picture the Burgwall Leegebruch, a lowland castle from the 7th to 9th century that’s now an archaeological site.
One of the most popular ones is Schloss Schwante in Oberkrämer, which isn’t really a castle at all — it’s a manor house that was built in the 1740s. Today it’s a theater with its own restaurant.
I think Schloss Sommerswalde (also in Oberkrämer) is one of the prettiest, and looks a lot like the White House of the United States. To me it does, anyway. Heck, its stables are bigger than many people’s houses.
OK, enough of castles (for now), and back to Leipheim, we’re off to the the St. Petrus Church (located at Am Anger), and the Dorfaue, a small chapel that was used for many many years — right up until 1975.
At the corner of Birkenallee & Eichenallee is a small memorial to forced laborers during WWII.
As I said before, Leegebruch is pretty small so it won’t take you long to look around — but this is the Oberhavel District, so just enjoy the scenery for all its worth.
Come to think of it, that’s what made me speechless, again. ;-)