A blanket made of paper
Now we head deep into the Bruch to the Oderbruch villages. We have left the town of Wriezen behind us and after about six kilometers we reach our next destination, Altwriezen. There we find the paradox of a cultural heritage site that does not yet exist: a planned replacement church.
Altwriezen, a circular village, existed centuries before it was drained, as one of the four old fishing villages of the middle Oderbruch. They can be recognized by the prefix “Alt”: Altmädewitz, Altreetz, Altwriezen and Altwustrow. Tradition describes them as "surrounded by huge walls made of cow dung, as high as houses, which gave them protection from wind and weather and from the floods in winter and spring, and served as pumpkin gardens during the summer." Theodor Fontane found these notes and added, “that the old Wendish Bruchdörfer would probably have been very similar to the Spreewalddörfer that still exist today“. Since the Bruch was flooded twice a year by the Oder for months, trade and communication between the Bruch villages and the hilltop villages, as well as the towns, were organized exclusively by barges, as in the Spreewald. The old fishing families were not very enthusiastic about the later separation of the Oder by the embankment under Frederick the Great, as they feared for the foundations of their existence. The easy “harvest” of the rich fish stocks in the marsh and river landscape was their livelihood. The following centuries, however, successfully transformed the fishermen into farming families. Despite the ambivalence it contains, this change shows the enormous adaptability of humans.
During this time, Altwriezen's half-timbered church, consecrated in 1630, was the centre and landmark of the village. It survived several floods, but not the GDR era. The parish lacked the money and materials for repairs, and so the half-timbered building was demolished in 1973 after a storm because it was in disrepair. Since 2015, the twenty members of the "Altwriezen-Beauregard Church" support association have been working to rebuild the church. The first step is to build a bell tower that will house, among other things, the three remaining bells from the old church. They are currently hanging in a bell tower next to the remains of the foundations of the former church. "The tower will be around ten metres high and have a floor plan of four by six metres," explains Peter Sperr, mayor and member of the support association. Above all, it will be a meeting place for the village community. The support association is currently collecting donations to finance the construction project. The members are also securing old building materials that will be reused later.
A short walk away, in another old village, we reach the next cultural heritage site: Altwustrow. Wustrow is probably derived from Polar Arabic or Old Slavic and means something like river island or a hill surrounded by a swamp. Altwustrow has several listed buildings and the half-timbered church, which has been declared a cultural heritage site. In contrast to the church in Altwriezen, which has disappeared, it is apparently in a very passable condition. However, appearances are deceptive, because the church, although renovated several times, is threatened by rising damp. "The special thing about this church is that it is in its original condition," says Dr. Udo Schagen during a tour. The medical historian and Altwustrow resident knows the history of the building and knows that it was built by the farmers themselves against the will of the authorities. The thirteen Altwustrow families at the time wanted their own church, like the ones the new villages got after the drainage. This request was rejected by the Prussian state, so they took matters into their own hands and built an "illegal building". The classicist building, which was inaugurated in 1789, was initially a towerless hall church. The tower was not added until 1832. As the village was far away in the marshes, it took a long time before the authorities got wind of the building and demanded that it be demolished. The farmers refused and instead put up a plaque with the inscription: "In honor of God, a Christian community in Alltwustrow rebuilt this house of God from their own resources in 1789."The dispute with the authorities was ended by a contract that obliged the Altwustrow farmers to take care of the maintenance of the church themselves for all time. The farmers' ownership of the church led to a curiosity in recent history, namely that it suddenly fell to the local LPG after collectivization in the 1950s. The local LPG had no sacred use for the building and wanted to convert it into a sheep barn. However, this plan was averted when it was handed over to the Brandenburg Protestant regional church. Various renovations in the decades before saved the church from decay. In 2001, it was also raised by 15 centimeters with the help of hydraulic presses. Over time, the outer framework had sunk significantly, so that the ceiling was already touching the organ. This renovation dragged on until 2007. In the meantime, the rising damp is causing the lime to trickle down again.
A visit to the cultural heritage site, which is rather modest for a church on the outside, is worthwhile not only because of its exciting history, but also because of its interior, which holds a few surprises. The baroque pulpit altar (peasant baroque), the gallery and the pews date from the time of construction. The recently renovated baptismal angel is probably even older. A hand-painted paper ceiling, which is very rare in northern Germany, dates back to 1873. From three earlier versions, the monument protection authorities chose one from the 19th century during the restoration. Udo Schagen points out another special feature, the hierarchy of the Altwustrow residents that was still visible in the church at that time. The seating arrangement was like that of noblemen, although there were no nobles in the village. The men, rich farmers and their sons, sat in boxes separated from the women, the women in the middle and the common servants sat at the top. Today, like so many churches in Brandenburg, the church seats are only occupied at Christmas or during events.
For more information about the Oderbruch Museum and the cultural heritage in the Oderbruch, please see here.