half-timbered houses as far as the eye can see
Episode 9 of the journey through the cultural heritage sites
Neulietzegöricke, a strange name for strangers. The people of the Oderbruch usually call the oldest colonist village in the Oderbruch "Lietze" for short. Neulietzegöricke has been one of the first designated cultural heritage sites since 2018. Foreigners and locals agree that it is probably one of the most beautiful villages in the Bruch. After all, most of the listed half-timbered houses in this river landscape are located there. Almost half of all houses are built entirely or partially with half-timbering. Many have also been beautifully restored. After the Oderbruch was drained, Frederick the Great had the place built as the first colonist village. It got its name from the village of Alt Lietzegöricke (Stare Łysogórki) on the Polish side of the Oder, which was laid in the cradle. It is of Slavic origin and means something like bare mountain. Time for a tour with Lietze's village mayor alias Horst Wilke. He was mayor of the town for more than 28 years and knows his way around. As in the old days, he greets me in Oderbruch-Platt, a dialect that is rarely heard these days.
Our walk through Neulietzegöricke takes us along the village green and back again on the other side. The village mayor stops at many houses and tells a relevant story or anecdote. For example, the story about Agnes Kraus, a very popular actress in the GDR, who made sure the street was swept. At others he talks about the history of the building or its restoration.
"Like several other Oderbruch villages, the long, stretched-out street village was built on both sides of a drainage ditch," says Horst Wilke. The first work began in August 1753. The site for the village was carefully chosen. After previous Oder floods, the residents of the area could see which elevated areas dried out first. The settlement was built there. In what is now the village green, earth was dug up and piled up on the right and left. The foundations of the houses were built on these ramparts, which now had an elevated position and thus better protection from the regular floods of the Oder. By 1754, Neulietzegöricke's first settlement by colonists, including those from the Palatinate, Baden-Württemberg and the Warthebruch, was complete. A fire destroyed most of the village in 1832, but it was later rebuilt. The original village structure was largely preserved.
"The first houses when Neulietzegöricke was founded were semi-detached houses, so that they could save money by having a gable. This had two major disadvantages," the village mayor reports. "Firstly, there were frequent arguments between the neighbours, which is why the houses were also often called quarrelling houses. Secondly, the close construction accelerated the fire disaster." The new houses were then built individually on separate farmsteads. During his regular village tours, Horst Wilke uses a drawing to explain to visitors how the village was once planned in the correct Prussian style. Large colonists received 90 acres, medium colonists 50 and small colonists only ten acres of land (a Prussian acre was equivalent to around 5.200 to 5.800 square metres). Only public buildings were allowed in the centre of the village: the church, the school and an inn. Day labourers' houses stood at the front of the village green. The village school existed until 1971, after which it housed a “Konsum”, the community hall and currently the “Kolonisten-Kaffee”. The inn has remained what it always was and bears the unusual name “Zum feuchten Willi”.
Anyone visiting the Oderbruch should not miss “Lietze”. After a tour of the village and a refreshment in the Kolonisten-Kaffee (check the season), it is worth taking a walk along the Oder in the nearby Zollbrücke. The nationally known “Theater am Rand” is also located there. You can experience Horst Wilke as the village mayor in advance. In the short film about the cultural heritage in the Oderbruch, he presents Neulietzegöricke:
https://oderbruchmuseum.de/kulturerbe/.
Cultural Heritage Site:
– Neulietzegöricke, guided tours in Oderbruchplatt with Horst Wilke,
Neulietzegöricke 62, 16259 Neulewin OT Neulietzegöricke, Telephone: 0157 56851058, www.neulietzegoericke.de
For more information about the Oderbruch Museum and the cultural heritage in the Oderbruch, please see here.