Neuruppin, town of Schinkel and Fontane – human dignity, spirit and beauty

This town is the gem of the Mark Brandenburg countryside! Anyone who once stood on the riverside promenade between St. Trinitatis Monastery Church, the sparkling 17m PARZIVAL steel sculpture and the almost endless Ruppiner See (a lake) will confirm this. From here, the smart ships of the passenger shipping company put to sea heading for Boltenmühle (a village named after a former mill), which is the heart of the Ruppiner Schweiz (Switzerland). This is the ideal place for hikes by boat, for riding a bicycle and hiking – just like in the real Switzerland. 
The idyllic little town by the longest Brandenburg lake has much to offer: here, Karl Friedrich Schinkel, the master builder of German Classicism and the novelist, Theodor Fontane, were born. A statue on the church square recalls Schinkel, who was the most significant architect of Classicism with buildings such as the Berliner Schauspielhaus (theatre). In the Fontane Centre in the old grammar school (the former Friedrich-Wilhelm Gymnasium) at Schulplatz, there is an extensive exhibition on Fontane, the novelist who gave the town its name and whose monument is a popular place for taking pictures. Everywhere in the town, observant tourists discover the traces of Fontane, the novelist who expresses his passion for the area in a poetic way in his world-famous works, such as “Effi Briest“ but also in stories that are popular locally, such as “Wanderungen durch die Mark Brandenburg” (Travels through the Mark of Brandenburg). While still crown prince, King Frederick the Great commanded a Prussian regiment in Neuruppin for eight years. At Frederick’s request, Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff, the architect of the Berlin State Opera, erected his first building in Neuruppin in 1735, which was a circular temple for celebrations in Amaltheagarten, a garden laid-out in the Rococo style. The Gentz family of businessmen gave the temple garden a Moorish character during the 19th century and embellished it with baroque figures and exotic copses. The historic old town centre, which was almost completely rebuilt after the great fire in 1787, is regarded as a two hundred year old synthesis of the arts of Early Classicism. The castle of Hans Joachim von Zieten, the legendary general of the hussars and the Museum of Brandenburg-Prussia are located in Wustrau at the southern end of Lake Ruppin.