Usedom - Lassan

former railway lift bridge

View of the island Usedom

From now on, the shoreline turns westward and later north again, and just like on the previous stage, we have the Szczecin Lagoon on our left. This lagoon is fed by the Oder river and flows into the Baltic Sea, also called the Ostsee, through three channels between the islands in the middle sea. The Peenestrom is the westernmost of these three channels.

Farewell to the island of Usedom

Before that, we pass through Münchow, where a lovely Gothic church with a distinctive tower awaits us. Later, already at the Peenestrom, we arrive in Karnin, where a remnant of a railway lift bridge awaits us; a bridge built in 1933 and blown up by German troops toward the end of the war. Finally, behind Zecherin, we cross the Peenestrom. From there we proceed through Pinnow to the stage destination, Lassan, a town with Slavic roots on the Lassan Bay of the Peenestrom. Here, we will surely visit the St. Johannis town church with its Baroque furnishings and splendid organ. The citizens of the agricultural and harbor town of Lassan are also the originators of the initiative to revitalize the northern German pilgrimage routes.

Railway lift bridge through reeds of the Stettiner Haff

Note(s)

The pilgrimage route along the southern coast of the Baltic Sea has various names; in Germany, for example, it is also called the "Baltic-Westphalian Way of St. James." Eastward from Poland, the name "Pomeranian Way of St. James" is common. In this documentation, however, we stick with the cross-border name "Via Baltica," partly for the brevity of the name and also because pilgrims to Rome or even Jerusalem can use it.

See also

"The Pomeranian Way of St. James Travel Guide": www.en.re-create.pl

"Pilgrimage on the Via Baltica": www.via-baltica-verlag.de