Discover Kroppen

Kroppen brings together a landscape park, a Baroque church and traces of a castle complex. If you would like to include cultural history, a landscaped park or a cycling route in your travel plans, you will find several specific points of interest here to help you choose your destination.

Landscape Park and Historic Traces

Kroppen Landscape Park is considered the cultural centre of the municipality and offers an opportunity to find peace and enjoy nature. Features of Eduard Petzold’s design are still visible: the terrain is gently undulating, and trees stand in groups, creating changing patterns of light and shade.

The Kellerhaus on Kellerberg was built in 1715 and has been preserved as a half-timbered house. In 1922, a lime-tree avenue was planted from the western park gate towards the mill. Another historic structure is an octagonal pavilion on a slight rise beside the Pulsnitz. Russian prisoners of war built it during the First World War.

The history of Kroppen Castle Park spans several periods: a castle on Scharfenberg was built in 1679, and the park was laid out from 1884 onwards. The castle was demolished in 1948. Together with the surviving park structures and the design of the grounds, these provide a range of historical points of interest.

Baroque Church and Local History

Kroppen’s Baroque church was built between 1718 and 1721 and is considered one of the few churches newly built in the 18th century in southern Brandenburg. Renowned Dresden artists contributed to its design. Its furnishings include a tall pulpit altar by Christian Näther and an epitaph for the builder, attributed to Johann Thomae.

The park and church offer different perspectives on the town’s history: in the park, landforms, trees and individual structures shape the landscape; at the church, the period of construction and artistic furnishings take centre stage. If you are choosing Kroppen for its cultural attractions, you can consider these aspects as separate focuses for your plans.

Routes and Activities

The 38-kilometre Ruhlander-Heide-Tour runs through Kroppen, including the town as a stop featuring a Baroque church and landscape park. Kroppen Castle Park is also linked to hiking and cycling routes, including a cycling loop between Kroppen and Ortrand. This means there are two distinct route options: a tour with a stated overall length and a cycling loop named after its two towns.

Woodland and Protected Areas

The property known as “Kroppen” is a forest of almost 96 hectares in Lusatia, on the border with Saxony. The Kroppen protected area lies within the “Elsterniederung und westliche Oberlausitzer Heide zwischen Senftenberg und Ortrand” landscape protection area. It also includes a small section of the “Pulsnitz und Niederungsbereiche DE 4547-303” FFH site. Woodland, protected-area designations and the landscaped park add further landscape features of Kroppen alongside its architecture and history.

The Wider Region: Oberspreewald-Lausitz

Across the wider destination of Oberspreewald-Lausitz, hiking routes in the district range from 4 to 32 kilometres. Cycling routes start at 40 kilometres and include self-guided or guided multi-day tours with good places to stop for a break or a meal. More than 580 kilometres of signposted cycle routes connect areas between the Spreewald and the Kmehlener Berge, linking southern Brandenburg with Saxony and northern Brandenburg.

In the south of the district, the flooding of former open-cast mines is creating a waterscape of more than 20 artificial lakes: the Lusatian Lake District. These routes and landscapes describe the wider setting of Oberspreewald-Lausitz; the park, church and woodland features mentioned above relate to Kroppen.

Discover more destinations: Altdöbern, Hermsdorf, Gosda, Lübbenau/Spreewald, Lauchhammer, Schipkau, Hohenbocka, Laasow.

View the wider travel overview: Oberspreewald-Lausitz.