Discover Sterup: Nature, Culture and Farm Offerings

Sterup is part of the Baltic Sea Fjord Schlei tourism region and is designated as a health resort. The area can be explored through a variety of interests: the Nature and Culture Trail leads to 14 sights, while St. Lawrence Church offers a distinct historical focus. Farm offerings are also available, some of which vary by season. When planning your visit, it makes a difference whether you are primarily interested in a circular walk, details of the church’s history or specific seasonal products.

Walking the Nature and Culture Trail

Sterup’s Nature and Culture Trail passes 14 sights. Information boards explain plants, nature, geology and historically significant buildings of cultural interest. St. Lawrence Church is one of the stops on the trail, which opened in 2015. The four-kilometre circular walk starts in Sterup and is rated moderate. It runs through a cultural landscape shaped by the Ice Age: from a moraine ridge into the Lippingau tunnel valley, past the Schönungsteich biotope pond, through beech forest and the Steruper Bach ravines. The route thus brings together landscape features and cultural history. If you are interested in both natural history and historic buildings, the information boards along the way provide details on both topics.

St. Lawrence Church: Architectural History and Artworks

St. Lawrence Church dates from the 13th century and was initially a chapel affiliated with St. Mary’s Church in Esgrus. Its former wooden west tower was replaced in 1887–1888 by a 52-metre-high brick tower. Inside the church are a Late Gothic winged altarpiece dating from around 1500 and a Late Gothic side altar from the 16th century. A Riffelbild by Hans Breckenfeld is dated 1751. Taken together, these artistic and architectural points of interest span the church’s medieval origins through to the 18th century. As a stop on the Nature and Culture Trail, St. Lawrence Church adds a specific historical focus to the landscape themes.

Farm offerings and seasonal products

A farm shop offers homemade fruit products, new culinary creations, homemade liver sausage and apple juice made from apples grown on the farm. The selection varies depending on the season and availability. The offerings also include eggs from the farm’s own chickens and pork prepared seasonally; availability for these items is also seasonal and limited.

At Timm’s Strawberry Farm, strawberries, raspberries and blueberries are available for picking and for sale at various stands. Picking and sales are seasonal. The self-service shop “Timms Hofschätze” stocks handmade products from the farm kitchen all year round, though the selection may vary. Arts and crafts and gift ideas are also available, and the selection may change. If you are planning your visit around specific fruit or farm products, check in advance what is currently available during your travel dates.

Schleswig-Flensburg in the wider context

In the wider Schleswig-Flensburg destination, Haithabu and the Danevirke have been UNESCO World Heritage Sites since June 2018. More than 25 kilometres of the Danevirke rampart are still preserved today. The historical memorial site and Idstedt Museum explore German-Danish history surrounding the uprising of 1848 and the Battle of Idstedt. The district’s landscapes also offer a variety of points of interest: at 773 hectares, Geltinger Birk is the largest nature reserve in Schleswig-Flensburg district. More than 130 bird species can be observed on Holnis, including around 65 breeding species.

Discover more destinations: Kronsgaard, Steinbergkirche, Rabenholz, Stangheck, Niesgrau, Steinberghaff, Esgrus, Steinberg.

View the wider travel overview: Gelting Bay.