Pilgrimage from Berlin to Wilsnack

Symbol of the pilgrimage route with three stylized hosts and two crosses

The Berlin – Wilsnack pilgrimage route was taken from the end of the 14th century to the 16th century and was the most important pilgrimage route in Northern Europe at that time. The starting point was the Marienkirche or the Heilig-Geist-Spital in Berlin-Mitte , the destination was the miracle blood church St. Nikolai in Wilsnack in northwestern Brandenburg . Since the exploration of the pilgrimage route at the end of the 20th century, the pilgrimage route has experienced a renaissance.

history

Pilgrim signs on one of the three bells in the village church of Protzen on the pilgrimage route Berlin – Wilsnack

On the pilgrimage route between Barsikow and Metzelthin

In August 1383, the town of Wilsnack, located in the Prignitz , was sacked by robber knights . The church was also badly damaged, and the local priest found three hosts stained with blood . This was interpreted as a miracle and soon attracted thousands of pilgrims , who hoped for a cure from illness or remission, or who later came to the execution of testamentary ordinances. Thanks to the taxes and donations of the pilgrims, a large pilgrimage church of St. Nikolai could be built in Wilsnack, and it eventually became one of the five most important pilgrimage sites in Europe.

Friedrich II. Of Brandenburg made six pilgrimages to Wilsnack between 1440 and 1451, where there were up to one hundred thousand pilgrims from all over Europe every year . As early as the end of the 14th century, the area around Wilsnack, in which there were hardly a thousand inhabitants, was completely overrun with pilgrims.

The Reformation put an end to the pilgrimage. After the first Protestant pastor of Wilsnack burned the miraculous blood hosts in 1552, Wilsnack fell back into insignificance.