Rheinsberg

Rheinsberg is a small town in the Ostprignitz-Ruppin district of northern Brandenburg, spreading across forested hills and several lakes. The center sits on Lake Grienerick, where historic buildings cluster around a quiet market square and narrow streets run through residential areas with timber-framed houses.

The castle was built in the 16th century and came into Prussian royal hands in the 18th century when the future Frederick the Great spent his youth here. After World War II the building served different purposes before opening as a museum for literature and music.

The town takes its name from the castle that has shaped local life for centuries and still draws visitors to walk through its gardens along the shore of Lake Grienerick. On summer weekends the market square fills with guests browsing small shops or sitting under old trees at outdoor cafés.

The town lies about 62 miles (100 kilometers) northwest of Berlin and can be reached by regional roads or regional trains that stop at a small station outside the center. Visitors arriving by bicycle will find well-maintained paths through the surrounding forests and along the lakeshores.

The writer Kurt Tucholsky spent a summer here and later wrote a book about the area that made the place known in literary circles. In the park behind the castle stands a small 18th-century grotto that visitors easily overlook, even though it hosts concerts and readings.