Bad Wilsnack
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Bad Wilsnack (until 1929 Wilsnack) is a small town in the
Prignitz Prignitz () is a ''Kreis'' (district) in northwestern Brandenburg, in northeastern Germany. Neighboring districts, clockwise from the north, are Ludwigslust-Parchim (in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania), Ostprignitz-Ruppin (Brandenburg), Stendal (dist ...
district, in
Brandenburg Brandenburg, officially the State of Brandenburg, is a States of Germany, state in northeastern Germany. Brandenburg borders Poland and the states of Berlin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony. It is the List of Ger ...
,
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
. The former
pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a travel, journey to a holy place, which can lead to a personal transformation, after which the pilgrim returns to their daily life. A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) w ...
site of the
Holy Blood of Wilsnack The Holy Blood of Wilsnack was the name given to three hosts, which survived a fire in 1383 that burned the church and village to the ground. The hosts were thus seen as miraculous. The relics became the destination of medieval religious pilgri ...
has been officially recognised as a
spa town A spa town is a resort town based on a mineral spa (a developed mineral spring). Patrons visit spas to "take the waters" for their purported health benefits. Thomas Guidott set up a medical practice in the English town of Bath, Somerset, Ba ...
(''Bad'') since 1929. It is the administrative seat of the '' Amt'' ("collective municipality") Bad Wilsnack/Weisen.


Geography

The town is situated within the Prignitz historical region in the northwest of Brandenburg, roughly halfway between
Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
and
Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...
. It is located on the Karthane river, which flows into the
Elbe The Elbe ( ; ; or ''Elv''; Upper Sorbian, Upper and , ) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Republic), then Ge ...
at nearby
Wittenberge Wittenberge (; ) is a town of eighteen thousand people on the middle Elbe in the district of Prignitz, Brandenburg, Germany. Geography Wittenberge is situated at the right (north-eastern) bank of the middle Elbe at its confluence with the Step ...
. A few kilometers to the south is the confluence of the
Havel The Havel () is a river in northeastern Germany, flowing through the States of Germany, states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Brandenburg, Berlin and Saxony-Anhalt. The long Havel is a right tributary of the Elbe. However, the direct distance from ...
and Elbe rivers. The neighbouring municipality of Rühstädt is famous for its high number of resident
white stork The white stork (''Ciconia ciconia'') is a large bird in the stork family, Ciconiidae. Its plumage is mainly white, with black on the bird's wings. Adults have long red legs and long pointed red beaks, and measure on average from beak tip to en ...
s. Bad Wilsnack station is a stop on the Berlin–Hamburg Railway. The townscape is marked by the large St Nicholas Church of the Holy Blood and several
timber framed Timber framing () and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden pegs. If the struc ...
houses.


History

Wilsnack in the
Margraviate of Brandenburg The Margraviate of Brandenburg () was a major principality of the Holy Roman Empire from 1157 to 1806 that, having electoral status although being quite poor, grew rapidly in importance after inheriting the Duchy of Prussia in 1618 and then came ...
was first mentioned in 1384. The town became a pilgrimage destination after being burned down on 15 August 1383 during a raid by the
Mecklenburg Mecklenburg (; ) is a historical region in northern Germany comprising the western and larger part of the federal-state Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The largest cities of the region are Rostock, Schwerin, Neubrandenburg, Wismar and Güstrow. ...
captain and robber baron Heinrich von
Bülow Bülow or Bulow is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bülow family, a noble family from Germany with the surname "#Von Bülow, von Bülow" * Bülow (singer) (Megan Bülow, born 1999), German-Canadian singer * Alexander Bülow ...
against the
Bishopric of Havelberg The Bishopric of Havelberg () was a Roman Catholic diocese founded by King Otto I of Germany in 946, from 968 a suffragan to the Archbishops of Magedeburg. A Prince-bishopric (''Hochstift'') from 1151, Havelberg as a result of the Protestant Ref ...
. It was believed that after the fire some
hosts A host is a person responsible for guests at an event or for providing hospitality during it. Host may also refer to: Places * Host, Pennsylvania, a village in Berks County * Host Island, in the Wilhelm Archipelago, Antarctica People * ...
were found to have survived, but had the appearance of being bloodied. The
Holy Blood of Wilsnack The Holy Blood of Wilsnack was the name given to three hosts, which survived a fire in 1383 that burned the church and village to the ground. The hosts were thus seen as miraculous. The relics became the destination of medieval religious pilgri ...
was authenticated when the Havelberg bishop Dietrich Man went to consecrate the hosts as a precaution, and the central one overflowed with blood, according to later accounts. Reformers like
Jan Hus Jan Hus (; ; 1369 – 6 July 1415), sometimes anglicized as John Hus or John Huss, and referred to in historical texts as ''Iohannes Hus'' or ''Johannes Huss'', was a Czechs, Czech theologian and philosopher who became a Church reformer and t ...
and
Nicholas of Cusa Nicholas of Cusa (1401 – 11 August 1464), also referred to as Nicholas of Kues and Nicolaus Cusanus (), was a German Catholic bishop and polymath active as a philosopher, theologian, jurist, mathematician, and astronomer. One of the first Ger ...
later discouraged pilgrimage to Wilsnack, questioning the nature of these wonder hosts and suspecting fraud. The pilgrimage led from St. Mary's Church in Berlin to Wilsnack. Numerous pilgrims, among them Elector Frederick II of Brandenburg went to the rebuilt town to see the miraculous hosts; their revenues enabled the citizens to construct the large St Nicholas Church for their worship, a larger building than otherwise needed in the parish. The pilgrims who went to Wilsnack bought pewter trinkets to indicate that they had reached the site. These emblems were often in the form of three hosts connected together. Seen in numerous medieval paintings, the tokens have turned up in
archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...
digs from the area. The numbers of pilgrims were said to rival those to
Santiago de Compostela Santiago de Compostela, simply Santiago, or Compostela, in the province of Province of A Coruña, A Coruña, is the capital of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, in northwestern Spain. The city ...
in Spain. Despite controversy, the pilgrimages continued until 1552, when the hosts were destroyed during the
Protestant Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the papacy and ...
. The story of the bleeding hosts was depicted in a series of woodcuts made during the Middle Ages. The town used the image on emergency money which it printed and issued during the
hyperinflation In economics, hyperinflation is a very high and typically accelerating inflation. It quickly erodes the real versus nominal value (economics), real value of the local currency, as the prices of all goods increase. This causes people to minimiz ...
crisis of the 1920s (''Notgeld'').


Demography


Local council

Elections were held in 2014: *6 seats: FDP *5 seats: CDU *2 seats: SPD *1 seat: Unabhängige Wählergemeinschaft Grube Ergebnis der Kommunalwahl am 25. Mai 2014
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Sons and daughters of the town

* Wilhelm Harnisch (1787-1864), theologian and educator * Otto Reincke (1830-1906), jurist, (Reichsgerichtsrat) * Christoph Lütgert (born 1945), journalist and author


Individuals connected to the city

* Karl Saur (c.1901 -1978), engineer and former mayor of Bad Wilsnack * Hugo Spieler (1854-1922), sculptor


References


External links


Chronology and genealogy of Wilsnack
{{Authority control Localities in Prignitz Catholic pilgrimage sites Spa towns in Germany