Region Friedland, Lower Lusatia Region Lagow Region Seelow Region Słońsk

Many “traces of the Knights of St John” can be discovered in the municipality of Słońsk and its surroundings. As the seat of the lord masters of the Order of St. John, the Sonnenburg Castle was the hub of the knightly order in the bailiwick of Brandenburg. The ruins of the castle, which have been accessible again since 2023, are also a new tourist attraction and centre of the “Traces of the Knights of St. John” brand in the Oder-Warthe region.

Other traces include the enchanting Church of Our Lady of Czestochowa, which is located right next to the castle ruins. About 300m east of the castle ruins is another historic building, the former St John’s children’s home, now a residential building. If you turn left into Choprina Street a few metres further on and follow it for about 2 km, you will find yourself in the middle of the Warta Estuary National Park, a magnificent cultural and natural landscape that was developed by the Order of St John in the 18th century. In the area, also known as “Nowa Amerika”, you can discover historic pumping stations, small and large churches and a great deal of nature.

And in the forest near Lemierzyce (Limmritz), only a few kilometres away, lies the “Moritzstein”, an erratic boulder that used to have a memorial plaque to Johann Moritz of Nassau-Siegen.

St John’s Castle Sonnenburg in Słońsk

The castle was built in place of an earlier castle by Johann Moritz von Nassau-Siegen as a baroque-style manor house until 1668. Empty after a devastating fire in 1975, the abandoned ruin was made accessible for tourism from 2019.

Church of Our Lady of Czestochowa in Słońsk

Built by the Knights of St. John until 1508, the knightly knighthood of the order took place here from 1550. The imposing church tower was built in 1818 according to plans by Karl Friedrich Schinkel. The particularly elaborate late Gothic vine painting in the church vault is impressive, with 200 gilded keystones and the coats […]

Moritz stone

Only a few kilometres from Słońsk, in the forest near Lemierzyce (Limmritz), lies the “Moritz Stone”, a large erratic boulder with an inset symmetrical spot. It is believed that there used to be a plaque on the Moritz Stone in memory of Johann Moritz of Nassau-Siegen, the Master of the Order of St. John between […]

Nowa Amerika

In the 18th century, it was the Knights of St John under Prince August Ferdinand of Prussia who wrested the area from nature by draining it and settling it. Due to its unusual former village names, e.g. Florida, Savannah or Pennsylvania, it is also known as Nowa Amerika. Here you will find historic pumping stations, […]

Warta Estuary National Park

The Warta Estuary National Park was established in 2001 by merging the Slonsk Nature Reserve and the Warta Estuary Landscape Park. The area of the park includes the floodplains on both sides of the Warta River at its confluence with the Odra River and covers an area of more than 80 km². The areas of […]