Prenzlau, once the chief town of the Uckermark, lies on the north side of the Unterueckersee some 80km/50mi north of Berlin. The old town, situated on a terrace bordering the kilometer-wide Uecker depression, has preserved remains of its medieval fortifications and a number of fine churches.
Prenzlau still has considerable stretches of its old town walls (13th-14th C.), with three gate-towers (Blindower Torturm, Mitteltorturm, Steintorturm), the Hexenturm (Witches' Tower), the Pulverturn (Powder Tower) and a number of wiekhäuser (houses built into the town walls).
The monastic church of the Holy Cross (1275-1343) in Prenzlau is brick-built in Early Gothic style. The refectory (now the Heimatmuseum) of the old Dominican monastery has wall paintings of 1516.
In Ernst-Thälmann-Platz stands St Mary's Church (13th-14th C.) in Prenzlau, one of Germany's finest examples of brick-built Gothic architecture, with a magnificent east gable. The church was burned out in the closing days of the Second World War but has been rebuilt in its original form. There are plans to make it a Museum of Culture.
At the southwest corner of the church can be seen a bronze figure of Martin Luther (by Ernst Rietschel, 1903), a copy of the original found in Worms.
Two notable churches in Prenzlau are the ruined St Nicholas's Church (mid 13th C.), the town's oldest parish church, and St James's Church (second half of 13th C.), a flat-roofed church built of undressed stone.
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