The best road cycling routes around Grabschützer Lake

Beautiful rest area above the Lober-Leine Canal with a view of Lake Seelhausen

quiet country road, good surface

The interior furnishings of Brinnis Church include: In the chancel of Brinnis Church, a tabernacle (circa 1480) and two figurative gravestones (second half of the 17th century); at the altar, a late Gothic, life-size crucifix (first half of the 16th century); in the south (beneath the tall, round triumphal arch of the 16th century, which connects the chancel and nave) a neo-Gothic wooden pulpit from 1830, which only received its current location during the last renovation; furthermore (from 1830): galleries in the south, west, and north of the nave; a classicist wooden baptismal font and a neo-Gothic organ with a five-part facade. The old Brinnis altar, a triptych, is lost. It was already out of use and partially damaged by the end of the 19th century and was later sold. Let us not mourn what is lost, but rather listen to what the bell from the tower calls us. There were once three bells; only one remains: the bronze bell from 1782, 128 cm in diameter. It bears the inscription: "The sermon announces the dead, as well as the sorrows, and is carried forth, and only my bell's sound awakens the heavy hearts everywhere." Source: https://www.pfarrbereich-schenkenberg.de/index.php/kirche-brinnis

What sustains the church and propels it forward are the dates of its renovations. A distinctive, difficult-to-decipher inscription stone on the outer eastern chancel wall reveals the year 1518. At that time, the church in Brinnis, with its 12th-century Romanesque nave and west tower (whose south wall still retains Romanesque round-arched windows), was extended by this three-sided, late Gothic chancel. A short time later, in 1557 – as an inscription stone on the north wall of the church tells us – the nave was raised. Further renovations took place in 1830, 1914, and 1968/69. At the end of 1968, Pastor Heine, who served in Brinnis for almost half a century, reported with great joy in a church newsletter on the painstakingly initiated and ultimately successful restoration of the Brinnis church. Past generations have repeatedly built upon this house of God, striving to preserve it – leaving their mark in stone as a reminder to us to continue the work. Source: https://www.pfarrbereich-schenkenberg.de/index.php/kirche-brinnis

Old church in the middle of town. Worth a look.

The organ with a richly decorated case[1] is a work by Johann Scheibe from 1745–1746 with 13 stops on one manual and pedal. It was tested in 1746 by Johann Sebastian Bach and found to be "efficient, diligent and well built". The original acceptance certificate is in the British Museum in London (Add. 33965, fol. 168–169, until 1872 in the possession of Consul General Clauss in Leipzig).[2] In 1870, the organ was moved to the lower gallery by Eduard Offenhauer and a rear organ with four stops was added. In 1954, Hermann Eule Orgelbau Bautzen returned the instrument to its original location, rearranged the rear organ and added several stops to the main organ.[2] In 2000, Eule restored the organ again and returned it to its original condition. The pedal coupler, installed in 1870, was preserved. Source: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorfkirche_Zschortau

A carved altar with four panels and delicate, slender figures was probably created in a Halle workshop in 1517. In the predella, two high reliefs depict the birth and adoration of Christ. The shrine depicts Mary with Child and Saints Gertrude and Nicholas. The panels bear two rows of depictions of Saints Anthony, Wolfgang, Andrew, Stephen, Blaise, Catherine, Anne, Barbara, Dorothea, Margaret, and another saint. The altarpiece features important paintings by a Leipzig master influenced by Hans Baldung Grien. The left wing depicts Saints George, Maurice, Sebastian, and Christopher; the inner panels depict a bishop, James the Elder, Paul, presumably Benedict, and Bartholomew; and the right wing depicts a deacon, Pope Gregory, Ottilia, and Apollonia. The neo-Gothic sandstone baptismal font was created in the second half of the 19th century. The sandstone baptismal font was created in the second half of the 19th century. Source https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorfkirche_Zschortau

The village church dates back to the 12th/13th century. The Romanesque, transversely rectangular west tower survives from this period. The church was rebuilt around 1500. The nave and chancel were significantly enlarged, and the sacristy was added. The church was restored in 1975. The building is constructed of quarry stone with a brick interior. Large, double-track tracery windows and buttresses characterize the exterior. A two-story sacristy is attached to the north side of the chancel. A reticulated vault with colored ribs and remnants of flame and radiant paintings at the intersections completes the interior. The hall is separated from the chancel by a pointed arch and from the tower ground floor by a rounded arch supported by imposts. Simple wooden galleries from 1870 are built on three sides. A groined vault completes the sacristy. Source: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorfkirche_Zschortau