Easy hikes and walks around Kępice

Built in 1916, the three-span truss bridge was a key element of the picturesque pre-war railway line connecting Grzmiąca, Bobolice, Polanów, and Korzybie. For nearly 30 years, the loud clatter of steam train wheels echoed throughout the entire Grabowa river valley. The year 1945 brought an end to this beautiful route. The invading Red Army troops brutally dismantled the tracks and transported all the rail infrastructure to the East. Interestingly, the Russians also tried to blow up this massive bridge to permanently cut off the connection! However, the structure proved to be so brilliantly designed and solid that the explosives only slightly deformed it. You can still admire these wounds in the steel today!

The year 1945 brought disaster to the castle – the building was completely burned down. For a short time, a school and a forestry office operated in the surviving remains, but then the site fell into ruin. It was not until 1990 that the castle passed into the hands of a private owner, who carried out a gigantic, meticulously supported renovation. The stronghold was rebuilt with attention to every historical detail, restoring its appearance from before the wartime destruction.

For almost 400 years (until the second half of the 19th century), the castle was the proud ancestral seat of the knightly von Podewils clan. As befits a true castle, Krąg has its own ghost! According to local legends, at night, the White Lady – the spirit of a former unhappy inhabitant of the stronghold – wanders through the castle cloisters and along the shore of the lake.

A beautifully situated castle on a lake, converted into a hotel and restaurant. There's a viewing terrace where you can eat or drink while enjoying the lake view. The castle itself is in good condition, and nearby is a small, restored church. It's a truly beautiful place.

A very interesting place not only for fans of bridges and railways.

Red Bridge. These are the remains of a steel bridge built in 1916 over the valley of the Grabowa River. The bridge is 120 m long and is part of the pre-war narrow-gauge railway line from Grzmiaca to Korzybie.

The castle in Krangen, which dates back to the 15th century and which was expanded into a picturesque late Renaissance castle, is one of the oldest surviving castles in Western Pomerania. It was the ancestral home of the von Podewils family. [4] Hugo Freiherr von Loen owned the manor from 1860 to 1880, after which it was sold to the von Riepenhausen family. The last owner was his nephew Carl Alexander von Uexkull. After the war it was saved from deterioration and - after thorough restoration - converted into a hotel. Source: Wikipedia

In the 1790s, the church building was enlarged on the eastern side to be used as a chapel. For its construction, Heinrich Podewils, Adam's brother bequeathed a legate in his will. There are two baroque sarcophagi in the chapel: Heinrich's, richly ornamented, made of silver-plated and gilded copper sheet, probably from the year of Heinrich's death in 1696, the second - Adam's marble sarcophagus, dated 1699 and the signature of the artist - sculptor David Hasen. And although the sarcophagi were plundered just after the war, they were saved themselves. On the walls of the church in Krąg there are also epitaphs: Adam, his son Ernest Bogislaw and brother Heinrich. The chapel is entered from the church and is accessed by a door next to the altar.