Village church of St Mary and St Willibrod, Schönhausen

It was in the village church of SS. Mary and Willibrord that Otto von Bismarck was baptised. The brick building was consecrated in 1212.

In 1562, the village became the property of the Bismarcks, who also assumed patronage of the church. The style of a three-nave basilica without transept was probably borrowed from Havelberg cathedral. The eastern part with its rectangular choir, on the other hand, was modelled upon the monastery church at Jerichow, whose influence is also apparent in the structural elements and decorative forms. The masonry, structural elements and decorative forms throughout the building have been executed with painstaking care. Apart from the architectural decoration with its structuring and friezes, two important 13th century features have survived: the baptismal font and the wooden life-size triumphal cross from the late Romanesque period. Using the latest dendrochronological techniques (tree-ring dating), scientists concluded that the cross was created in about 1236, which makes it one of the oldest large crosses in central Germany. The other features, including the altar, pulpit, stalls and organ, are baroque.

Tombs from the 16th to 19th century recall the Bismarck family.

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