Pilgrimage Festival Bad Wilsnack

Medieval Pilgrimage — Commemoration of a Mass Pilgrimage Site

Between 1383 and 1552, Bad Wilsnack in the Prignitz region was one of the largest mass pilgrimage sites in Central Europe. The occasion was an alleged miracle of bleeding hosts, said to have been discovered in 1383 in the predecessor church destroyed by fire. Over the next century and a half, hundreds of thousands of pilgrims from all over Europe — from Scandinavia to present-day Czechia — traveled to Wilsnack to venerate the Holy Blood relics. The pilgrimage from Wilsnack was ended in 1552 by the Protestant Bishop Joachim Ellefeld, who publicly burned the relics. The Pilgrimage Festival keeps this history alive — on Saturday, August 22, 2026.

Holy Blood Church St. Nikolai — Gothic Pilgrimage Church

The Holy Blood Church St. Nikolai is one of Northern Germany's most significant late Gothic pilgrimage churches. Built as a pilgrimage church in the 14th/15th century, it impresses with its size — surprising for a small town in the Prignitz — and its late medieval furnishings. To this day, it is a destination on the modern Berlin–Bad Wilsnack pilgrimage route, which revives the old pilgrimage tradition.

Program — Service, Market, Music

The Pilgrimage Festival combines:

• Church service in the Holy Blood Church
• Medieval market in the Gutspark with craftsmen and traders
• Historical information on the Wilsnack pilgrimage tradition
• Musical performances — church music and programs with a medieval flair
• Regional cuisine of the Prignitz
• Encounters with pilgrims on the Berlin–Bad Wilsnack route

The exact program details and times for 2026 will be published on wunderblutkirche.de and in the program of the Prignitz Summer.

Bad Wilsnack — Spa Town and Pilgrimage Site

Today, Bad Wilsnack is primarily known as a spa town — the Kristall-Therme attracts wellness guests from Berlin and Brandenburg. In addition, the town cherishes its historical heritage as a pilgrimage site: pilgrims on modern St. James' Way connections and en route to Heiligengrabe stop here, the church is open from Tuesday to Sunday, and the annual Pilgrimage Festival is the spiritual highlight of the year.