Getting to know Guben and Gubin in one walk

The region’s biggest attraction is certainly the Parish Church, which dates back to 1324. Today it is a ruin, but has recently undergone major conservation work. It is the largest building of its type in the region. In 2005 reconstruction began on the church, with the intention of developing it into a German-Polish meeting venue. South and west of the church ruin is the historical 14th-century town hall. Nowadays it houses Gubin’s art and leisure centre, the town gallery, the public library as well as a restaurant and pub, where you can admire the vault, which was saved from war damage.
South of plac Jana Pawla is the tower of the 15th and 16th-century Werder Gate (also known as Brama Ostrowska). The museum staff next-door will open the tower for visitors. Walking further to the left of the building, you approach a 19th-century reconstruction of the gate in the romance style, built for decoration and also as a remembrance of the Guben tradition of fortification. Now we go further left through Mickiewicz Park, along the Lubst river. A short walk along ulica Królewska, passing the Holy Trinity Church (kosciol , brings you to Waszkiewicz Park, from which there is a marvellous view. Virtually beneath your feet there once stood the so-called Wolf Villa, designed by the famous Bauhaus architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. Going down the steps to ulica Piastowska and turning left, you will see old villas, one of which is the seat of the “Spree-Neisse-Bober euroregion”, an association which carries out transnational EU-supported projects. Opposite this is the “Exotarium” – a small garden designed by the Gubin Poet Tadeusz Firlej, where you can find various rare trees. By just crossing the garden you can reach the Theatre Island. A theatre was built here in 1874, but it did not survive the damage it suffered during the war. A cycle path, also popular with walkers, crosses the island.

From the island there is direct access to the Neisse Terraces via a bridge. As you look around, you will see some fragments of Guben’s former textile factory, which have been fit into the park arrangement.
Following Alte Poststraße northward, you can admire the old villas and town houses of past times. As soon as you set foot on Kugelbrücke Bridge, you have reached the end of Alte Poststraße. On the right is Gunther von Hagens’ Plastinarium. Continue the city walk by turning left onto Uferstraße. Next on the right is the German-Slavonic art centre, an imposing neo-renaissance style villa built in 1898.

As you walk on, Uferstraße turns into Berliner Straße, which is flanked by old villas and ends further west with the church of The Good Shepherd, a 1903 edifice designed in the German Jugend style. Right next to the church is a historical gatehouse in clinker brick. Further west is the promenade at the “Dreieck”, a triangular square which is the main junction of Guben’s city centre. The former C.G. Wilke hat factory now houses the town hall, town and industrial museum, local library and town music school. The nearby old dye-works serve as a multifunctional hall. Looking down at the brick pavement, you will find the inscribed details of many citizens of Guben.

Go on eastwards and follow the Frankfurter Straße. On the left is a postal milestone. Next you will reach the Egelneisse, a small extension of the Neisse, along which runs the popular Oder-Neisse cycle track. This green place right in the city centre encourages us to linger and relax. Next we return to the busy pedestrian precinct Frankfurter Straße, on both sides of which are historical houses which have been refurbished with loving care. At its end, Frankfurter Straße again borders on Alte Poststraße. West of the latter is the Church of the Convent. Walking further along, you again reach the Neisse Terraces.