Discover Balow
Accommodation in Balow
Balow combines a typically Mecklenburg landscape with a distinctive village layout and notable cultural venues. The village is located in the southeast of the Ludwigslust-Parchim district. Visitors who choose a holiday destination not only for its surroundings but also for its history will find several specific points of interest here: the unusual layout with two village centres, the church with its distinctive furnishings and cultural activities associated with Balow’s KUK. This combination makes Balow a destination where the landscape and local history can both take centre stage.
A village with two centres
Balow was laid out as a Slavic Sackplatzdorf (a village with a cul-de-sac square): the settlement has two village centres and just one entrance. This basic layout sets it apart from a settlement that developed around several entrances. For visitors interested in village history and historic settlement forms, it is a distinctive feature of the place. The two village centres are part of one village layout; they are not separate destinations. When choosing a holiday apartment, visitors who value a rural setting and a historical connection to their holiday destination can take Balow’s character into account.
Church: architecture and historic furnishings
The church in Balow brings together a range of art-historical features. Its nave has pilasters in the Late Renaissance style. Pilasters are flat, pillar-like elements on a wall; they give the architecture a different vocabulary from the church’s Baroque pulpit altar. The altar is dedicated to Saint Nicholas and combines the pulpit and altar in a single furnishing. For a culturally minded stay, the church offers more than one detail to appreciate: its architecture and altar design can be viewed as different aspects of local history.
The furnishings also include a carved armchair from 1705. At the time, it was used as a bridal chair. This particular object adds insight into the former use of an item on a personal occasion to the church’s architectural features. Visitors interested in historic everyday and festive culture can find a different way into the past here than through architecture alone. The nave, pulpit altar and armchair represent different facets of the church and need not be reduced to the same period or function.
Cultural venues and community events
In connection with the 2012 European Village Renewal Award, Balow Manor was highlighted as a building that shapes the local character and helps define the community’s identity. This describes its significance to the character of the village. Together with the church, it shows that Balow’s cultural identity cannot be attributed to just one building: the church conveys sacred architecture and furnishings, while the manor was identified in the aforementioned context as a defining feature of local identity.
Advent concerts traditionally take place over four days at Balow’s KUK, performed by the SwingSide BigBand. This makes the Advent season a recurring cultural event in the village’s annual calendar. Since 2012, the KUK has also had an outdoor area for health and fitness activities. For large events such as school enrolment celebrations and school festivals, the KUK or the Kulturarena is used, depending on the weather; the Kulturarena is located close to Balow Primary School.
On 29 May 2026, numerous visitors gathered in Balow for the traditional Maypole raising. The date refers to this specific event and offers a glimpse of a local tradition. If you plan your trip around your cultural interests, the church, the buildings that help define the local character and the events described here can each offer a different reason to get to know Balow. The rural setting and village history provide the backdrop for a stay whose focus you can choose for yourself.
Discover more places
You can also visit the pages for Eldena, Dambeck, Gorlosen, Zierzow, Karstädt, Möllenbeck, Brunow and Milow as you continue your search.
For the broader travel overview: Amt Grabow.
