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Introducing Brandenburg
Although it surrounds bustling Berlin, the Brandenburg state of mind is as far from the German capital as Shangri-La. It’s a quiet, gentle state with vast expanses of unspoilt scenery, much of it in protected nature reserves. Its landscape is quilted in myriad shades, from emerald beech forest to golden fields of rapeseed and sunflowers, but it’s also rather flat, windswept and perhaps even a bit melancholic.
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This is a region shaped by water – not only by the rippling Oder, Havel and Spree Rivers that sinuously wend through it, but also by the thousands of ponds and lakes and the labyrinthine waterways connecting them. Water also characterises the Spreewald, where indigenous Sorbs keep alive their customs in island hamlets, and the Lower Oder Valley National Park, whose idyllic wetlands provide shelter for rare and endangered bird species. Like a fine wine, Brandenburg is best appreciated in sips, not gulps. It invites slowing down and exploring by bike, boat or on foot.
As the germ cell of Prussia, and thus modern Germany, Brandenburg is a land of great culture. Nowhere is this more apparent than in off-the-charts Potsdam, the ‘German Versailles’, with its wealth of parks, museums, stately palaces and the famous UFA film studios. Fine architecture awaits in the Rheinsberg palace and the Chorin monastery, while the Niederfinow ship-lift ranks squarely as one of the great technological monuments of the early 20th century.
Information
The excellent website maintained by TourismusMarketing Brandenburg (0331-200 4747; www.brandenburg-tourism.com) should satisfy all your pre-trip planning needs and also has a room-booking function.
Last updated: Feb 17, 2009
