Hey guys, it' me again: Hannah Hummel from DW Travel!
As you can see, today I'm traveling through one of
Germany's most beautiful regions: Spreewald! It's only 80 km away from Berlin.
It's a nature-lovers paradise with countless small waterways that can be explored
by canoe, bicycle or barge. Climate change is already causing problems here
but fortunately this kind of travel is environmentally friendly.
The Spreewald is also home to the Sorbs,
an ethnic minority with their own language, culture, tradition and costumes.
I'm going to show you a truly gorgeous landscape that combines nature and culture in the most beautiful way!
Are you ready? Then let's go!
You can easily reach the Spreewald by train.
It only takes an hour to travel from Berlin to the heart of the Spreewald, Lübbenau.
I start my trip at the harbor. This is where tours with typical Spreewald boats begin.
I'll take a ride in on them later in my trip.
But first I want to paddle through Spreewald,
because those are the kind of videos that I always see from friends. It looks like so
much fun and then I can enjoy the peace and quiet by myself.
You can rent paddle boats in almost every town. A one-seat kayak costs 24 euros a day,
and a two-seater 32 euros.
I'm given some information about the area.
Martin Richter shows me a nice route that ends in Lehde, which is said to be one
of the most beautiful villages in the Spreewald. And then we're off!
Let's see how this goes!
At first, it's not so easy.
But I soon find my rhythm.
It is so peaceful here, right? I think this is gonna be nice.
The Spreewald is Europe's largest lagoon landscape
with 350 canals and waterways. The water comes from the River Spree
and "wald" means "forest" hence the name "Spreewald." Large parts of the area are
a UNESCO designated biosphere reserve.
There are 500 km worth of canals and waterways here.
But I don't think I'll manage all of them today.
According to experts, the Spreewald was formed during the last ice age when the glaciers melted.
But there's also an old local legend that explains this natural wonder.
Once upon a time the fields here were being
plowed by oxen when they were disturbed by the devil. So, the oxen scattered and ran all
over the place, plowing all of the canals into the region here. It's a bit more poetic than "melting glaciers," right?
It slowly gets busier.
And I'm approaching my destination: the village of Lehde.
Right now I just have to make it to shore without getting wet!
Not as easy as it looks!
Made it!
Here in Lehde there's an open-air museum where you can learn a lot about the Sorbs, a Slavic ethnic minority
who have lived in the Spreewald for centuries.
Hi, nice to meet you. I'm Hannah.
Wow – I'm going to assume that was Sorbian?
Yes, that was Lower Sorbian and I am very thankful that you're here. And I'm giving
you bread and some salt. - Oh, thank you! Do I just dip it?
Yes. - Is this traditional then?
Yes, that's traditional.
It's nice! It's really good. I've never had bread with salt before.
Saskia Bugai leads me through the museum village.
Here you can explore Sorbian houses from earlier centuries.
Welcome to 1840. - Wow – It's really like stepping in a totally different world.
Yes, it is. This is the only room in the whole
house and it's a room for living, sleeping, eating – everything happened here.
And you see the bed? It's quite large, but you have to imagine that upstairs there is a sleeping
space for the grandparents, the parents, the children and downstairs the children box for smaller children.
And if they had older children that didn't fit in the bed, they would sleep above in the attic.
And how many people would live in a room like this?
Up to 15 people.
I mean, there's one question that's comes to mind though:
Because if there were so many children around all the time. But also so many people living here.
How were those babies made?
Don't worry! We have many silent and quiet places around the house and everywhere in the Spreewald.
So people had enough time and privacy to make this many babies.
On our way through the museum village,
Saskia tells me some more stories from earlier times. She also draws my attention
to the carved house gables: This is the Snake King, a legendary figure of the Spreewald.
We have a fairy tale for children. We tell them if you have the crown of the snake king
then you will have a lot of money and jewels and luck every day. And so the children try
to catch the snakes and see if they can maybe get the crowns.
But I have to say this is also a very beautiful dress that you have on.
Thank you.
Very nice.
But would you wear this every day?
No, this is for special occasions like when
I am invited to a wedding, then I wear this as a dress. It is also very colorful and very
expensive, because the embroidery is handmade. So, this is for special events. My everyday
dress would be less colorful and less expensive.
Saskia is proud to be Sorbian. She inherited
the language and traditions from her parents and grandparents and now passes them on to her children.
So how do the Sorbian people keep their culture alive nowadays?
We try to celebrate our traditions and I think
a key piece is to contain and to live the language. In daycare and in schools children also speak
sorbian and learn it. We try a lot but it is very hard, because only a few people, I think
up to 60,000 only, are Sorbian and see themselves as Sorbian.
Now another challenge awaits me.
Step one complete. This is really oldschool.
In the museum village Lehde you can also try to do some things yourself, like washing clothes
by hand just like in the old days.
What do you think? Am I doing this right?
Tadaaa! Although there are still quite a few stains in there.
My tour through the Spreewald continues by bike. You can rent bikes everywhere for about 10 euros a day.
The Spreewald is famous not only for its beautiful
landscape, but also for the delicious Spreewald pickles that can be found everywhere.
In every shape and flavor.
Alright.
Thank you.
Look they even have a pickle Radler – Beer and lemonade – with a cute little picture of a pickle on it.
And pickle Schnaps! Can you imagine!?
Cheers!
First time trying the Spreewald pickle. Very good!
And off we go. The cycle paths are perfect,
and one of the routes also has a funny name... Even the cycle path is named after the pickles:
Gurkenradweg!
I cycle into the town of Burg, where I have
an appointment at the biosphere reserve. Paul Jarick and his colleagues
help protect the rivers, moors and forests. The Spreewald is actually a fertile region,
but climate change is also making itself felt here: The last summers were far too dry!
Here in Burg there is also a large harbor, which is a good starting point for a Spreewald tour.
And now since I've seen so many people do it,
I'm gonna do the typical tourist thing and take a trip in the classic Spreewald barge!
On weekdays it's not so busy, but on the weekend you should definitely book your barge tour in advance.
Tino, my ferryman, knows the business from the ground up.
A true local boy, Tino Meier also knows about the figures in Spreewald legends.
For example, the Ludzkies.
Well, I've been wanting to visit Spreewald for so long and it definitely didn't disappoint.
The landscape here is really like something
out of a fairy tale, which makes it all the more difficult to see how badly the region
has been affected by climate change. So hopefully it will still survive in the future
and you'll get the chance to visit it too. See you next time. Bye for now!