The Oderbruch region
OAlthough only 56 kilometers long and between 12 and 20 kilometers wide, the Oderbruch on the German-Polish border is called Klein-Europa – and thus refers to its unusual settlement history: Originally a swamp area criss-crossed by arms of a river, farmers came after the drainage 270 years ago from Saxony, southern Germany, Austria, Bohemia, Pomerania, Sweden and Switzerland to the sparsely populated Prussian region – lured by promises of inheritance, tax breaks and freedom of religion.
Today “the cultural landscape presents itself as a striking example of the anthropogenic formation of landscapes in European history”. This is the reason why the German Conference of Ministers of Culture nominated the Oderbruch for the European Cultural Heritage Seal in October 2020; the region would be the first cultural landscape in Europe to receive this award.
This should also help tourism, which literally only got rolling after the Oder flood in 1997, when cycle paths were created on the Brandenburg side of the river as part of the dike repairs. Gradually, disused lines of the Oderbruchbahn were integrated into the road network. Since 2008, bikers have been able to explore the gently rolling landscape with its fields, meadows and colonist villages on a 142-kilometer asphalt strip, which can be recognized by the prefix “New”.
To see rare bird species such as great bustards, cranes, white storks, kingfishers and ospreys, travelers should hop on a paddle boat; you can glide north through the Lower Oder Valley National Park and ride the Alte Oder, which crosses the entire Oderbruch before joining the main stream at Hohensaaten. The Oder became a border river in 1945, and since then a smaller part of the historical Oderbruch has been on the Polish side.
An elevator for ships on the canal
Whether on an excursion boat or in a paddle boat – tourists can still take a spectacular tour of the historic Niederfinow ship lift on the northern edge of the Oderbruch until 2025. The special thing about it: unlike in a classic lock, the ships enter a movable, water-filled steel trough. It is 83.5 meters long, 11.5 meters wide, hangs on 256 round strand cables and transports barges weighing up to 1000 tons over a lifting height of 36 meters.
This oldest operating lift in Germany is on the Havel-Oder waterway at kilometer 77.89; in three years it is to be replaced by the “New Niederfinow ship’s hoist”, which has been in trial operation since September 2021.
New bridge for bikers on the Oder-Neisse cycle path
The Oder-Neisse cycle path, Germany’s most easterly biker route towards the Baltic Sea, runs for around 50 kilometers through the Oderbruch. It is perhaps the most beautiful section of the 640-kilometre route, because you cycle mainly on asphalted dam crests.
Cyclists almost always have the German-Polish border river in view. It can be crossed at Küstrin and Hohenwutzen. However, the cycle path network was not continued on the Polish side for a long time. That changed with the opening of the Neurüdnitz-Siekierki bicycle bridge: it was built in 1892 for road and train traffic, blown up in 1945, repaired in 1957 for military reasons, but never used.
The growing number of cycle tourists gave local politicians on both sides of the Oder the idea of opening the bridge for bikers in 2012. The EU assumed most of the conversion costs and upgraded the project to the Europe Bridge; Poland’s section was completed in 2021; the German one is to follow in the spring. Then you can leave the Oder-Neisse cycle path for a detour to Poland and cycle 36 kilometers on new cycle paths to Trzcinsko Zdrój (Bad Schönfliess).
Poland shows the history of Küstrin
Pompeii on the Oder is called Küstrin in Oderbruch travel guides. However, it was not elemental forces that destroyed the old town, including the church and castle, which was enthroned on a peninsula at the confluence of the Oder (Odra) and Warthe (Warta) rivers, but bitter fighting in March 1945. Belonging to Poland after the end of the war, the ruins were overgrown with undergrowth.
That changed in 1992 with the opening of the Oder Bridge: Supported by the EU, the Poles began to uncover the old pavement; they put up bilingual signs on the streets where only paving slabs and foundations bear witness to the development. Since 2014, a museum in the restored bastion has been tracing the history of Küstrin/Kostrzyn nad Odrą.
The Triumph of the Owls
72 years ago the long-eared owl “fledged” as a nature conservation symbol in the Oderbruch. With almost 1000 square kilometers, the region is Europe’s largest populated river polder.
In order to mark sensitive areas, the first nature conservation officer, Kurt Kretschmann, designed the owl logo in Bad Freienwalde in 1950; In 1971 it became legal in East Germany. There the owl continues to watch as well as – graphically slightly modified – in Lower Saxony, Bremen, Schleswig-Holstein.
The life of the people in Golzow
44 years from August 1961 to October 2005 – over this period director Winfried Junge accompanied 18 residents of the Oderbruch village of Golzow with his camera. He documented her school days, everyday life in the GDR and life after the reunification. This resulted in 19 films with a running time of 42.5 hours; A film museum opened in Golzow in 2008 shows excerpts from this.
The quote
“Here I conquered a province in peace”
This is how Frederick II (1712–1786) commented on the draining of the Oderbruch in 1753. In six years, 1,600 workers had straightened 20.3 kilometers of the river and gained 133,000 acres of farmland. Soon after, 33 settlements were created for 1,134 farming families, who were recruited with privileges from other European countries – in the spirit of the Prussian monarch, who had issued the premise when he ascended the throne in 1740 that “it (is) in the interest of a ruler to increase the population “.
Bizarre, record-breaking, typical: You can find more parts of our regional geography series here.