Spree cycle route

We start the Spree cycle route in Erkner near Berlin. If we want to do something before starting, a visit to the Gerhart Hauptmann Museum is recommended. Otherwise, we leave Erkner behind, soon crossing the Berlin ring road (A10), passing some smaller places and soon arriving at Fürstenwalde on the Spree. It is worth getting off briefly here to see the St. Mary’s Cathedral from the 15th to 18th centuries or the old town hall. Then we cycle through Berkenbrück, cross the federal motorway A12, pass by Dehmsee and shortly afterwards reach the Kersdorf lock. It was built in 1888 and connects the Spree towards Berlin with the Oder-Spree canal, thus creating an important access to the inland waterways of Eastern Europe. It consists of two lock chambers of 57 and 67 meters in length. Afterwards, we continue via Neubrück to Beeskow with its historic town center surrounded by a city wall. Here we can visit the water castle and St. Mary’s Church or the river bathing facility. We cycle past Tiefer See and then reach Ranziger See, which we cycle around on the left. On the bank of Leißnitzsee we can cross to Leißnitz by a bike and passenger ferry.

From Ranziger See it is not far to the small town of Trebatsch, where we can visit the Ludwig Leichhardt Memorial and the associated museum. Then we cycle past Kossenblatt Castle, circle Neuendorfer See and come via Unterspreewald and Krausnick-Groß Wasserburg to Schlepzig. There, a visit to the Agricultural History Museum and the half-timbered church is recommended. Until Lübben, our route now leads through a beautiful pond landscape. In Lübben, the charming historic old town, the 17th-century castle housing a regional museum today, and the Paul Gerhart monument on the church square await us. Not far from Lübben is our next stage destination, Lübbenau. Here too, a walk through the old town as well as visits to the baroque church and the castle park are worthwhile. In the Spreewald Museum in the gatehouse we learn interesting facts about tourism, association and judicial systems of past centuries. The post-war history is also discussed. Directly near Lübbenau is the lagoon village of Lehde, where we have three museums to choose from: the open-air museum, the cucumber museum and the farmers' museum.

Then we get back on the saddle and continue cycling via Burg in the Spreewald with its Bismarck tower and a visitor information center of the biosphere reserve to Peitz. Here we can visit the historic old town and fortress tower as well as the smelting museum with the 19th-century blast furnace hall. Afterwards, the route leads over a narrow strip of land through the extensive Peitz pond landscape to Willmersdorf and from there onwards to Cottbus. Here we should definitely take a longer break, because the second-largest city in Brandenburg has a lot to offer. At the southern city limits, we cross the A15 and soon reach the Spremberg dam. Completed in 1965, it has protected the Spreewald area from flooding since then. The reservoir is also a popular local recreation area, with two bathing beaches with adjacent campsites and since 2004 a high ropes course. South of the dam lies the town of Spremberg with its castle and Bismarck tower.

The route then continues past Neustadt an der Spree and Sprey with its log church to Bautzen. The 1000-year-old old town is a must see. The St. Peter’s Cathedral foundation and the Sorbian Museum are also worth a visit. Finally, we cycle through the Spree floodplain area to Burgneudorf, where we end the cycle tour. However, the Spree cycle route actually continues via Neusalza-Spremberg, Ebersbach and Eibau to Walddorf, where the sources of the Spree are located at Kottmar.

The route is mostly on paved and almost always well-developed paths.