Lower Oder National Park

Last weekend we took a day-trip to Nationalpark Unteres Odertal. This park, established in 1995, contains the large wetlands formed by the Oder river just before it meets the Baltic Sea. The river at this point has two main channels, separated by a one-kilometer wide swath of wetlands, braided channels, and mud. The river also forms the border between Germany and Poland at this point - it's easy to see why this became the border by imagining a 13th century militia standing on one side of the river/mud zone looking across at a village on the other side: Do I really want to march across and attack that town? Perhaps not.

We took the train to the small village of Tantow, the last stop before Poland, and - after receiving some advice from a friendly local who was on his second beer of the morning - headed east along the Oder-Neisse-Radweg. This bike route essentially follows the river, sometimes along quiet country roads, other times on a dedicated bike path.

Here is a typical country road - note that they plant trees along the side of the road, probably for shade in the summer. It's a nice effect.



We came a lot closer to the border than we were expecting - we couldn't resist going to Poland for a minute or two. It was interesting to come across a border which was controlled as recently as December, when Poland joined the Schengen. Now the guard booths are empty and people are free to cross as they please.



Further south, we came across the town of Gartz. Not much is happening in Gartz, but large sections of it's medieval wall still are intact - here I am passing through the main gate to the city.


There is also a very interesting cathedral in town - the cathedral burned in World War II, but the exterior walls remained. They have renovated part of the cathedral with a modern sanctuary, etc, but left two thirds of the former sanctuary un-touched. The walls form the boundary for a nice courtyard with plans where the various chapels once were.

Following the Oder river upstream from Gartz, we came across a hailstorm. Or rather, it came across us. Fortunately we had plenty of time to prepare - and find a nice tree to hide behind for the worst of it.



Here is a picture looking across the wetlands - one can get a bit of an idea as to the scale of the whole affair.



We ended our trip in a Konditorei in Schwedt, an industrial town with a large number of GDR-era housing projects. From there we caught a regional train back to Berlin, and then continued on to Potsdam.