Ostprignitz, Oberhavel & Uckermark (Germany)
Rechlin / EDAX → Angermünde / ED65.
Apologies for not posting yesterday, but it seems Hades is far more addicting than I thought so I spent my day fighting my way out of the Greek Underworld instead. It was great.
Entering Brandenburg from the north our first stop was Rheinsberg on Grienericksee. This town became famous due to its magnificient Rococo palace - Schloss Rheinsberg - which served as a blueprint for Potsdam’s famous Sanssouci Palace.
A strange town can be found on the shores of Röddelinsee near Templin: El Dorado itself! Or at least El Dorado Templin, a Wild West Event Park in rural Brandenburg, providing a not so realistic, but very popularized impression of the American West during the Age of Cowboys.
(Everyone is entitled to their own opinion - as someone interested in actual history I loathe “historic” event parks with a passion)
The latter part of our journey took us through “Terra Ukera” - the Uckermark - a region in northern Brandenburg and southern Vorpommern known for its overreliance on heavy industry as well for being Brandenburg’s poorest region - but also for several large-scale natural reserves, which are slowly but surely boosting the Uckermark’s touristic value.
We reached the German-Polish border near Schwedt/Oder, which is officially known as a Nationalparkstadt due to its location close to the Nationalpark Unteres Odertal. During Prussian times it was a town known for its palaces and cultural institutions, most of which were destroyed in World War Two. Afterwards it became an industrial center due to its oil refinery, which led to a population boom during the Cold War.
Turning south at Schwedt we followed the Oder River towards Stützkow. Here we got a great view of the Nationalpark Unteres Odertal, which contains Germany’s only Polder landscape, an artificial area created by fencing off marshland with dikes to keep the river out and afterwards draining the interior.