www.spreewald.de - The Spreewald - Facts about the region

Position

Subregions of the Brandenburg rural district authorities

Dahme - Spreewald / LDS [Vehicle registration area]
Oberspreewald - Lausitz / OSL
Spree - Neiße / SPN
Cottbus / CB

Formation

The relief of the landscape is a product of the Ice Age. Huge glaciers that originated in Scandinavia covered the North German Plain with powerful ice masses. After the glaciers retreated, lake-type formations remained. Wide floodplains were formed by deposits of silt which were periodically flooded.
The land was elevated in a few places (i.e. alluvial sand islands), for example, at Burg, Leipe and the Lübbenau Kaupen sandbanks. The first human impact in ancient and early history is limited to local forest clearance and thinning out at the edges of the lowlands. Fields, meadows and herding areas extended from the edges of villages to the interior of the Spreewald.
At the start of the 20th century, the first flood protection measures were implemented.

48,800 ha. area
UNESCO designation awarded in 1991
More than 300 stretches of water with a network of 1,550 km of waterways (276 km navigable)
75 km long (northwest to southeast) and 15 km wide
Mode of transport on Spreewald channels: Spreewald punt
29,000 ha. of agricultural land, of which 70% is farmed organically

Sorbs/Wends

The Sorbs/Wends are the descendants of Slavic tribes who settled on the land between the Oder and Elbe/Saale and between the Baltic Sea and the Central German Uplands more than 1,400 years ago during the Migration Period. After losing their political independence in the 10th century, their settlement area was reduced through assimilation and a systematic process of Germanisation. Only the descendants of the Upper Lusatian Milceni and the Lower Lusatian Lusitzer have succeeded in retaining their Sorbish/Wendish language and culture. The Sorbs/Wends have no native people in neighbouring states. The German Federal Government has undertaken to protect the Sorbish/Wendish people at the level of international law.

Main centres

touristic Infos

Bed places: 13,500
Comprising 8,500 bed places in 180 hotels, B&Bs and motels and 5,000 bed places in holiday apartments, rooms and cottages
Commercially run accommodation (9 bed places or more): 180 with 8,500 bed places
2 rehab clinics in Burg and Lübben
Youth hostels in Lübben, Burg and Köthen
Non-commercially run accommodation: approx. 5,000 bed places
25 campsites with approx. 4,300 pitches
Spreewald Thermal Spa in Burg (Spreewald)
Spreewelten Sauna- & Badeparadies Leisure Centre in Lübbenau
Tropical Islands Leisure Resort