Jon Murray takes in serene sights as he journeys along the idyllic tributaries of the Spree in Brandenburg

Welcome, said the lady in a beautiful blue-and-white patterned dress, handing us a plate with bread and salt – as is the custom – after we climbed ashore from our punt following one of the most idyllic river journeys of our life.

If you thought punting on the Cherwell in Oxford was a cool and relaxing pastime, you should try the experience on the tributaries of the Spree in the German state of Brandenburg.

The Spree, which flows through Berlin, some 90km north of us, was split during the last ice age into a finely articulated network of waterways, creating a large inland delta. In this area alone, the river has 500 arms.

It is serene and peaceful as we glide past pretty old houses, and newer holiday homes and gardens, far from any roads. Here punts are the only means of transportation, so even the postman has to use one to deliver the mail.

Oxford Mail:

It’s been common practice to use these boats for everyday services ... from farmers transporting cattle to the market, to the county doctor to visiting patients in their homes, and for even children going to school.

Life came to a standstill without a punt.

Our boat took us to Lehde where there was an open-air museum showing how life here used to be.

This is an area that the Sorbs – a small group of Slavic people from central Europe – settled in several generations ago, and old Sorbian folklore, customs and traditions have survived to the present day.

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The country folk wear the pretty decorated festive dress to local village festivals, and at special cultural events, proving that their national costume tradition has not faded.

Nowadays, the costumes worn by the women vary in colour and embroidery, with variants from village to village, and the accompanying headdresses look spectacular.

Lübbenau, on the southern edge of the Spreewald, is the favourite starting point for the legendary punts, or individual boat trips.

The town is famous for gherkins, and bottled gherkin manufacturers from Lübbenau have a tradition going back more than 100 years.

In this small town too there is a great attraction for children, and adults, through with the chance to swim with penguins at Spreewelten Bad. The penguins swim in their enclosed pool and you can swim alongside them, separated only by a glass panel.

This large bathing complex, which has a water playground, beach, wave pool, Roman thermal bath and various themed saunas, and a lawn for sunbathing, was for us the perfect place to relax on a hot summer’s day.

In Lübbenau, we stayed in a guest house like no other. Part of the old railway station has been tastefully converted and the rooms are adorned by paintings and murals from 11 young local artists. Beautiful they are too.

Oxford Mail:

Fortunately, the trains don’t run right through the night, but you can set your watch by some of the regular services. It’s a train-spotter’s delight!

For a grander setting, Schloss Lübbenau takes some beating. This castle, set in beautiful grounds, has been a four-star hotel since 1992, and the chef of its Linari gourmet restaurant, Dirk Lehmann, has won a host of awards.

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The schloss is steeped in history, having been owned by the Counts of Lynar since 1621, until it was expropriated by the Nazis following the participation of the last nobleman in the failed assassination attempt against Hitler in 1944.

Most people visiting Brandenburg, the region around Berlin, visit Potsdam, a city rich in history and historical significance, and a beautiful city it is too.

It was under Frederick William I, the “Soldier King” (who governed Prussia, as it was then, from 1713-40) that Potsdam more than tripled in size and became a garrison town.

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A new town was constructed, Dutch settlers arrived and Potsdam’s manufactured products entered a period of rapid growth.

Potsdam’s golden age was during the reign of Frederick II, who is famously known as Frederick the Great. “Old Fritz”, as he is nicknamed, ruled for 46 years and he was regarded as the philosopher of Sanssouci, as he sought the company of French men of letters and philosophers, such as Voltaire, who lived in the royal palace for three years.

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Frederick I recruited the tallest men for hundreds of miles around to become soldiers of the bodyguard of the King of Prussia. These “Lange Kerls” had to be at least 2m tall, and we met one of them, Gerd Kohler, at the Neues Palais. An astonishing 2.10m (6ft 11in) tall, he towered down over my measly 6ft 3in frame.

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At the time of Frederick I, trees were felled on the ridges of neighbouring hills and used to stabilise the swampy soil so that the city of Potsdam could be built on it.

His son, Frederick II, was a great lover of fruit, and fresh fruit was a must at all of his meals. He had three terraced vineyards built on these ridges, where grapes thrived alongside peaches, apricots and apples, and from then on, fruit and wine-growing – despite the soil being very sandy – became an integral part of the region.

Potsdam’s Schloss Cecilienhof has been at the forefront of events that have changed the world. It was chosen as the venue for the Potsdam Conference in 1945, after the end of the war, and the room in which allied victors Truman, Churchill and Stalin decided the future of Germany is a fascinating place which has remained a popular tourist attraction.

It was while here too that Truman received word that the test in New Mexico of America’s first atom bomb was successful, and that he made the decision to go ahead and drop the bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima.

Just to the west of Potsdam is the pretty town of Werder, lying on an island in the Spree, and in the surrounding hills there are vineyards growing every grape variety imaginable for some impressive wines.

Oxford Mail:

They have been growing wines here, in the sandy soil, for centuries. The traditions and customs of this unspoilt part of Germany are long established, and rooted in the earth.

FACTFILE

Jon flew from Bristol Airport with BMI Regional, which is a pleasant stress-free lternative to flying from London, and hired a car with Avis to drive around Brandenburg.
BMI fly from Bristol to Hamburg, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt and Munich. Visit bmiregional.com

Also visit:
germany.travel
schloss-luebbenau.de

spreeweltenbad.de
hotel-zur-insel.de