The Spree Forest (German: ''Spreewald'', ;

Lower Sorbian Lower may refer to: *Lower (surname) *Lower Township, New Jersey *Lower Receiver (firearms) *Lower Wick Gloucestershire, England See also *Nizhny Nizhny (russian: Ни́жний; masculine), Nizhnyaya (; feminine), or Nizhneye (russian: Ни́� ...

: ''Błota'', i.e. 'the Swamps') is a large

inland delta A river delta is a landform shaped like a triangle, created by deposition of sediment that is carried by a river and enters slower-moving or stagnant water. This occurs where a river enters an ocean, sea, estuary, lake, reservoir, or (more ...

of the river Spree, and a historical cultural landscape located in the region of (

Lower Lower may refer to: *Lower (surname) *Lower Township, New Jersey *Lower Receiver (firearms) *Lower Wick Gloucestershire, England See also *Nizhny Nizhny (russian: Ни́жний; masculine), Nizhnyaya (; feminine), or Nizhneye (russian: Ни́� ...

)

Lusatia Lusatia (german: Lausitz, pl, Łużyce, hsb, Łužica, dsb, Łužyca, cs, Lužice, la, Lusatia, rarely also referred to as Sorbia) is a historical region in Central Europe, split between Germany and Poland. Lusatia stretches from the Bóbr ...

, in the state of

Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an area of 29,480 sq ...

, Germany, about 100 km southeast of

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

and close to the city of

Cottbus Cottbus (; Lower Sorbian: ''Chóśebuz'' ; Polish: Chociebuż) is a university city and the second-largest city in Brandenburg, Germany. Situated around southeast of Berlin, on the River Spree, Cottbus is also a major railway junction with exte ...

( L.S. Chóśebuz). The Spree Forest is located within the settlement area of the (Lower) Sorbs, and the region is officially bilingual, German and Lower Sorbian. As extensive

floodplain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river which stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls, and which experiences flooding during periods of high discharge.Goudi ...

and bog landscape, the Spree Forest was designated a

biosphere reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

in 1991, called ''Biosphärenreservat Spreewald'' (''biosferowy rezerwat Błota''). It is known for its traditional irrigation system, consisting of more than 200 small canals (called ''Fließe''; total length: ) within the area, for its unique

flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' ...

and

fauna Fauna is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is ''flora'', and for fungi, it is ''funga''. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively referred to as ''Biota (ecology ...

, and for its traditional

flat-bottomed boat A flat-bottomed boat is a boat with a shallow draft, two-chined hull, which allows it to be used in shallow bodies of water, such as rivers, because it is less likely to ground. The flat hull also makes the boat more stable in calm water, whic ...

s, the ''Spreewaldkähne''. The landscape was shaped during the last Ice Age. The region's most populous towns are Lübbenau/Spreewald ( L.S. Lubnjow/Błota), which is known for the incorporated villages of ''Lehde'' (Lědy) and ''Leipe'' (Lipje), the villages with canals instead of streets, and

Lübben (Spreewald) Lübben (Spreewald) ( dsb, Lubin (Błota)) is a town of 14,000 people, capital of the Dahme-Spreewald district in the Lower Lusatia region of Brandenburg, Germany. Administrative structure Districts of the town are: * Lübben Stadt (Lower Sorbi ...

(Lubin (Błota)). Other notable towns are

Vetschau/Spreewald Vetschau/Spreewald ( dsb, Wětošow) is a town in the Oberspreewald-Lausitz district, in Lower Lusatia, Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated in the Spreewald, 18 km west of Cottbus. History Vetschau was first mentioned in 1302 as Veczicz. ...

(Wětošow/Błota) with its reconstructed Old Slavic fortified wooden settlement ( gord) ''Slawenburg Raddusch'' (''Radušańske słowjańske groźišćo''), and

Burg (Spreewald) Burg (Spreewald) ( dsb, Bórkowy (Błota)) is a municipality in the district of Spree-Neiße, in Lower Lusatia, Brandenburg, Germany. History From 1815 to 1947, Burg was part of the Prussian Province of Brandenburg. From 1952 to 1990, it was part ...

(Bórkowy (Błota)).

Overview

About 50,000 people live in the biosphere reserve (1998). Many of them are descendants of the first settlers in the Spree Forest region, the Slavic tribes of the

Sorbs Sorbs ( hsb, Serbja, dsb, Serby, german: Sorben; also known as Lusatians, Lusatian Serbs and Wends) are a indigenous West Slavic ethnic group predominantly inhabiting the parts of Lusatia located in the German states of Saxony and Branden ...

and

Wends Wends ( ang, Winedas ; non, Vindar; german: Wenden , ; da, vendere; sv, vender; pl, Wendowie, cz, Wendové) is a historical name for Slavs living near Germanic settlement areas. It refers not to a homogeneous people, but to various people ...

. They have preserved their traditional language, customs and clothing to this day. Most inhabitants depend on tourism. Many tourists explore the Spree Forest in punts. Agriculture, forestry and fishery are other important sources of income. The principal town of the area is

Lübbenau Lübbenau (, dsb, Lubnjow ; officially Lübbenau/Spreewald, L.S. Lubnjow/Błota (meaning ''Lübbenau/Spree Forest'')) is a town in the Upper Spree Forest-Lusatia District of Brandenburg, Germany. It is located in the bilingual German/ Sorbian r ...

. The Spree Forest gave its name to the following German districts: *

Dahme-Spreewald Dahme-Spreewald ( dsb, Wokrejs Damna-Błota) is a district in Brandenburg, Germany. It is bounded by (from the east and clockwise) the districts of Oder-Spree, Spree-Neiße, Oberspreewald-Lausitz, Elbe-Elster and Teltow-Fläming, and by the city ...

Oberspreewald-Lausitz Oberspreewald-Lausitz ( dsb, Wokrejs Górne Błota-Łužyca, hsb, Wokrjes Hornje Błóta-Łužica) is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the southern part of Brandenburg, Germany. Neighboring districts are (from the north clockwise) Dahme-Spreewald, Spree- ...

Landscape and nature

Alder Alders are trees comprising the genus ''Alnus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The genus comprises about 35 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, a few reaching a large size, distributed throughout the north temperate zone with a few sp ...

forests on wetlands and pine forests on sandy dry areas are characteristic of the Spree Forest region. Grasslands and fields can be found as well. About 18,000 species of flora and fauna have been identified. In 1991, the Spree Forest was designated a UNESCO '' "Biosphärenreservat" (Man and Biosphere Reserve Programme)''.

Economy

The Spree Forest is a tourist destination, and a centre of production of natural organic products. The tourism and economic demarcation of the Spree Forest is thus much more difficult than its geographical extension. Due to its popularity and the associated advantage, the borders of the Spree Forest tourism and business area have increasingly extended beyond the original bounds of the Spree Forest. This is particularly true of the regional food industry, as the Spree Forest economic area created for this industry is much larger than the real Spree Forest. This economic area is protected by the Protected Geographical Indication scheme of the EU. Before the legal protection of the space there were several court disputes over the designation Spree Forest on food labels.

Map

Gallery

File:Spreewald - panoramio (2).jpg, Spring in the Spree Forest (

-Lehde/ Lubnjow- Lědy) File:Lübbenau - Biergarten 0001.jpg, Beer garden in Lübbenau File:Picnjo – tofla do města.jpg, Fishermen and fortification city of Peitz File:Spreewald (Gebiet), Brandenburg - Idylle (Zeno Ansichtskarten).jpg, 1900 Spree Forest postcard File:20050717061DR Neuendorf am See (Unterspreewald).jpg, Neuendorfer See seen from Neuendorf am See (Nowa Wjas pśi jazoru) File:Spreewald, Postkarte, 1902h.jpg, Tourism in the Spree Forest: 1902 postcard "Neckerei" (teasing) File:Babow Greifenhainer Fliess 02.jpg, Greifenhainer Fließ (Greifenhain Canal) at

Kolkwitz Kolkwitz (Sorbian languages, Lower Sorbian Gołkojce) is a Municipalities of Germany, municipality in the district of Spree-Neiße, in Lower Lusatia, Brandenburg, Germany. Geography Kolkwitz is situated 5 km west of Cottbuslocation This centr ...

-Babow ( Gołkojce- Bobow) File:Erwin Spindler Ansichtskarte Spreewald-Lehde.jpg, Gasthaus "Zum fröhlichen Hecht" (Inn "To the happy pike") in

-Lehde File:Burger Spätsommer.jpg, Autumn in the Spree Forest (

/ Bórkowy (Błota)) File:Slawenburg Raddusch.jpg, Slavic gord Raddusch in

Vetschau Vetschau/Spreewald ( dsb, Wětošow) is a town in the Oberspreewald-Lausitz district, in Lower Lusatia, Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated in the Spreewald, 18 km west of Cottbus. History Vetschau was first mentioned in 1302 as Veczicz. ...

- Raddusch ( Wětošow-Raduš) File:Cottbus 07-2017 img12 Staatstheater.jpg,

( Chóśebuz), largest city in the region File:Cottbus Altmarkt Filmfest 0005.jpg, Cottbus Old Market Square ( Altmarkt/Stare Wiki) File:Cottbus, Christmas Market 2019 on Altmarkt (1 of 2).png, Cottbus Christmas Market File:20-05-13-Tropical-Islands-0883 1-RalfR.jpg, The

Tropical Islands Resort Tropical Islands Resort is a tropical water park located in the former Brand-Briesen Airfield in Halbe, a municipality in the district of Dahme-Spreewald in Brandenburg, Germany, 50 kilometres (31 mi) from the southern boundary of Berlin ...

is partly located within the municipal boundaries of Krausnick-Groß Wasserburg (Kšušwica-Wódowy Grod), Amt Unterspreewald (Dolne Błota)

External links

*
The Spreewald Guide - your Guide for the Spreewald area

Information about country, people and tourism in the Spreewald in English

References

{{Authority control Biosphere reserves of Germany Protected areas of Brandenburg Dahme-Spreewald Oberspreewald-Lausitz Geography of Lusatia North German Plain