The Spree Forest or Spreewald (; , , i.e. 'the Swamps') is a large inland delta of the river Spree, and a historical

cultural landscape Cultural landscape is a term used in the fields of geography, ecology, and heritage studies, to describe a symbiosis of human activity and environment. As defined by the World Heritage Committee, it is the "cultural properties hatrepresent the c ...

located in the region of (

Lower Lower may refer to: * ''Lower'' (album), 2025 album by Benjamin Booker *Lower (surname) *Lower Township, New Jersey *Lower Receiver (firearms) *Lower Wick Lower Wick is a small hamlet located in the county of Gloucestershire, England. It is sit ...

)

Lusatia Lusatia (; ; ; ; ; ), otherwise known as Sorbia, is a region in Central Europe, formerly entirely in Germany and today territorially split between Germany and modern-day Poland. Lusatia stretches from the Bóbr and Kwisa rivers in the eas ...

, in the state of

Brandenburg Brandenburg, officially the State of Brandenburg, is a States of Germany, state in northeastern Germany. Brandenburg borders Poland and the states of Berlin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony. It is the List of Ger ...

, Germany, about 100 km southeast of

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

and close to the city of

Cottbus Cottbus () or (;) is a university city and the second-largest city in the German state of Brandenburg after the state capital, Potsdam. With around 100,000 inhabitants, Cottbus is the most populous city in Lusatia. Cottbus lies in the Sorbian ...

( 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. Floodplains stretch from the banks of a river channel to the base of the enclosing valley, and experience flooding during periods of high Discharge (hydrolog ...

and

bog A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, and musk ...

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, funga, or features of geologic ...

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

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 (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for f ...

and

fauna Fauna (: faunae or faunas) is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding terms for plants and fungi are ''flora'' and '' funga'', respectively. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively ...

, and for its traditional flat-bottomed boats, 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) (Lubin (Błota)). Other notable towns are Vetschau/Spreewald (Wětošow/Błota) with its reconstructed Old Slavic fortified wooden settlement ( gord) ''Slawenburg Raddusch'' (''Radušańske słowjańske groźišćo''), and Burg (Spreewald) (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 (; ; ; ; ; also known as Lusatians, Lusatian Serbs and Wends) are a West Slavs, West Slavic ethnic group predominantly inhabiting the parts of Lusatia located in the German states of Germany, states of Saxony and Brandenburg. Sorbs tradi ...

and

Wends Wends is a historical name for Slavs who inhabited present-day northeast Germany. It refers not to a homogeneous people, but to various people, tribes or groups depending on where and when it was used. In the modern day, communities identifying ...

. 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 (, ; officially Lübbenau/Spreewald, Lower Sorbian, L.S. Lubnjow/Błota (meaning ''Lübbenau/Spree Forest'') Polish language, Polish: ''Lubniów'') is a town in the Oberspreewald-Lausitz, Upper Spree Forest-Lusatia District of Brandenbu ...

. The Spree Forest gave its name to the following German districts: * Dahme-Spreewald * Oberspreewald-Lausitz

Landscape and nature

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

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 (famed in Germany for the Spreewald gherkin and other

pickles Pickle, pickled or Pickles may refer to: Food * Pickle, a food that has undergone pickling * Pickled cucumber * Pickle, a sweet, vinegary pickled chutney popular in Britain, such as Branston Pickle, also known as "sweet pickle" or "ploughman's ...

) is much larger than the ecological Spree Forest. This economic area is protected by the

Protected Geographical Indication Three European Union schemes of geographical indications and Traditional food, traditional specialties, known as protected designation of origin (PDO), protected geographical indication (PGI), and traditional speciality guaranteed (TSG), promote ...

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-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 ( Burg (Spreewald)/ Bórkowy (Błota)) File:Slawenburg Raddusch.jpg, Slavic gord Raddusch in Vetschau- 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 is partly located within the municipal boundaries of Krausnick-Groß Wasserburg (Kšušwica-Wódowy Grod), Amt Unterspreewald (Dolne Błota)

External links

Official Website
*
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