Detours | The Uckermark Lake District  A Paradise for Dragonflies and Cranes

The Uckermark Lake District boasts gently rolling hills, glittering lakes and abundant wildlife. Historic towns such as Lychen and a lovingly restored church give visitors an opportunity to delve into cultural history while experiencing this beautiful natural environment.

Deciduous forests and gently rolling hills, dirt roads lined with apple trees and hundreds of lakes strung together like pearls – the Uckermark Lake District is a place of tranquil beauty. The Nature Park encompasses 21 conservation areas, providing a safe haven for numerous rare species of plant and animal. Nowhere else in Europe is home to more breeding pairs of ospreys and cranes. Large copper butterflies, freshwater turtles and fire-bellied toads find a habitat here, having long since disappeared elsewhere. There are also 54 confirmed species of dragonfly and more than 600 species of moth. This is a landscape full of the sounds of croaking, chirping, fluttering and splashing.

The numerous lakes of the Uckermark region are a legacy of the last ice age. In the north and east, the landscape is characterised by overlapping end moraines, knobby ground moraines, eskers and kettle holes. The south and west feature extensive outwash plains with inland dunes, tunnel valley lakes and saturated bogs. The many large pieces of rock to be found there – known as erratic boulders – are also a reminder of the ice age. They were transported by glaciers and deposited where they now stand when the ice melted. Early settlers moved to the region in the twelfth century, clearing forests, hunting and fishing; they also created fields and meadows, giving rise to the characteristic cultivated landscape that exists to this day.

This is also when the picturesque small town of Lychen, nestled between the lakes, came into being. It can be easily reached by car, train or bike – or indeed by boat. Because timber rafting was once one of the most important industries, Lychen is also known as the rafting town. The Rafting Museum gives insights into this arduous work of a bygone era. The town can be comfortably explored on foot, following for example the Lychener Pinnenpfad – the drawing pin trail – for a tour of the town’s history. Numerous swimming spots are the perfect place to relax and enjoy a cooling dip. Hiking and cycling tours are also possible, though the best way to get to know the area is on the water – taking a canoe, kayak or raft.

The Kirchlein im Grünen – the “little church surrounded by greenery” – is also well worth a visit. From Lychen, it can be reached via the old post road (Alte Poststrasse) or the Uckermark cycling path. Built in 1700, the former chapel of the Alt Placht estate blends harmoniously into its surroundings. It is designed in the style of a traditional half-timbered building, with eggshell-coloured rendering and a timber-cladded church tower painted blue. It is surrounded by several centuries-old linden trees, planted at the same time as the church was built. For a long time the church was all but in ruins, the wind and weather having badly damaged the timber framing and the thatched roof. Following Germany’s reunification, conservators, skilled tradespeople and volunteers joined forces to save the little church, and today the Kirchlein im Grünen has been restored to its former glory.

April 2026