The train passed familiar places like Biesenthal and Melchow, places I had visited on my 66 lakes walk around Berlin. But today I went a little bit further into the state of Brandenburg to explore the Schorfheide nature area. At Britz I started my walk and I discovered another surprising area not far from the city.
I walked the dirt roads that still exist in the town of Britz until I reached the forest. This time I’d remembered to put on bug spray at the train station, so it was a lot more pleasant than the day before. Suddenly the forest gives way to a little swampy clearing. Tall, thin trees shoot out from the bright green tall grasses. I cross a little overgrown bridge that bounces a little when I step on it. Like my guidebook says, it is truly idyllic, but it’s also very small. On the other side more forest awaits.
The walk today is mainly through the forest, but it has some nice surprises along the way. I reach the cutest little town of Neuehütte, where a sign welcomes all visitors. There are only a few houses and it all looks very peaceful. The place invites for a picnic, especially with the beautiful rest area they’ve built.
A little bit further is the Bachsee with some more benches to have a picnic. Or perhaps you could go for a swim. It’s a very small lake, but very pretty. As I continue through the forest I see many signs for walking and biking routes. It seems there is a whole network in this area and you can choose how far you want to go. Then a long cobbled forest road takes me to the Großer Heiliger See.
There is hotel on one side and some holiday houses on the other. My walk takes me along the high shore of the lake, giving me glimpses of it through the trees. I find a nice picnic spot where the locals have built a bench and put up a sign with a poem for the forest. Behind me some kids are splashing around in the lake. I walk further through Sandkrug and then end up on a cycling path through the forest. Then suddenly I reach the monastery of Chorin.
The monastery was built in the 13th century by the Cistercians. A big part of the original architecture can still be admired, but unfortunately some was destroyed over the years. History wasn’t always kind to the building. At one point in time the building became a farm and animals were housed in the various rooms. But originally this was were the monks lived. There were 2 kinds of monks, the working monks and the praying monks. They were divided all the time, with the working monks even worshipping in mass behind a brick wall.
For the middle ages, the monks had quite a good life. They’d sorted out the best water system and even had a heating system. This system heated the floor of the writing room, so that monks could even continue working on their bibles during winter. Besides this monks only had 1 hour per day to enjoy a heated room.
The former main entrance of the monastery 
The grounds of the monastery 
The inner courtyard 
Traces of games in the bricks of the monastery 
The former writing room, now used as a church 
A small sculpture that used to decorate the building 
There were a few of these small sculptures around 
The former church, now used for concerts 
A detail of the ceiling 
View while walking the hallways 
Symbols protecting the church from evil entering 
Another beautiful sculpture 
The monastery with some great big trees
A guided tour happened to start shortly after I arrived and it was a great way to get to know the monastery a bit better. Our guide explained how the bricks for the monastery were made and how they had to lay outside to dry for a few days. Meanwhile some monks left their marks, so you see some bricks where it looks like they’ve played a game of Halma. You also see some with animal paw prints and many many bricks with a few stripes, from where the monks checked with their fingers if the brick was dry yet.
After the monastery I strolled around the neighbouring Amtssee and then decided to do one more loop near Chorin before taking the train back. The loop brought me to the Kroneneiche, a tree that is over 500 years old. There is a short steep climb to reach this natural monument. Unfortunately the tree died a few years ago and now you can only admire its decaying 33m long trunk. On my way back I passed an old stone quarry. Until 1945 people came here to find stones for their houses and streets. And then the main road twisted back to the train station.
The train home was not just crowded, but overflowing with people. I had to run all the way to the front to squeeze in. At later stops people weren’t so lucky. We had to leave people behind, especially those with bicycles. It was hot to stand between so many people, but I kept reminding myself that it was all worth it. I saw another pretty piece of Germany.
