The best hikes from bus stations around Zechin

The Zechin outdoor pool is one such place, where village community and summer fun meet. Behind the gate with its hand-painted lettering are a lawn, a kiosk, Wi-Fi, and a natural swimming pond that could hardly be more reminiscent of childhood memories. Clouds drift across the sky, the water sparkles, and somewhere an ice cream truck song blares. Brandenburg at its best.

This very beautiful, well-developed stork's nest is located in the street named after it Am Storchennest. A stork board provides information about the nest building in 1970 and lists all arrival and departure dates as well as the number of young from 2004 to 2017. Now you can ponder whether no storks have come here since 2018 or whether the statistics have simply not been updated 🤔? I hope the latter is the case.

In 2009, Frank and son Mirko König acquired the former Ostwald mill, which had previously been idle for 20 years, and renovated it over the course of two years. Since 2011, you can understand how the mill works on four floors, look at numerous objects from the farm and, last but not least, get married. The mill owner has set up a wedding room on the first floor. The original Dutch mill fell victim to a fire in 1906. Since Zechin was also connected to the power grid at the beginning of the 20th century, it made sense to drive the new mill with an electric motor. This was in service until 1988. Almost all of the almost completely functional technology was renovated in detail and is accessible to the public. The words “Königs Mühle” are emblazoned on the gable. Without this information, people unfamiliar with the area would hardly recognize that the three-story building, which lacks the typical wings or a water wheel, is a mill. Source: https://archiv.oderbruchmuseum.de/zechiner-muehle/ A visit to the mill should be arranged by calling (033473) 3027.

The small pond, known as the "Windelküte", used to be the Zechiner laundry bleacher, where, among other things, diapers were washed, hence the name. Later there was also a bathing establishment here. The traditional Zechin folk fishing takes place here around May 1st.

Directly below the bridge on Zechiner Hauptstrasse over the Letschiner Hauptgraben is the boat and canoe pier of the Oderbruch Camp's Zechin, which reminds me a little of the Spreewald. To get to the camp or the parking lot, you first have to walk about 150 m along a drainage ditch until you can cross it in a westerly direction.

At this point a massive bridge on the Oderbruchbahn led over the Letschiner main ditch. While the route of the route can still be made out on the Friedrichsau side, on the northern side there is a field with no visible traces of the Oderbruch Railway. The path turns west here and leads along the Letschiner Hauptgraben to the Zechin outdoor swimming pool.

From 1911 to 1966 there was a stop on the Oderbruchbahn in Friedrichsaue. Furthermore, the branch line to Genschmar began from here and went into operation on October 8, 1912. Operations were stopped in April 1945 and only resumed between Fürstenwalde and Dolgelin in April 1946. Shortly afterwards, a large part of the route in the Oderbruch was destroyed by flooding. Trains did not run again between Zechin and Golzow (also in Friedrichsaue) in September 1948. The branch line from Friedrichsaue to Genschmar was not rebuilt. Friedrichsaue also became known for a railway accident on November 28, 1944. In a forest near Friedrichsaue and in heavy fog, the T 71 railcar coming from Friedrichsaue collided head-on with a local freight train traveling from the direction of Dolgelin. The railcar and several freight cars derailed and were seriously damaged. The railcar driver and the train driver lost their lives. Contemporary witnesses spoke of seven to nine dead and many seriously injured, especially those on holiday at the front. The cause was human error (incorrectly set switch).

The small village museum of Friedrichsaue is located on the village square in the former cultural center, which, according to an information board, was built at the behest of GDR head of state Walter Ulbricht. The Friedrichsaue Village Museum has been designated as a cultural heritage site since 2020. It presents an impressive picture of the agricultural history of the Oderbruch. Using numerous agricultural implements and household items, the history of the former royal farm and the later state domain, the Friedrichsaue office, is conveyed. The connection between nature, technical progress and agricultural production in the Oderbruch over the last 275 years is represented here in Friedrichsaue. These include the sugar factory, the Oderbruchbahn, the improvement, the blacksmith and wheelwright trade, a peace symbol made of shrapnel to commemorate the terrible destruction in 1945, the reconstruction as a farming village with a cultural center, kindergarten and nurses' station, the land reform, the LPG Type I, socialist agriculture, the political change and the town of Friedrichsaue today with a new sense of tradition and the wealth of nature and landscape. A visit can be arranged by telephone on 033473 3251.