From Reitwein to Gorgast - On the Old Oder

Boats without engine noise and the silence of winding streams in untouched nature are the ingredients that make the Old Oder an ideal waterway route. From history, the straightening and agricultural development of the Oderbruch by the Old Fritz is known. Fortunately, the original course of the Old Oder has been preserved here and invites to a relaxed paddling tour in beautiful and peaceful nature.Start: Waterway rest area near ReitweinDestination: Waterway rest area near GorgastLength/Duration: 13 km // approx. 4hArrival: From Berlin by car via the A113, A12, and B112 to the waterway rest area near Reitwein (1.5h)Departure: From the waterway rest area near Gorgast to Berlin via the B1/B5 (approx. 2h)Tour description:The starting point at Reitweiner Sporn, a wooded ridge with spa town quality, is not only a term for water lovers. Due to its hillside location, paragliders meet here on sunny weekends for an outing, and the annual Reitwein Skater Half Marathon attracts its followers. The immediate proximity to the straightened Oder endangers the area up to its heights, due to recurring floods. Memorial stones for the tragic floods in 1947 and 1997 remind of dramatic missions for dam rescue.Tip: A special historical place that will not be forgotten in Reitwein is the shelter of the Supreme Commander of the Red Army in the legendary Battle of the Seelow Heights. The weekend after Pentecost is also a fixed date in the calendar for Reitwein: The annual marriage market attracts its guests.Picturesque views and plenty of shade are offered by the green strips in the Old Oder to linger and take in the vastness. At Maschnow, the course of the Oder flows under the B1, the well-known east-west connection of Germany by road. The water path then shortly passes under the railway line Berlin-Küstrin/Kietz-Kostrzyn.The tour ends at the waterway rest area in the immediate vicinity of the town center of Gorgast. In Gorgast, the 1880-built fort, which remained largely undestroyed due to its lack of strategic importance for the military, is worth a visit. Not far from there lies the village of Golzow, made known through the long-term documentation of filmmaker Winfried Junge The Children of Golzow. A film museum reflects the history in a chronicle and exhibition.Tip: From Gorgast, it is only a stones throw of 5 km over the Oder to the Polish side. Worthwhile there is a visit to the Küstrin Fortress, where, for example, Frederick IIs childhood friend was executed. Parts of the fortress have been made visible again, while others have been taken over by nature.Nautical information: original, special flora and faunaMaps / Literature: DKV Water Guide for Eastern Germany: Canoeing Guide for Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Brandenburg, Berlin, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Saxony (DKV Regional Guide), German Canoe Association: 4th edition (April 1, 2011), ISBN-13: 978-3937743288, 19.95 Euros Tours Atlas Waterway / TA5 Berlin-Brandenburg with Spreewald: Oder, Havel, Spree + tributaries, 1:75,000 &: 1:25,000, Publisher: Jübermann, 5th edition (July 5, 2013), ISBN-13: 978-3929540666, 25 Euros