The Berlin Wall trail marks the route of the former GDR border installations in relation to West Berlin. More than 160 kilometres in length, 18 of which run right through the centre of the city, it takes the visitor on a very special journey back in time all round the former capital, along the line that once partitioned it. This is the route of the longest walkable monument in the world. Many stations with border towers, border crossings, information boards, stone monuments or crosses remind the visitor of events dating back to the time when Germany was partitioned and of its victims. In Potsdam you can join a guided tour which takes you on a walk from the Glienicke Bridge as far as Castle Cecilienhof.

The Spreewald Gherkin is a delicacy whose fame transcends state borders. In the south of Brandenburg it even has a circular cycle way extending over more than 250 km dedicated to it which links towns such as Lübbenau, Lübben, Cottbus, Vetschau and Peitz with one another. In the museums of the villages and towns of the Spreewald, such as, for example, the Gherkin Museum in Lübbenau, the history of this delicacy from the East can be experienced. There is a gherkin pickling station where you can not only find out everything about this pickled vegetable but you can also sample it for yourself.  And why not let the ferryman pilot you along the waterways in a Spreewald rowing boat and take the opportunity of tying up at the bank for a few minutes to bite into a gherkin and a slice of bread and dripping (the local ‘Schmalzbrot’)?.

The Elbe’s current made it a practically insuperable border inside Germany between 1952 and 1989. Today the UNESCO biosphere reserve, nestling in the river landscape of the Elbe, generates a unique world of animals and plants. The best way to discover the blue border in the Prignitz District is by bicycle. The Four States Border Cycleway runs for more than 195 km on the trail of the internal German border, the “Green Belt“. Staging posts include the old part of the town of Lenzen as well as the former border tower affording a fantastic view over four Federal States.  In Perleberg, the Museum of GDR History shows relics of actually existing socialism and elements of everyday life in the GDR.

Schnackenburg Borderlands Museum
A memorial stone reminds the visitor of its location in the former restricted zone. On the far side of the Elbe, accessible by ferry, lies the little town of Schnackenburg with its borderlands museum. InfoPoint/Bookings: Grenzlandmuseum Schnackenburg, Am Markt 4, 29493 Schnackenburg, phone: 05840-210, Internet:, www.aulosen.de/grenzlandmuseum.htm