Spreeauenhof Dissen Visitor Centre

Interesting exhibitions about nature are held at Spreeauenhof, for example about the white stork, about renaturation of the river Spree and its meadows, or about beekeeping. On a tour of the meadow orchards, visitors can learn about traditional types of fruit and about how the meadow orchard in Dissen acts as a climate garden. There is also a medieval draw well, where visitors can draw up water like back in the days. Spreeauenhof is also a starting point for guided hikes and bicycle tours to the storks’ nests in the village and to the renatured Spree meadow (please book in advance).

Dissen directly borders the Spree meadow that was inhabited even in the Bronze Age, as archaeological finds have shown. Since the 16th century, human beings have made several massive alterations to the course of the Spree. This gave rise to various floods throughout history that often could not even be stopped by dykes.

In 2006, the mining company Vattenfall initiated a renaturation process for an eleven kilometres long stretch of the Spree meadow, as a compensation measure for the company’s utilisation of the Lakoma pond area for the open pit mine Cottbus-Nord. The original appearance of the Spree meadow has been restored in a 400 hectares big area between Döbbrick and Schmogrow. Eight new ponds with a total size of 21 hectares were created and the shore zones of the Spree were reshaped, for the most comprehensive part of the measure that was carried out near Dissen. New habitats for otters and amphibians were formed as a result. More than 180,000 amphibians were relocated to the Spree meadow. Among these were over 75,000 specimens of the critically endangered fire-bellied toad. The ponds are managed by the fish farmer Christoph Junghanns from Forst.

The renatured land of the Spree meadow is maintained by Aueroxenreservat Spreeaue GmbH. Aurochs and water buffalos were brought to the area for this purpose. Curlews, lapwings, black-tailed godwits and many other grassland birds are expected to resume breeding in the open meadows in the future.

The local population and the Naturkundezentrum Spreeaue e. V. association are using the newly created recreation and nature area to promote environmental conservation and education. Guided nature walks, for example, take place between May and October. The Spree meadow is an integral part of the network of central cycle paths. It allows for better tourist infrastructure and closer links between Cottbus and Spreewald Forest.