Visit a 360-year-old Baroque castle or marvel at Brandenburg’s largest porcelain collection —if you’re looking for a dose of culture, you’ve come to the right place just outside the capital. Yet just a stone’s throw from Berlin, nature also reveals its particularly idyllic side: from deep-blue lakes and islands to water landscapes with unusual shapes and shimmering layers of color. Nature is boring elsewhere—but not in Brandenburg. That’s exactly why we have a new tip for you today: The Groß Schauen Lake District is one of the most impressive natural areas southeast of Berlin and is located near Storkow (Mark).
It consists of six interconnected shallow lakes that are part of a nature reserve spanning over 2,100 hectares. The region is part of the Dahme-Heideseen Nature Park and has been protected and carefully developed by the Sielmann Foundation since 2001 .
What makes this place special is its tranquil, virtually untouched landscape. The scenery is characterized by widely branching, shallow lakes—typical of Brandenburg—as well as broad reed beds and wet meadows. In between stretch pine forests, alder swamps, and bogs, while development is virtually nonexistent—a fact that gives the area a particularly pristine feel.
The scenery here isn’t spectacular in the traditional sense, but rather quiet, vast, and atmospheric—almost Nordic. At the same time, the lakes are of great ecological importance: they provide habitatfor orchids, water lilies, and numerous rare plants, and serve as important resting and breeding grounds for many animal species.
One of the region’s biggest attractions is the osprey (Pandion haliaetus), which can be observed up close here. The birds nest on power poles right by the lakes and are most active between April and September. In some cases, they can even be tracked live via webcam. Their hunting is particularly impressive: in a nosedive, they reach speeds of up to 80 km/h before plunging into the water and carrying their prey back to the nest in full view. In addition to ospreys, white-tailed eagles, cranes, rare bitterns, and otters can also be observed here. As a result, the region is considered one of the best birdwatching areas in Brandenburg.
