To start off my birthday (hint: it’s not today), I thought it would be a great idea to start the day actively. So I got up at 7:30, put on my leggings and sneakers, and met Michelle of the Berlin Hiking and Outdoor Adventure Group in Gesundbrunnen. We then hopped on a train to Oranienburg along with many others, some with their bikes. It was a perfect day to be outside.
Twenty minutes later, we arrived at the train station and started our 26 km trek according to this komoot path. The first 5 km or so was rather urban, as we walked parallel to the train tracks and traversed the quiet town of Oranienburg.
Once we escaped the urban scene, a wooden boardwalk presented itself to us. On both sides of the path was a beautiful sight of trees growing in water, the Briese river. This was also the first time we encountered other humans since leaving the train station: a small family and their dog.
Apparently this type of forest is known in German as “Erlenbruchwald”, but I can’t find its equivalent in English (not that I know much about forests). Some refer to it as alder swamp/marsh/forest.
Marsh/swamp landscape aplenty…
In some areas, the water was completely green from moss – quite a sight to behold. Some other hikers and mountain bikers crossed our paths, mostly in twos.
We also came across a mini mill, but it unfortunately didn’t rotate because the water level barely touched its blades.
We decided to skip a detour point on the komoot path called Helenenquellen, because both of us were starving by the time we hit the 10 km mark (it was around 1 pm) and I was doubtful about getting warm food after 2 pm (German restaurants in the countryside usually don’t cook outside lunch and dinner times). In case of emergency, however, I had an egg sandwich which I bought at the Gesundbrunnen station in my daypack.
An hour later, we arrived at a kiosk located in an old forester’s lodge. It has a large outdoor seating area completely full of visitors. Where did all these people come from??? There were almost no hikers or bikers in front of us for a good 5 km, so most of them must have arrived by car and parked it nearby.
I ordered a portion of scrambled eggs, since that was the only non-cake dish on the menu that I could eat. Michelle got herself the same plus a piece of wild boar sausage.
There were chickens and donkeys in the vicinity, which needless to say were a hit among kids.
After lunch, I could feel my toes getting sore but we pressed on. The ground became sandy peppered with random spurts of grass, at which point I wished I had worn my proper hiking shoes instead of sneakers.
We also started noticing mushrooms on the ground, although neither of us had any idea if they were edible.
Towards the end of our hike, we took a short break by the lake Lehnitzsee, just soaking in the sun and resting our tired legs.
We made it back to the Oranienburg train station at around 4.30 pm and immediately caught a train to return to Berlin. I was home by 5.15 pm, exhausted but feeling good about completing the hike!
Practical information
- Transport: Regional and IC trains run frequently between Berlin and Oranienburg. Check the schedule on the Deutsche Bahn or VBB website. September weekend and car-free day (Sep 22) tips: If you have a weekly or monthly public transport pass for zone AB, you can use it to get to Oranienburg although the town is in zone C. If you have a single-ride ticket, you can use it for the whole day. Check out the promotion here (in German).
- Hiking guide: https://www.komoot.de/smarttour/885661
- Food: Altes Forsthaus Wensickendorf
