Spreewald

From the devil and his oxen now to the true historyhistory of the Spreewald.

The snow water of the last Ice Age washed sand into the “Baruther river valley” and formed watering places and also many small sand islands, the so-called "Kaupen". The slope of the Spree reduced itself more and more and over the time sophisticated water net formed itself. This lowland field was 75 kilometers longlong and up to 16 kilometers broad. These river arms of the “Spree” which are 970 kilometers long are now the Spreewald.

Original the area was densely wooded, still in the Middle Ages elks and bears settled in the Spreewald. Through cutting down of bigbig forests huge areas transformed into meadows and fields the variety of living beings changed.

In spite of the intense country use / farming during the last decades the Spreewald still today proves to be a valuable withdrawal field for rare animals and plants. Since October 1990 the Spreewald is an international biosphere reservation. Such biosphere reservations are component of a worldwide net of large protected areas under control of the UNESCO.