starting point in malchow harbour.
when you're in the mecklenburg lakelands you need to do some of the many boat rides they offer up all around the various lakes! that's really sort of the best way to get a little overview over the many lake destinations and being on the water and feeling the wind on your face ( or the rain 😂 ) and seeing the life in the water and the landscapes around you, it's just special, i think! they often also tell you historic bits and pieces of the lakes, informing you on possible sights you should seek out, too! when you book a tour, you can choose between big day trips crossing several lakes, depending from where you start, or you can choose short rides that last a couple of hours and perhaps even have a theme like a sunset tour or a romance tour ( possibly with romantic dinner for two options 😉 ).
from malchow you can choose between two tour providers: reederei pickran & the blau-weiße-flotte. there are tours that include up to 7 lakes, but on this dreary, rainy day, we chose a blau-weiße-flotte-tour that went to waren/müritz, going through 5 lakes. there is the chance to go on land in waren and you have a little bit of time to walk around a bit, shop, eat, whatever you want to do and then eventually, you will board the boat again and do the return to malchow. all in all, i think it lasted 6 hours or so, and if i remember correctly you also always can eat and drink on the boat, most of the times, too, which is nice when it rains down on you on deck and you really just want a hearty, nice soljanka below 😋
we had to wait a little before we departed malchow, so i just shot a few images of the surrounding harbour. this harbour was renovated and reconstructed from 2006 to 2008 and the houses in the back accommodate the captaincy office with sanitary facilities for the people who rented a jetty and holiday homes.
the view towards the turning bridge. you can see the ice cream parlour & pizzeria 'al porto' from here and in the back also 'dat fischhus' - a local fish shop and restaurant.
a boat of the pickran shipping company went through the really narrow canal through the open swing bridge. we were about to do that, too! spectators love to watch the whole procedure from the sidelines and the bridge tender has to oversee everything, so no boat will get stuck and of course to collect the toll of the boats that are passing through. though i almost doubt they do that with the bigger passenger ships. the swing bridge spans over an approximately 11 meter wide canal, which is one of the tightest canals of the müritz-elde waterway. the passenger ships scrape through just so.
after passing the swing bridge you can start to enjoy your surroundings, discovering the shores of malchow from the water. there are many cute gardens to spot, which always ignites a feeling of desire in my brain, because how wonderful would a garden directly by the water be? not thinking about any possible floods here, just in an ideal world ;D of course privacy isn't very feasible either, but damn, if you can have a view onto a lake, who cares? i think i wouldn't mind much. don't have to be naked in my garden, right? and you can always design your garden in a way that will make it possible to have some shields from prying eyes, i would probably plant a lot of shrubs and high grasses! a girl can dream ;P
boats waiting to be let through the passageway by the swing bridge. in the back you can see the ruins of the becker & haese textile mill. i had already noticed it in 2019, but in 2020 nothing had happened to the property still. in a later post i will post some more pictures of it, it is fenced in, which leads me to believe that the owners will eventually want to repurpose the whole property. i would hope so, because it would be a damn shame to get rid of this remnant of malchow history.
passing the ruins by. i can totally see it being renovated beautifully into a condo building.
the lakes are a paradise for water birds, i think these all were wild geese!
we stopped in untergöhren at the former tui blue hotel ( now seehotel fleesensee ), where the shipping companies always pick up more passengers. apparently, over the past couple years, there has been a change in ownership, but i think back then it was still called tui blue.
of course they also have a yacht harbour near this exlcusive hotel. you can even rent some out and experience the lakes on them ( costs around 1200 to 2000 euro per week - probably not too shabby for expensive yachts? ).
leaving the jetty again to get back out onto the lake.
a group of wind surfers and a small boat regatta was out on the lake as well, despite the rainy morning!
they brought colour onto lake fleesensee 😍
it's such a calming sight to overlook a huge body of water. lake fleesensee has many green shores, and barely any inhabitation.
every once in a while you'd meet another fellow on the waterway, as this yacht called apollo :)
signs like this indicate the mouth into the canals that link the lakes to each other, so you don't miss pulling in!
inside the göhrener kanal going into the kölpinsee. inbetween i didn't shoot more photos, because we ate lunch, so i missed out on documenting the kölpinsee.
i only got back to shooting photos by the time we went through the reeckkanal, which links the kölpinsee to lake müritz. this canal is an absolute idyll, which you'll see shortly.
it's not a straight canal, but involves a few bends and will end up opening up in the middle of the canal, so it basically creates a little lake - the reecksee. it is situated directly at the tiny village eldenburg, between klink & waren. there is a marina there and several nice places to book accommodations in!
reeded shores were framing the waters left and right.
and yellow water lilies bloomed everywhere!
the wooden sticks you can find every once in a while indicate a possible landing spot for rafters, SUPers or paddlers.
some hardened kayakers were paddling in the rain near the shores.
when you reach the middle part of the reeckkanal it opens up into a little lake situation and there are some very charming properties overlooking it! i feel like you probably hit the jackpot if you were lucky to live here! yes, you have boat and ship traffic, but still, i would take that over a city dwelling anytime if offered to me!
also, to have your own little boat to set out onto the lakes would be extra nice.
loved all the wooden boat houses! a lot of the times you had a ladder going down into the waters, must be a great place for a little refreshment in the water, too, especially during hot summer days!
we reached the marina eldenburg. here, you could rent some holiday homes or some boats & yachts, or eat at the restaurant or buy fresh fish, or dock your boat in the harbour and get some gas or boat service or relax for a little bit before moving on. i'd say it's a pretty cool place to vacation in, right?
a boat coming in!
we of course moved forward and slowly left the canal.
i do love the slow transition from water to shore in the mecklenburg lakelands, it's quite gradual and always a little brackish. it's the german version of what you would imagine the amazonas to be like 😅
we arrived on lake müritz and could see these colourful highrises of waren-west from afar - GDR architecture turned modern.
in the west of waren you will make out a lot of this architecture, the neighborhood was developed after world war 2 to house all the people who worked in waren's industrial complex. there were even plans to demolish all of the old city, but pretty early on and again the socialist doctrine, people living in waren protested against that and managed to save the old city vehemently against those plans.
new construction can be found of course, too, these cubes belong to the maremüritz yachthafen resort. it's situated on a languet between lake müritz and the feisnecksee and seems to be rather exclusive!
closer and closer we got to the harbour of waren, passing by the hafenresidenz, another holiday rental complex and in the back you can make out the papenberg quarter, which is also a GDR remnant.
yachts and boats were berthed directly in front of the hafenresidenz as well.
when you finally dock at the harbour you'll have a sweet view onto the old town of waren, the skyline showing two churches as the most prominent buildings: st. georgen ( big one in the front ) & st. marien ( small and slim turret on the left ). both churches are the oldest buildings in town, though st. marien, despite the baroque spire, is even older than st. georgen. it dates back to the 13th century and was built on the grounds of an even older but non-existing castle.
we made a little stroll along the waren shorelines.
the 'kartoffelscheune' ( potato barn ), a restaurant all about the potato. it's situated in a big barn building that is attached to a granary ( in the front ). the ensemble was built around 1840. the little canal by the building has no name, but it seems to be the mouth of a small rivulet into the lake.
terraced buildings that had a nice view onto lake müritz. at one point in historic times, lake müritz actually surged right underneath these houses, which are built upon the remains of the old city walls. people had dammed up the müritz around 1737 up to almost 65 m above sea level when it has usually been around 61 m. nowadays the müritz's water line is a little above 62 m, and therefore much lower than when the city walls were still standing.
the sun finally emerged behind the clouds as we entered the central square of the city of waren - neuer markt. here, the most important markets are happening as it is the biggest square in waren. several old houses are bordering each side of it, one of the oldest is the 'löwenapotheke'. it is the orange timberframe building with the red tourist info flags in front of its facade.
the town hall of waren was built in a historicized tudor style between the years 1791 to 1797. these days the city museum is situated in its walls and i think also still, the marriage bureau.
my parents both got hitched in this building about 40 years ago! they booked a marriage vacation spot in klink ( a village about 6 kilometers away from waren ), and then said yes to each other with some couples in attendance that they met in klink as witnesses. in the GDR you could marry in a different city than the one you were living in, you just had to go to your local registry office and register for marriage first. with the papers that you got, you could then marry in any city you liked and you could even apply for a marriage vacation there! and that's exactly what my parents did :D i liked seeing the building after hearing their marriage story for such a long time and always marvelling at their marriage photos. i wish i could show you what a beautiful couple they were, alas, i do not have the photos with me, they are kept safe with my parents.
better look at the 'löwenapotheke' ( lion's pharmacy ). the building is from the 18th century and as mentioned before, it now houses the tourist info, but it's also still a pharmacy!
i loved this little building's colours!
since we didn't have that much time to properly explore the city, we slowly made our way back to the harbour. passed by this war memorial for the fallen soldiers of the first and second world war. it was built in 1932 to commemorate the first world war soldiers, though and only later the numbers for the second got added.
a view onto lake müritz again where many people sat and enjoyed the sparse sunrays of the day!
even this cutie black-headed gull! i think it should be called chocolate-headed gull, because its head is actually not black ;P in germany we call it 'lachmöwe' - laughing gull. its cry resembles a laugh very much!
the kietz pier was the landing stage for our passenger boat. i liked the decorative metal poles!
it was a damn good motive. and the view onto the eclectic sky that day was awesome from here, too!
back to the waren skyline! very beautiful also in the sunlight :D and what a difference it can make, just the change of the weather! the waters of the lake almost looked turquoise instead of muddy grey!
in love with this! i think this image would make a great postcard!
the glittery waters of lake müritz ✨
i couldn't get enough of the sparkle 😍
these coots loved the waters, too! so many of them also! apparently they form big flocks outside of breeding season to not fall prey to possible predators. also, have you ever seen their feet? they are really amazing in form and colour!
another bad weather front came in soon enough, though!
love the contrast of sunny and moody skies!
peeps marvelling at the very dramatic looking lake.
and suddenly all the people were gone from sitting on the benches!
i mean, i know it looks dangerous some, but aren't brooding skies awesome still?
pretty darn awesome parted sky!
saying goodbye to this skyline again! yes, i admit, i was obsessed with this view 😂
goodbye, waren, maybe we'll meet again someday!
on our way back to malchow we passed by lots of harbours again.
a fiery red buoy in a landscape of blues and greens? yes, please!
we were below deck for our tour back to malchow, hence why the photos look a little bit strange in colour. still, another postcard müritz photo, ay?
and a reflected self portrait :P
the waters also got quite bumpy, there was a stiff breeze going on. we arrived in quite some shitty weather in the late afternoon, went home for a nap and would later go for a sunny evening walk again. talk about some moody weather!
very close to our accommodation the catholic church 'holy family' can be found, which can house around 100 people for church service. mecklenburg-pomerania does not have a lot of catholic christians, especially since in the GDR religion was not important to the doctrines of the government. you can find more protestant churches in the new bundesländer than catholic, though, so christianity did not completely get snuffed out by the regime. the protestants are much more accepted here because their belief system is more including and less rigid than that of the catholics. that went better hand in hand with the guidelines of the GDR government. it's safe to say that the west of germany is much more deeply rooted in catholicism than in protestantism and that's very apparent when you visit the old and the new states. people take religion much more serious in the west than in the east of germany, which is always kind of fascinating to me, as a child of former GDR citizens and atheist. if i had to choose, thank goodness i don't have to, i'd rather go protestant than catholic, it always felt more humane and not so trapped when it comes to the inclusion of people from all walks of life and their rituals don't feel like indestructible rituals, but a celebration of human kindness and that might often mean opening up and changing existing ways of worship. anyway... i still cherish my non-belief, though, and most of all, i believe in nature and hope in the goodwill of humanity... even though i too often get disappointed by it...
the church was consecrated in 1992, so it is built in the style of the early 1990ies, which was still very inspired by socialist architecture.
on this walk we would end up in a housing project from the 1930ies - the westsiedlung. actually, i don't really wanna talk about it being a housing project, because it very much wasn't one in the traditional sense. the houses and buildings in this area were erected around 1938 for the nearby concentration camp and munitions factory in malchow. many houses that now look quite idyllic and nice to live in, once served as accommodations for german workers ( probably the people that maltreated the prisoners and forced labourers ). there are two bigger buildings inside the settlement as well, so-called community centers, which back in nazi times were subdivided into a gathering place for women and for men who worked in the camp. upon looking for info for this settlement i stumbled upon a mention that the settlement was first developed in the 1920ies as cost-efficent living space for destitute and poorer families, but alas, i think that the actual use of it a decade later overshadows the noble original intentions. all the prisoner blocks that also were erected on the premises have been torn down directly after the war, leaving no trace of how terrible the conditions must have been around here. there is a memorial in the settlement that memorizes the horrible past of it, and deeper in the woods to the north and west you can still find remains of old bunkers and production sites.
the whole settlement is characterized by the use of brickstones and clinker, which are pretty budget-friendly and sturdy materials. some of the houses were really pretty, i loved the green wooden elements here. many of the houses are semi-detached houses, though you could also find single family homes.
these bigger buildings were part of the community centers, another one is situated further west in the settlement. when it was used by the nazis, this building housed kitchens and dining halls, also a fire station was situated in here and sanitation amenities. during GDR times there was a clothing manufacture in this building but when we visited it was actually all abandoned, waiting for renovation. i saw on google maps that they seem to have rejuvenated the building now, it looked like they turned it into a housing complex. i did some research and found out that it was renovated a year later in 2021!
a hidden penis in a little roof window, can you spot it? 😂
here it is zoomed in :P
also loved the peeking through of these drapes! super GDR-style!
this facade was actually pretty impressive already in this condition, and it turned out beautiful after the renovation.
they opened up the arcades below and attached some balconies to the big windows on the side. this could also easily have been a beautiful building for artists. i think the big windows would be perfect for ateliers.
directly in front of the old community center was another old building, which was something like a residential prior to it being now a housing society.
the settlement could first only be accessed through these gatehouses, but there are more entry points now. it was supposed to resemble a city wall surrounding an old medieval city, symbolizing sort of a settlement unity.
i liked the little gate houses left and right of the gate!
the sun created a magnificent light play inside the passage. it is kind of strange to me to imagine this place, that turned into a very habitable and non-scary settlement, has been subjected to the nazi terrors of the second world war. though this settlement had been planned way before the nazis took the premises over, i think there is still a bitter taste to it. though it's nice to see this housing project of the 1920ies being brought back to life, its history during the nazi era still lingers on today.
on our way back to town we passed the stadtkirche st. johannis ( city church ). it was being illuminated gorgeously by the evening sun! the church was built from 1870 to 1873 by the architect georg daniel, after the old churches on the island never stood for very long due to the city fires and unstable underground.
it's constructed as a so called 'cross church' - basically its layout forms a cross. at a later date i sneaked in and had a look inside it, too, but at this time of the day, it was already closed.
the park in front of the church was flooded with this glorious sunlight! i went a little overboard with the photos here ;)
the sun throwing long shadows is one of my favourite things in this world!
i peeped the windmill through the trees as well!
a random overgrown backyard on our way down the church hill that absolutely tickled my abandoned places sensors!
back on our street, beautiful town houses were on each side of it. isidor jacobson, a former jewish superintendent of the local synagogue ( not existing anymore ) built this house probably around the early turn of the century ( between 1900 and 1920 in my estimation ). it reminds me very much of the art nouveau style. there is a memorial stone set into the pavement in front of the house, for betty jacobson, who was deported and murdered in the KZ theresienstadt. she was born in 1867 and probably was isidor's wife. he himself died before her around 1936 or 1938.
loved this gorgeous door right on the other side of the street!
it belonged to this building, that can't be found on any monument list, though it looks like it probably should be! it looked very uninhabited to me, probably was abandoned for a few years already.
and lastly, a random shot of our appartment's front door, which was exquisite as well. our vacation headquarters were situated in a lovingly restored office building from 1850. the close proximity to the inner city and the lake was such a huge plus, and of course the whole appartment had every necessity you could imagine. even a terrace out back from which we could hear owls hooting every night and watch a robin tend to her offspring on a litte protrusion underneath the canopy.
and again, a long vacation day with wildly shifting weather movements came to an end, leaving us sleeping like babies. i hope these images capture nicely what it means to stay in the mecklenburg lakelands, it's such a dreamy region, no matter the weather. and it has its fair share of history of course, oftentimes almost forgotten! the next post will be all about the countryside around malchow, so hopefully y'all look forward to it.
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