In August 1896, on a hill called the Gollenberg near the village of Stölln, a few kilometres south-east of the point, Otto Lilienthal lost control of his glider, fell about fifteen metres, and died of his injuries the next day. He had made hundreds of flights from these slopes, and his experiments laid the groundwork for the Wright brothers. Nearly a century later, in 1989, an Interflug Ilyushin airliner was landed on the grassy meadow at the foot of the same hill as a tribute, and it is still there, a strange and wonderful sight in the open countryside, now a small museum.
All around is the Rhinluch, a flat, open landscape of wet meadows, drainage ditches and small villages between Breddin, Rhinow and Dreetz, in the north-west of Brandenburg. It is a land of big skies, storks and cranes, where the horizon seems endless and the wind blows freely. In autumn, thousands of cranes gather on the fields, filling the air with their calls.
For a swim on the way back, the area has lakes and slow rivers, and the Havel and its side lakes lie to the south. Not every stretch of water is suitable: some lakes are bird reserves where swimming is not allowed, and others have muddy, reedy shores, so look for the local bathing spots, marked with signs and often with a small beach or jetty. The water is soft and often a little brown from the peat, and in summer it warms up nicely.
The roads in the Rhinluch are flat, quiet and often straight, lined with old trees, with cobbled sections in some villages and the occasional tractor. Watch out for crosswinds on the open stretches. Breddin and the surrounding villages are small, with limited services, so fuel is best found in larger towns like Kyritz, Neustadt or Wusterhausen. On the way back to Berlin, the roads through the Havelland are pleasant and easy, with little traffic.