The Uckermark, in the far north-east of Brandenburg, is one of the emptiest regions in Germany, and that is precisely its charm: rolling hills, endless fields of grain and rapeseed, beech forests, villages with brick churches and, scattered everywhere, lakes left behind by the glaciers of the last ice age. Gerswalde sits between some of the largest of these lakes, and on a hot day on the way back to Berlin, it is a wonderful place for a swim.
The lakes here are often remarkably clear, with sandy bottoms and reedy shores, and many villages have small bathing spots with a jetty or a patch of grass. A few kilometres to the east, the Oberuckersee and the Unteruckersee stretch north towards Prenzlau, whose huge brick Gothic church of St. Mary, rebuilt after wartime destruction, rises above the town and the lake. Gerswalde itself has the ruins of a medieval moated castle.
The landscape of the Uckermark was shaped by the ice, which left behind a series of moraines, kettle holes and lakes, giving the land its gentle, rolling character. The region is a stronghold for birds: cranes nest in the wetlands, white-tailed eagles hunt over the lakes, and in autumn thousands of cranes and geese gather on the fields. The air smells of cut hay and lake water in summer.
The roads in the Uckermark are a delight for riders who appreciate quiet, scenic routes. They wind gently through the hills, past lakes and fields, often lined with avenues of old trees, with little traffic. Some village streets still have cobbles, and the surface on the minor roads can be patchy. Services are sparse, so fill up in Prenzlau or Templin. The ride back to Berlin is straightforward, either on the A11 motorway or on the quieter roads through the Schorfheide forest, a vast area of woodland that was once a royal hunting ground.