Lehnin Abbey was founded in 1180 by Margrave Otto I of Brandenburg, who, according to legend, fell asleep under an oak while hunting, dreamed that a white stag was attacking him, and drove it off by calling on Christ. The Cistercian monks who came from the Harz cleared the forests, drained the marshes and built a great brick church, one of the earliest examples of the north German Brick Gothic. It still stands, restored, in a quiet village surrounded by lakes and forests.
The abbey is also linked to a mysterious prophecy, the Vaticinium Lehninense, a medieval poem that seemed to predict the fate of the Hohenzollern dynasty. It was probably written much later, but it caused a stir in the nineteenth century and is still debated by historians.
You are a few minutes' ride from Lehnin, in the Zauche, a plateau of sandy soil, pine forests and lakes south-west of Potsdam. The lakes are many and varied, from small forest ponds to larger lakes with beaches and jetties. Swimming is popular in summer, and the water is generally clean.
The riding is quiet and gentle, with tree-lined avenues, forest roads and village streets. Most of the asphalt is in fair shape, but cobbles appear in the villages and on some old roads. Watch for wildlife, especially deer and boar, and for slow farm traffic.
For more than a swim, Brandenburg an der Havel lies to the north-west, an old town of churches and waterways whose cathedral island is the cradle of the whole Mark. Kloster Lehnin itself can sort out fuel and a coffee, and in early summer the farm stands along the roads sell strawberries by the basket.