Open sky is the signature of the Oderbruch, and Letschin sits in the middle of it. This is a polder, a stretch of marshland along the Oder that Frederick the Great had drained in the 1740s and 1750s, moving the river into a new channel and settling farmers from across Europe on the reclaimed land. The result is a flat, fertile plain, crossed by dykes and drainage ditches, with farms laid out in rows and a huge horizon.
Letschin has a particular link to Theodor Fontane. His father took over the village pharmacy in the late 1830s, when Theodor was a teenager, and the writer later looked back on the Oderbruch with real affection. There is a small memorial, and a sense in the village that the great writer is still part of the place. About five thousand people live in the municipality, with fuel and a few shops, and Seelow, twelve kilometres south, is the nearest larger town.
The history here is also heavy. In April 1945, the Seelow Heights, on the western edge of the Oderbruch, were the site of one of the last great battles of the war in Europe, when the Red Army broke through German defences on its way to Berlin. A memorial and museum at Seelow describe it, and the landscape still holds traces. Neuhardenberg, nearby, has a church designed by Karl Friedrich Schinkel and a palace that is now a cultural centre.
For a rider, the Oderbruch roads are among the most open in the east: straight stretches along dykes, wide views and little traffic. Wind is the main factor, and the horizon seems enormous. The surface varies, and some roads have broken edges and ruts. In spring and autumn, cranes and geese fill the sky, and the sunsets can be spectacular.
Stop in a village, look across the fields and let the quiet settle. It is an unshowy landscape that grows on you.