Human flight has a claim to begin in the hills above Rhinow. On the Gollenberg near Stölln, Otto Lilienthal made many of his glider flights in the 1890s, launching himself from the slope in his bat-winged contraptions, and it was here in 1896 that he crashed and died of his injuries. The hill is now a memorial and a popular site for paragliders, and in a nice twist, in 1989 a large Interflug Ilyushin airliner was landed on the grass airfield at its foot, where it now stands as a museum and wedding venue.
The Rhinow hills are a small island of high ground in the flat, wet landscape of the Havelland. Around them stretch meadows, marshes and peat bogs, the Havelländisches Luch, home to one of the last populations of great bustards in Germany, heavy birds that strut across the fields and are protected with great care. The Havel and Rhin rivers meander through the region, with floodplains that attract cranes and geese in spring and autumn.
The roads here are flat and quiet, crossing open meadows and passing through small villages with brick churches. They are pleasant to ride, with long views and big skies, but wind can be strong on the open plain. Some roads are narrow, and the villages may have cobblestones. Traffic is light, apart from farm machinery.
Rhinow is a small town with limited services. For fuel and supplies, head to Rathenow, a larger town known for its optical industry, or Friesack. From the top of the Gollenberg, the view over the Havelland is surprisingly wide, a rare vantage point in this flat land. Take a moment to think of Lilienthal and his dream of flight before riding on.