Ratzeburg sits on an island, and you notice it only when you ride onto it. The old town lies on a long, narrow strip of land in the middle of the Ratzeburg Lake, joined to the shores by three causeways, and as you come in along one of them the water opens out on both sides, with the cathedral rising ahead like a ship's bridge. Photographers love it, with good reason: from the western shore the whole town hangs on the water, brick and green copper, with the reflection doubling it.
The cathedral is one of the oldest brick buildings in northern Germany. Henry the Lion, the powerful Duke of Saxony and Bavaria, founded it in the twelfth century, and its Romanesque austerity still feels commanding today, with thick walls and a restrained, almost severe beauty. The sculptor Ernst Barlach spent part of his childhood in Ratzeburg, and there is a museum to him in the town. Rowing has a serious history here too, since the lake became a training ground for German rowers, and on a fine morning you may see eights gliding past, with a coach cycling along the bank.
A less cheerful piece of history is the line of the former inner-German border, which ran through the lake. For decades the east shore lay in a restricted zone, and the dead zone left behind a strip of wild shoreline that is now a nature reserve. The Lauenburg Lakes region around it is wooded, hilly and full of water, with quiet, winding roads that suit a relaxed pace, though tractors and cyclists are common.
Ratzeburg has about fourteen thousand people and has fuel, supermarkets and plenty of cafés, many with a view across the lake. A good approach is to arrive in the morning, park on the island, and walk the causeway for the classic view. The old town streets are cobbled and narrow, so leave the bike on the edge. Schlagsdorf, five kilometres away, is a small village on the old border, with a museum about the frontier. If the day is fine, take the long way round the lake before you leave.