Strausberg is the last proper town before Berlin turns into Brandenburg, and it knows how to be useful. It sits on the shore of a long lake, the Straussee, about thirty kilometres east of the capital, with the S-Bahn running straight in, and about twenty-six thousand people live here. The medieval centre kept a stretch of its town wall and the brick gothic Marienkirche, and the little ferry across the lake, the Strausberg ferry, is one of the nicest short crossings in the region. The town also runs one of the smallest tram networks in Germany, a single line that has served for a century.
The place had a more serious role in the recent past. During the Cold War, the headquarters of the East German Ministry of National Defence stood on the edge of town, and the area was a closed military district, with barracks and an airfield. Those days have gone, and today the lakeside is a place for walking, rowing and cafés, and the town functions as a commuter suburb with a pleasant setting.
From here, the ride east leads into the Märkische Schweiz, the Brandenburg Switzerland, a hilly nature park of beech woods, small lakes and glacial ridges that is a favourite for Berliners at weekends. The name is generous, since the hills are low, but the landscape of rolling ground, forests and still water after the pancake flatness around Berlin is a real contrast. Buckow, the little spa town in the middle, was the home of the playwright Bertolt Brecht and the actress Helene Weigel, whose summer house is open to visitors. Roads are narrow, curving between lakes and trees, and the surface is generally good, with some old cobbled stretches in villages.
Strausberg is a good place for fuel, supermarkets and bakeries before leaving the city's orbit, since villages in the park have fewer services. Weekends in summer are busy with cyclists and families, so early starts are rewarded. The best seasons are spring, when beech leaves turn fresh green, and autumn, when the forests glow copper. Stop for coffee by the water and a slice of cake before heading east.