Why this ride
From Kreuzberg it runs 366 km to Kreuzberg; allow about 5 h 42 of riding. The stops in between: The ADGB Trade Union School, Grumsin, Serrahn and back through Grumsin. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Berlin Modernism Housing Estates and Serrahn
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 366 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 42
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Berlin Modernism Housing Estates
Most World Heritage sites are palaces, cathedrals or ruins. Berlin got onto the list in 2008 with flats. The Berlin Modernism Housing Estates are six residential developments built between 1910 and 1933, among them the Hufeisensiedlung in Britz, shaped like a horseshoe around a pond, the Gartenstadt Falkenberg with its bright colours, the Weisse Stadt in Reinickendorf and the Siemensstadt estate. Architects such as Bruno Taut, Martin Wagner and Walter Gropius designed them to give ordinary working families light, air, green space and decent bathrooms at a time when many Berliners lived in dark, cramped tenement blocks around courtyards.
Read the complete Berlin Modernism Housing Estates write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Berlin Modernism Housing Estates is where the day begins. Next is The ADGB Trade Union School.
2. The ADGB Trade Union School
In the pine woods just outside Bernau, north of Berlin, a cluster of yellow brick buildings steps down a gentle slope toward a lake, and it is one of the purest expressions of Bauhaus architecture anywhere. The Federal School of the General German Trade Union Federation, known by its German initials ADGB, was designed by Hannes Meyer, the second director of the Bauhaus, with Hans Wittwer, and built between 1928 and 1930 as a training college for union officials. Every detail, from the arrangement of the dormitory wings in staggered blocks to the glass corridor that runs down the slope, was designed to encourage community, light and a healthy life. It was added to the UNESCO Bauhaus site in 2017.
Read the complete The ADGB Trade Union School write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The ADGB Trade Union School comes up about 38 km into the recorded legs. Next is Grumsin.
3. Grumsin
North-east of Berlin, the last ice age left behind a landscape of hills, hollows and lakes, shaped by glaciers that advanced and melted back again. In one corner of it, between Angermünde and Joachimsthal, lies the Grumsin forest, a beech wood that has been left largely undisturbed for a long time. It is part of the UNESCO site of Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe, inscribed as one of Germany's contributions in 2011. Old beeches tower above a forest floor scattered with fallen trunks, small ponds and bogs, and in spring the canopy glows a fresh, translucent green.
Read the complete Grumsin write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 86 km into the recorded legs you reach Grumsin. Next is Serrahn.
4. Serrahn
Between the lakes of Mecklenburg, north of Berlin, a pocket of old beech forest has been left to grow for the better part of a century, and it is now one of the most unusual places in Germany. Serrahn is a part of the Müritz National Park, a few kilometres from Carpin, and its beeches were once part of a ducal hunting reserve that was protected from logging, so some trees are two hundred years old and more. The Serrahn woods are part of the UNESCO listing of Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe, a serial site that protects the finest remaining beech forests, from Ukraine and Slovakia to Germany, Spain and Italy.
Read the complete Serrahn write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Serrahn, about halfway. Next is back through Grumsin.
5. back through Grumsin
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Grumsin write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Grumsin sits at 223 km, about halfway. Next is back through The ADGB Trade Union School.
6. back through The ADGB Trade Union School
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete The ADGB Trade Union School write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through The ADGB Trade Union School comes up about 329 km into the recorded legs. Next is Berlin Modernism Housing Estates.
7. Berlin Modernism Housing Estates
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Berlin Modernism Housing Estates write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Berlin Modernism Housing Estates closes the day.
Leg by leg
Berlin Modernism Housing Estates to The ADGB Trade Union School
Berlin Modernism Housing Estates → The ADGB Trade Union School is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
The ADGB Trade Union School to Grumsin
The ADGB Trade Union School → Grumsin is 48 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Grumsin to Serrahn
Grumsin → Serrahn is 95 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Serrahn to back through Grumsin
Serrahn → back through Grumsin is 101 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Grumsin to back through The ADGB Trade Union School
back through Grumsin → back through The ADGB Trade Union School is 47 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through The ADGB Trade Union School to Berlin Modernism Housing Estates
back through The ADGB Trade Union School → Berlin Modernism Housing Estates is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
More motorcycle rides nearby
- Siedlung Schillerpark and Serrahn · 360 km
- Museumsinsel and Serrahn · 361 km
- Goßsiedlung Siemensstadt and Serrahn · 372 km