Why this ride
400 km from Potsdam to Potsdam, about 6 h 28 of riding. It goes by way of Berlin Modernism Housing Estates, The ADGB Trade Union School, Goßsiedlung Siemensstadt and Grumsin. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin and Grumsin
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 400 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 6 h 28
- 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.
Scenic road chapters
Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin → Berlin Modernism Housing Est
37 km on Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin → Berlin Modernism Housing Est.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 37 km
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin
Potsdam lies just outside Berlin, in a landscape of lakes, rivers and woods along the Havel, and for over two centuries it was the summer residence of the Prussian kings and German emperors. Frederick the Great built the palace of Sanssouci here in the 1740s, a single-storey Rococo palace above terraced vineyards, where he wanted to live without worries, as its name suggests. His successors added more palaces, gardens and follies, and today the ensemble, together with sites in Berlin, forms one of Germany's largest UNESCO World Heritage sites.
Read the complete Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin is where the day begins. Next is Berlin Modernism Housing Estates.
2. 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 comes up about 37 km into the recorded legs. Next is The ADGB Trade Union School.
3. 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
about 75 km into the recorded legs you reach The ADGB Trade Union School. Next is Goßsiedlung Siemensstadt.
4. Goßsiedlung Siemensstadt
Berlin's Siemensstadt began as a factory town. Werner von Siemens's company moved its electrical works to the edge of Spandau from 1899, and by the 1920s a whole district of workshops and workers' housing was growing there. The Großsiedlung Siemensstadt, built between 1929 and 1931, is one of the great modernist housing estates of that decade, designed by a team that included Hans Scharoun, Walter Gropius, Hugo Häring, Otto Bartning and Fred Forbat. It is part of the UNESCO listing of Berlin Modernism Housing Estates, inscribed in 2008.
Read the complete Goßsiedlung Siemensstadt write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Goßsiedlung Siemensstadt, about halfway. Next is Grumsin.
5. 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
Grumsin sits at 191 km, about halfway. Next is back through Goßsiedlung Siemensstadt.
6. back through Goßsiedlung Siemensstadt
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Goßsiedlung Siemensstadt write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Goßsiedlung Siemensstadt comes up about 284 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through The ADGB Trade Union School.
7. 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
about 325 km into the recorded legs you reach back through The ADGB Trade Union School. Next is back through Berlin Modernism Housing Estates.
8. back through 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
back through Berlin Modernism Housing Estates, late in the day. Next is Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin.
9. Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 400 km.
Leg by leg
Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin to Berlin Modernism Housing Estates
Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin → Berlin Modernism Housing Estates is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
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 Goßsiedlung Siemensstadt
The ADGB Trade Union School → Goßsiedlung Siemensstadt is 41 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Goßsiedlung Siemensstadt to Grumsin
Goßsiedlung Siemensstadt → Grumsin is 84 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Grumsin to back through Goßsiedlung Siemensstadt
Grumsin → back through Goßsiedlung Siemensstadt is 84 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Goßsiedlung Siemensstadt to back through The ADGB Trade Union School
back through Goßsiedlung Siemensstadt → back through The ADGB Trade Union School is 41 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through The ADGB Trade Union School to back through Berlin Modernism Housing Estates
back through The ADGB Trade Union School → back through Berlin Modernism Housing Estates is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Berlin Modernism Housing Estates to Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin
back through Berlin Modernism Housing Estates → Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.