Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters

Take your next trip with Atlas Obscura!

Our small-group adventures are inspired by our Atlas of the world's most fascinating places, the stories behind them, and the people who bring them to life.

Visit Adventures
Trips Highlight
Central Asia yurt night stars
Uzbekistan • 15 days, 14 nights
Central Asia Road Trip: Backroads & Bazaars
from
Caucasus - Geghard Monastery, Armenia
Armenia • 15 days, 14 nights
Caucasus Road Trip: Azerbaijan, Georgia & Armenia
from
View all trips
Top Destinations
Latest Places
Most Popular Places Random Place Lists Itineraries
Add a Place
Download the App
Top Destinations
View All Destinations »

Countries

  • Australia
  • Canada
  • China
  • France
  • Germany
  • India
  • Italy
  • Japan

Cities

  • Amsterdam
  • Barcelona
  • Beijing
  • Berlin
  • Boston
  • Budapest
  • Chicago
  • London
  • Los Angeles
  • Mexico City
  • Montreal
  • Moscow
  • New Orleans
  • New York City
  • Paris
  • Philadelphia
  • Rome
  • San Francisco
  • Seattle
  • Stockholm
  • Tokyo
  • Toronto
  • Vienna
  • Washington, D.C.
Latest Places
View All Places »
Midas Tümülüsü (Tumulus MM)
The Devil's Column
Weightlifting Hall of Fame
The khao soi at Gedhawa comes with a rich, coconutty broth.
Gedhawa
Latest Places to Eat & Drink
View All Places to Eat »
The khao soi at Gedhawa comes with a rich, coconutty broth.
Gedhawa
At Nai Mong Hoi Thod, the oyster omelet is worth waiting for.
Nai Mong Hoi Thod
In this deceptively simple dish, top-quality ingredients are paramount.
Kor Panich
Customize your bowl with sliced pork, pork balls, fish cake, and offal.
Rung Rueang
Pasties are an Upper Michigan tradition dating back to mining days.
Lehto’s Pasties
Recent Stories
All Stories Video Podcast
Most Recent Stories
View All Stories »
For Aguilar-Carrasco, nature is a powerful reminder of the interconnectedness of all life.
How Can National Parks Be Made Accessible to All? AO Wants to Know.
3 days ago
Podcast: Finding ‘The Great Gatsby’ in Louisville
4 days ago
Here’s which treats you can safely lug home without risking a fine.
Dear Atlas: What International Food Can I Legally Bring Into the U.S.?
5 days ago
Cely’s map is not only accurate, but captures the unique characteristics of Congaree’s trees and waterways.
How One Biologist Drew a Hyper-Accurate, Ranger-Approved Map of Congaree National Park
6 days ago

No search results found for
“”

Make sure words are spelled correctly.

Try searching for a travel destination.

Places near me Random place

Popular Destinations

  • Paris
  • London
  • New York
  • Berlin
  • Rome
  • Los Angeles
Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Sign In Join
Places near me Random place
All Germany Lübben Spreewald

Spreewald

Explore the complex ecology of this multifaceted nature preserve by riverboat.

Lübben, Germany

Email
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list
  Wikimedia
  Wikimedia
  Wikimedia
  Wikimedia
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list

About

Land preserved for its uniqueness as a wetland, forest or plain commands respect and reverence. But land preserved for its value as all three reaches another stratum of rarity, and is worth cherishing indeed.

Places with such widely varying topography, with their own microclimates and extreme ecological diversity, started to be recognized as official preservation areas by UNESCO in 1971. 

Spreewald is the perfect example of such a place, designated as an official Biosphere Reserve area by UNESCO in 1991. A relatively short hike through Spreewald takes visitors through woodlands, meadows, arid climes and soggy wetlands – all in an area of less than 200 square miles.

Originally a frontier area for settlers from Slavic tribes, Spreewald still counts descendants of those settlers as permanent residents to this day. But the human population in this protected area is dwarfed several times over by the sheer number and diversity of life forms that make up its natural ecology.

More than 18,000 species of plant and animal life have been recorded in the area, with each micro region claiming its one complex and diverse ecosystem.

Visitors are invited to explore Spreewald via flat-bottomed riverboats, which are ubiquitous as they stroll along the more than 200 man-carved irrigation channels that snake through the region. The channels were originally built to divert water from the wetlands to feed crops, but now make up the most complex artificial river system in all of Germany.

Guided tours and nature expeditions through Spreewald are popular and readily available. Just make sure you bring changes of clothes for each type of ecology to experience the full effect of being several places at once.

Related Tags

Plants Animals Natural Wonders Water Cultures And Civilizations Nature

Community Contributors

Edited By

Blindcolour

  • Blindcolour

Published

January 22, 2013

Edit this listing

Make an Edit
Add Photos
Sources
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spreewald
Spreewald
Spreewald
Lübben, 15907
Germany
51.941077, 13.891171
Get Directions

Nearby Places

Gurkenmuseum (Cucumber Museum)

Lübbenau/Spreewald, Germany

miles away

Tropical Islands Resort

Halbe, Germany

miles away

Fuhrlander Wind Turbine Laasow

Vetschau, Germany

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Germany

Germany

Europe

Places 748
Stories 68

Nearby Places

Gurkenmuseum (Cucumber Museum)

Lübbenau/Spreewald, Germany

miles away

Tropical Islands Resort

Halbe, Germany

miles away

Fuhrlander Wind Turbine Laasow

Vetschau, Germany

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Germany

Germany

Europe

Places 748
Stories 68

Related Places

  • Moscow, Russia

    State Darwin Museum

    The world's first museum dedicated to the work of game-changing naturalist Charles Darwin.

  • Huesca, Spain

    Congost de Mont-rebei

    A breathtaking canyon offers stunning views and frightful pathways through an ecological paradise.

  • Plitvička Jezera, Croatia

    Plitvice Lakes

    A chain of 16 wondrous lakes formed as a result of the gradual dissolution of soluble layers of bedrock.

  • Long exposure image of bioluminescence of Noctiluca scintillans in the yacht port of Zeebrugge, Belgium

    Somalia

    The Milky Seas

    The world's largest bioluminescent area was undiscovered by science until 2005.

  • Kailua-Kona, Hawaii

    Keahole Point Blowhole

    This unusual lava tube spouts seawater during high surf.

  • The ghost forest in the fog.

    Neskowin, Oregon

    Neskowin Ghost Forest

    The eerie remnants of an ancient forest were hidden under the sand for centuries.

  • Moon over the Chambal River.

    Jajepura, India

    Chambal River

    An ancient curse kept humans from living on the water, and now it's brimming with rare wildlife and is one of the most pristine rivers in India.

  • The Tambopata Research Center

    Tambopata, Peru

    Tambopata Research Center

    One of the most remote lodges in the Amazon offers rare wildlife encounters and undisturbed views of the Peruvian rainforest.

Aerial image of Vietnam, displaying the picturesque rice terraces, characterized by their layered, verdant fields.
Atlas Obscura Membership

Become an Atlas Obscura Member


Join our community of curious explorers.

Become a Member

Get Our Email Newsletter

Follow Us

Facebook YouTube TikTok Instagram Pinterest RSS Feed

Get the app

Download the App
Download on the Apple App Store Get it on Google Play
  • All Places
  • Latest Places
  • Most Popular
  • Places to Eat
  • Random
  • Nearby
  • Add a Place
  • Stories
  • Food & Drink
  • Itineraries
  • Lists
  • Video
  • Podcast
  • Newsletters
  • All Trips
  • Family Trip
  • Food & Drink
  • History & Culture
  • Wildlife & Nature
  • FAQ
  • Membership
  • Feedback & Ideas
  • Community Guidelines
  • Product Blog
  • Unique Gifts
  • Work With Us
  • About
  • FAQ
  • Advertise With Us
  • Advertising Guidelines
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms of Use
Atlas Obscura

© 2025 Atlas Obscura. All Rights Reserved.