From Spandau to Schmöckwitz is almost a “world trip” and so I’m not surprised that the Köpenick district is one of my “white and unknown spots” on the Berlin map. We were there to change that!
Where is Berlin-Schmöckwitz located?
Schmöckwitz is a district of the Berlin borough Treptow-Köpenick. The local area is surrounded by forest and water (Lange See, Seddinsee, Zeuthener See, Großen Zug and Krossinsee). In the middle of the Zeuthener See runs the border between Berlin and Brandenburg.
In 1375 the first documentary mention of the village is found in the land book of Charles IV. There it is written that the village consisted of 15 houses, whose inhabitants were fishermen and beekeepers. It remained like this until the 17th century.
Then came the Thirty Years’ War and a large part of the village burned down. In 1798/99 the present village church was built on the foundations of the old wooden church.
Life in Schmöckwitz was exclusively rural for a very long time, and it was not until 1860 that the first industry settled in the region.
From 1919, the Schmöckwitz settlement was built on the northern edge of Eichwalde. Here, preferably returned front-line soldiers were given arable land and housing. In 1920, Schmöckwitz was incorporated into Greater Berlin.
Those who want to travel to Schmöckwitz by public transport do not have much choice. During the day the streetcar line 68 and at night the night bus N68 go to the Berlin district. From the final stop of the streetcar, there is a bus to Rauchfangwerder (located on Schöckwitzer Werder), to Königs Wusterhausen and to BER.
One should not expect sights in Schmöckwitz. But no one is looking for that here. Who comes here is looking for recreation, would like to go swimming or hiking.
We wanted to hike!
Hike on the Schöckwitzer Werder
The Schöckwitzer Werder is located between the Zeuthener See and the Krossinsee exactly at the border to Brandenburg.
We went on a hike once around the Schmöckwitzer Werder. You can see the exact course of the tour here:
Our hike started at the intersection of Wernsdorfer Straße and Schmöckwitzwerder Süd. Here is the bus stop of the 733, which goes from Zeuthen to Königs Wusterhausen. In the small streets you can certainly also find a good parking space.
At first, we walked along a road with hardly any traffic and a few arbors until we finally met the hiking trail. This runs directly along the shore of the Krossinsee. If you were to take it very carefully, you would already be in Brandenburg when your feet are in the water. But on the Schmöckwitzer Werder one is still in Berlin.
The path runs a short distance along the edge of a campsite with boat rental and bathing area, before it disappears again between the trees. From then on, you walk between the shady trees and always have a beautiful view of the water. Every now and then there are places where you can take a little rest.
After about 5 kilometers we almost reached the tip of the Schmöckwitzer Werder. This is called Rauchfangwerder. The tip of the headland is nestled between the waters of Großer Zug and Dahme. At the playground of Rauchfangwerder we decided to follow the hiking trail and not walk along between the houses of Rauchfangwerder.
Now we were on the “other” side of the Werder and thus on the banks of the Dahme. Again, you can walk directly along the shore via forest paths.
We stayed on the path until we came to a bathing place with a container of the Wasserwacht. We bypassed this, walked between some houses and finally arrived back at Wernsdorfer Straße.
Now we could have gone back to our starting point along the well-traveled road. But we chose the slightly longer route, which continues along the shore of the Schmöckwitzer Werder. To do this, we had to cross the road and walk between the small houses to the boat docks. Here runs the Seddinpromenade, a well paved path along the Seddin Lake.
Finally, we reached the mouth of the Oder-Spree Canal into Lake Seddin. Directly at the canal runs a hiking and biking trail, which is well frequented. When we reached a small pedestrian bridge that crosses the canal, we turned right staying on the path, followed the road and arrived back at the starting point of the hike.
A hotel tip:
The hotel “Das Schmöckwitz” is located near the start and end point of our hike. We spent the night there as part of the “Vacation in your own town” campaign.
We really liked the main house. Unfortunately, we were not accommodated there, but in a room in a container-like annex. There the rooms are very simple and functional. The dinner in the restaurant was really very good. There was a multi-course menu with dishes from regional products. Also the breakfast (situationally in summer 2020 without buffet) were really sufficient, good and we could start the day well on the beautiful terrace of the hotel.
It was especially nice in the evening to sit in the deck chairs on the shore and look out over the water. A moment of relaxation, a feeling like on vacation and that in a big city like Berlin.
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