Fichtwald – Nature, Trails and Local History

Explore Fichtwald through its natural landscape and local history. Shaped by meadows and woodland, the area offers quiet walks and historical traces, giving you different options when planning your trip. Depending on your interests, you can focus on the trails and scenery or on the history of individual villages.

Meadows, Woodland and Water

Fichtwald’s characteristic landscape of meadows and woodland developed under the influence of melting ice after the Ice Age. Later drainage and cultivation shaped it further. Fichtwald is particularly suited to peaceful walks, so you can make the landscape a focus of your trip even without planning an extensive programme of excursions.

Hillmersdorf lies on the edge of Fichtwald. The elevations of the Proßmarker Heide offer expansive views. Waterways are also part of the landscape: smaller streams in Fichtwald provide habitats for beavers and nutria. The meadows, woodland and smaller bodies of water each give the nature-focused experience its own distinctive character.

Local History and Places of Remembrance

Hillmersdorf is home to a listed smallholding, formerly known as a Hufe. In the church’s entrance hall, there is also a full-length gravestone from the Thirty Years’ War, known as the “Stone Knight.” The farmstead and gravestone point to different aspects of local history: rural life and the memory of an earlier era.

The Gasthof Am Waldesrand in Naundorf traces its history back to an hereditary tavern dating from the 17th century and is associated with regional specialties. This brings the history of hospitality into focus alongside the buildings and places of remembrance. If you would like to visit to try the specialties, check their current availability in advance.

The Baroque palace in Stechau was built on the foundations of a Wendish fortification. The palace park is home to the only surviving atonement cross in the Schlieben region. The park covers 7.5 hectares and includes a garden and a lake. Stechau Palace is also associated with the annual Brandenburg Summer Concerts; dates vary.

When planning your visit, it is important to distinguish between the palace and the park: the park is open to the public, but the privately owned palace itself is not open to visitors. Check the latest access information before your visit.

Walks, Cycling Routes and Summer Swimming

Cycling routes connect Hillmersdorf with Stechau and Naundorf. From Naundorf, cycling routes run via Waidmannsruh, Lebusa and Körba to Fläming Skate. These two descriptions offer different points of reference: the route from Hillmersdorf mentions Stechau and Naundorf, while the route from Naundorf goes via the places listed above to Fläming Skate. As route descriptions can change, check the current route before setting off.

South of Stechau, a pond in mixed woodland is used for swimming in summer. Swimming plans here are tied to the summer season; check bathing conditions and access before your visit. For another way to combine nature and history, the Niederlausitzer Heidelandschaft Nature Park offers routes for discovering features of cultural and historical interest as well as distinctive landscapes.

Discover more destinations: Lebusa, Doberlug-Kirchhain, Herzberg, Hohenleipisch, Mühlberg, Bad Liebenwerda, Finsterwalde, Gröden.

See the main travel overview: Elbe-Elster.