Discover Erkner: Trails, History and Dämeritzsee

Explore Erkner through a range of interests: hiking trails and lakeshores sit alongside local history, events and a weekly market. This mix helps you decide what to focus on during your stay without reducing the town to just one activity.

When planning your visit, it may help to first consider whether you mainly want to hike, explore local history or include an event in your plans. Erkner offers several different starting points for doing so.

Hiking and Water in Erkner

The 66 Lakes Hiking Trail and the Way of St. James pass through Erkner. There are also short and longer hiking routes; some trails have been developed into themed educational and experience trails. In Erkner, you can therefore find routes of various lengths as well as trails whose character is shaped by a particular theme.

One specific example is Wupatz’s Nature Trail, which circles Wupatzsee in Erkner. This sets it apart from the two trails that pass through the town: here, the route around a particular lake is the main focus. Dämeritzsee adds another distinctive landscape feature. It is the largest lake in Erkner and is bordered by Erkner to the east and south.

Pedestrians can access Dämeritzsee directly at several points, including via lakeside promenades and a recreation area. If you would like to include the lake in your stay, these access points provide a useful guide. The hiking trails and lake access points offer different ways to experience Erkner.

Local History and Museum

In the autumn of 1885, Gerhart Hauptmann moved to Erkner with his wife Marie. They lived together on the ground floor of Nicolaus Lassen’s villa. The Gerhart Hauptmann Museum has been housed in Villa Lassen since 1987. The permanent exhibition is currently closed; the museum is scheduled to reopen in 2029.

The listed Museum Courtyard at Sonnenluch houses the Erkner Local History Museum and has an herb and fruit garden. Exhibitions in a renovated barn on the grounds explore crafts and trades in Erkner, the origins of the world’s first fully synthetic plastic, Bakelite, and the development of the chemical industry in Erkner. The site therefore focuses on both everyday and industrial history.

Visits to the tram depot, with its historic museum vehicles, are possible for visitor groups on special occasions and by request. Be sure to take this restriction into account when planning your visit.

Weekly Market and Events

Fresh and regional products are available at Erkner’s weekly market on Thursdays. The selection includes sausages and other meat products, poultry, game, fresh and smoked fish, fruit, vegetables, eggs, honey, plants and specialties. A bakery also offers fresh baked goods from a mobile wood-fired oven. The market thus combines a diverse range of goods with its own selection of baked goods.

The annual Heimatfest lasts three days and takes place in early summer as an open-air festival. The program includes market stalls and attractions, as well as cultural performances and concerts. The Kolonistenfest depicts the settlement of Palatine colonists around 1750. Visitors can see costumes from the local history association, stroll through a farmers’ market and watch craftspeople at work. If you are choosing a festival as the reason for your trip, it is best to check the exact dates in advance.

Rathauspark in the Town Center

The 10,800-square-meter Rathauspark is in the center of Erkner and begins directly behind Villa Bechstein, which now serves as the town hall. The park offers a view of Dämeritzsee. This place therefore combines a central location with views of the lake. Along with the trails, Museum Courtyard, weekly market and events, you can choose the themes that matter to you during your stay in Erkner.

Discover more destinations: Woltersdorf, Groß Lindow, Selchow, Schöneiche bei Berlin, Friedland, Berkenbrück, Herzberg, Bad Saarow

Back to the regional travel overview: Oder-Spree.