Erkner is a very close suburb of Berlin, located just southeast of the city on the Spree River. With such close proximity to the capital, Erkner is easily accessible via public transport.
The town of Erkner today has rebuilt itself (over a thousand homes were destroyed in the 1940’s) to a fine bedroom community with a few hotels for the tourists that come to hike or bicycle around the forested areas of town. Just as they come to go canoeing, or just about anything else you can do outside in the fresh air of Brandenburg.
Erkner’s hotels range from the Bildungszentrum, a large 250-room spa facility to smaller rustic guesthouses, like the Waldhotel Erkner. Most include traditional German breakfast including bread, jam, coffee, eggs, ham, and yogurt. Can you think of any better way to start your day? Me either.
But, you won’t get that kind of grub if you decide to camp out instead or, you’ll pay a lot more by staying in one of the higher priced Berlin hotels.
After a hearty meal, head over to Villa Lassen on Gerhart Hauptmannstraße 1–2; a museum dedicated to the life’s work of Nobel Prize winning poet Gerhart Hauptmann. The site of the museum is rightly appropriate since Herr Hauptmann used to live in the mansion.
Other sightseeing adventures would include a visit to the Erkner Heimatmuseum (Local History Museum), a Fascist Victims Memorial, and the Genezareth Church. The church was built in a Neo-Gothic style, giving it a much older look than when it was built in 1896.
Of course, if you can tear yourself away from this quaint old town you could hop the train over to Berlin and do a bit of sightseeing there.
One thing’s for sure; in Erkner you might only be right next door to Berlin but, you’ll feel like you’re a world away.
