Guben might first look like just another border town, but once you find out that it is a divided city, with half of it in Poland and the other half in Germany, you are going to look at it in another way.
For a town of just over 20,000 people, there is surprisingly a lot to do and experience. The best time to come is during the apple harvests.
The city is sometimes referred to as “apple” in the local dialect because of its location in the fruit growing region of Germany and because of the delicious fruits that it grows. Staying for the Apple Fest will let you cast your secret vote for who the Apple Queen of the year should be and allow you to taste apple wine and sample the different varieties of apples.
Another specialty of Guben is a special yeast pancakes. If you enjoy sitting in cafes on rainy afternoons you should plan on ordering one of these and enjoying it with a mug of hot apple cider.
If you are a bit squeamish, you might want to give the Museum of Plastination a pass. Here you can see real bodies of humans and animals in different poses and stages of death suspended in time. The corpses are preserved using a plastic so that visitors can see organs and bones up close. This is a one of a kind museum opened by the founder of the plastination process, Gunther von Hagens.
Because of the geographic location of Guben, there are a lot of memorials to victims of the wars. There are three memorials for forced laborers, and one for victims of fascism. If you want to learn more about the history of the area, check out the German-Slavic Culture Center.
Or perhaps you are looking for a chance to get out of the city? Then you are going to find the beautiful scenery of pine forests and lakes. Getting out of the city and walking around the area is definitely going to be enjoyable.
