Listen carefully… What you might hear in the town of Schipkau, Germany might not be German at all. It could very well be Sorbian, as the town sits in the Lower Lusatia region in southern Brandenburg.
In fact, the Sorbian name for Schipkau is Šejkow. And each of the town’s other five villages are often read or pronounced by their Sorbian moniker. Annahütte is known as Ždźarki; Drochow is the same, but Hörlitz is Wórlica and Klettwitz becomes Klěśišća, while Meuro becomes Murjow.
Whatever or however you call them, they’ve been around a long time.
The Village Church in Klettwitz (this one built in 1774) houses a stunning 15th century altar. And you’ll find a War Memorial within the church’s cemetery. Another church worth visiting is the Henrietta Church on the Bahnhofstraße.
All right, this is it on the indoor activities; you gotta get outside.
Wait, the only other acceptable indoor activity is the indoor ski center.
OK, back to the outside. Schipkau has a number of caves to explore (no, that doesn’t count as being indoors) and here’s your chance to sample part of the Niederlausitzer Bergbautour or Lower Lusatian Mining Tour, a 510km scenic route of the region’s mining history.
You’re also able to hike part of the Fürst-Pückler-Weg, or in English — the Prince Pückler Trail.
Yes, this is a real hiking route — I didn’t make up the name.
Whatever route you choose to follow, the views of the local landscape from the Vogelberg are totally terrific. Look out for the wind farm that makes “green energy” for thousands of local homes.
Hey, you gotta offset the carbon emissions from the nearby EuroSpeedway Lausitz motor speedway somehow, don’t ya? ;-)
As noisy as a speedway can be, the opposite can be found at the Drochower See. This lake isn’t a swimming lake — it’s a place of quiet reflection that’s just as beautiful in the snowy winter as it is in the greenest of summer.
All that’s left is to enjoy Schipkau’s Summer Festival in mid-August; although it might be hard to hear whether folks are speaking Sorbian or German with all the music playing. :-)
