A VISIT TO THE ODERBRUCH REGION

FORMER EAST GERMANY

A district of rather flat, wide open spaces with mile after mile of farmland interspersed with patches of woodland and roadside trees. The country villages are bright with garden and basket flowers.

Village Scene

On our first visit the smaller roads were particularly quiet as car ownership was not that common. The most common car by a long way was the little Trabant, ("Trabby"), a noisy mass produced workers' car which created an awful smell from its exhaust.

Keen to have a "getaway" from the bustle of city life our friends have purchased an old railway house in the village of Sietzing.

The house had been let for many years and was in poor decorative order as well as lacking any modern facilities. The garden can be improved also!

Room for Improvement		Garden ! and Sietzing Countryside
SIETZING VILLAGE (From Postcards--Photography B.Fischer, Buchow) Sietzing Church
A Sietzing House		Sietzing Village
An unusual sight for English visitors to these parts are the Storks This one was standing at the side of the Road In many villages their huge nests can be seen on chimneys or special towers erected for them. We also visited the nearby River Oder, a wide and important river forming the boundary with Poland. With a history of flooding, the river is now contained between embankments.
River Oder		Flood Barrier
However in 1997 these were not sufficient and there were huge floods, on account of the flat countryside.
2001 A return trip enabled us to see more of this interesting area
A good start. Our accommodation had improved ! The Same Room as above
Visit a hidden lake and rustic forest restaurant, the Oder river meadows, and a specialist Fish Restaurant. Photographs in 2001

In the year 2000 I surfed the WWW to the Web Pages of the pupils of a school in this area, Letschin School, and corresponded regularly by Email with them.
My best wishes go to the 1999/2000 Class 10c.

For those of you with a knowledge of the German language their site is an interesting one to look at.

http://home.t-online.de/home/gesamtschule-letschin/