Brandenburg

Berliners know Brandenburg as a state name on the S-Bahn map. Fewer of them get off the RE1 at Brandenburg Hauptbahnhof and walk toward water that actually runs through the city. I do that on purpose. Brandenburg an der Havel is not a day-trip annex to Sanssouci. It is a working Havel town split across … Read more

Berliners clock Cottbus as a stop on the way to the Spreewald, or skip it for Dresden. I get off at the Hauptbahnhof and walk toward the Spree instead. Cottbus — Chóśebuz in Lower Sorbian — sits in Lower Lusatia with bilingual street signs, a compact old town, and Branitz Park, where Prince Hermann von … Read more