Travel Guide "Remembrance Connects Region Oder-Warta"

13 A h i stor i ca l ly common cultura l area A h i stor i ca l ly common cultura l area and 288 weirs in one main stream. Since then, large areas have been settled and used for agriculture. Today, the landscape counts as the largest populated river polder in Europe. The Oderbruch Museum Altranft documents the history of this special cultural area, with its unique water system, peculiar settlement structures, people, and rural culture. The museum presents objects, artistic perspectives, photographs, film and audio material and offers playful exhibits, such as a large marble track to depict the flow paths in the northern marshland. Until the 18 th century, the Oder River meandered through several waterways across an area of around 1000 square kilometres, roughly stretching from Lebus in the south to Hohensaaten in the north. A large part of the Oderbruch lies in Germany, and about one sixth of its area is in Poland. Due to a much deeper location than the surrounding area, large parts were under water after regular floods. From 1747 onwards, by decree of the Prussian King Frederick II , the wetlands were drained and the river was straigh- tened. As a result, a water system spanning the entire region grew in the course of 250 years, taming the water of the Oder River with a 1250 -km-long ditch system with 38 pumping stations Oderbruch Museum Altranft Oderbruch is a unique landscape in the German and Polish cultural area. The Oderbruch Museum Altranft documents its rich history. The draining of the Oderbruch did not just change the water landscape, which was regularly flooded, into an agricultural landscape. The subsequent colonisation led to focused migration of settlers from large parts of Europe to this area. In addition to the original Slavic inhabitants, the new colonists were specifically recruited from re- gions outside Prussia, enticed by offered benefits. From 1753 onwards, this led to people from southern Germany, Austria, Switzerland and other non-Prussian German countries settling here, who were able to build a life for themselves as free farmers. After this colonisation stage, the entire region experienced an economic boom. The fertile soil, along with proximity to the ever-growing centres of Berlin and Szczecin, which were characterised by advancing industrialisation, and steadily improving transport develop- ment with regular ferry services, steam navigation, and modern road Oderlandmuseum From a floodplain to a new home for people from large parts of Europe: the captivating settlement history of the Oderbruch is vividly presented. Address: Uchtenhagenstraße 2 16259 Bad Freienwalde, Deutschland www.oderlandmuseum.de Open: January-December GPS : 52 ° 47 ‘ 13 . 9 “N 14 ° 01 ‘ 47 . 4 “E Oderlandmuseum i construction, all contributed to this development. The history of settlement in the region is presented in one of the oldest museums in Brandenburg. Founded in 1889 , the Oderlandmuseum’s (Oderland Museum‘s) exhibition also documents how drainage changed the landscape from the 18 th century onwards. A reference library and an archive with sources on the regional history of the Oderland are also available at the museum. Address: Am Anger 27 16259 Bad Freienwalde, Deutschland www.oderbruchmuseum.de Open: January-December GPS : 52 ° 46 ‘ 11 . 3 “N 14 ° 05 ‘ 04 . 1 “E Museum Altranft i 12