Schwedt/Oder

With about 82 million inhabitants, Germany is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany's capital and largest metropolis is Berlin, while its largest conurbation is the Ruhr, with its main centres of Dortmund and Essen. The country's other major cities are Hamburg, Munich, Cologne, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Düsseldorf, Leipzig, Bremen, Dresden, Hannover, and Nuremberg. Elevation ranges from the mountains of the Alps in the south to the shores of the North Sea in the northwest and the Baltic Sea  in the northeast. The forested uplands of central Germany and the lowlands of northern Germany are traversed by such major rivers as the Rhine, Danube and Elbe. Germany's alpine glaciers are experiencing deglaciation. When thinking of Germany, beer, lederhosen and Alpine hats quickly come to mind, but these stereotypes mostly relate to Bavarian culture and do not represent Germany as a whole. Germany is a vast and diverse country with 16 culturally unique states that have been politically united since 1871. Even within states there is often considerable cultural diversity.

Germany

The capital and largest city is Potsdam, called “Berlin little sister”, with its splendid castles, landscaped parks and a millennial history. The Land is bounded on the South by Saxony, on the West by Saxony-Anhalt and on the North by the Land of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Brandenburg has extensive forests and is crossed by numerous canals (to explore canoeing) and rivers, especially in the south-east in Spreewald and in the north (Havel). The Grumsin beech forest was declared World Heritage by UNESCO in June 2011. The city of Brandenburg is surrounded by the meanders of Havel. The city was, in the Middle Ages, a rich and free one. The statue of Roland, a protective warrior, always bears witness to this glorious past. It houses beautiful churches: Sankt Katharinenkirche, Sankt Gotthardtkirche and Sankt Peter und Paul Cathedral.

Brandenburg

The Lower Oder Valley International Park is a shared German-Polish nature reserve. It comprises the western banks of the Oder (Polish: Odra) river within the Uckermark district in the German state of Brandenburg as well as the steep eastern banks in the Gryfino and Police counties of the Polish West Pomeranian Voivodeship further north.

Lower Oder Valley National Park

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