Storkow - Germany

Storkow (Mark)

www.storkow.de

Storkow is the centre of a local administration district in Brandenburg, the centre of an alliance of 14 municipalities.
It is situated in southeast of Berlin, the German capital, about 60 km and
about 50 km from Poland.
It is the heart of the Brandenburg Lake District: 1500-hectare Lake Scharmützelsee and lake Storkow. Ideal conditions for water sports, like sailing, motorboats, canoe and rowing. The region is full of attractive surroundings. Visitors will find a varied picture of the landscape and news in every season. Since 1997 Storkow and the villages are connected with a fine net of bicycle and trekking trails, mostly fare from the motorways. The visitors use good public traffic: Railway, freeway and waterway from Berlin.

The interesting sights for tourist are the old downtown, the market, the churches, lake Storkow and the canal with the lock for the boats. The history of Storkow begun over thousand years ago as a settlement of Slavic people, the first proof we have is a document of 1209, signed by the emperor Otto IV. In the middle age Storkow already was a centre of a community of about 500 km². The Prussian King Frederick Guillaume II. promoted his country as a living and working place in the whole Germany. A few thousands of families from other parts came to Prussia, some of them stopped here on their way to America. For that reason we find villages around Storkow with the names Philadelphia and New Boston.
Today Storkow is a small town of 6.500 inhabitants with small industries, different crafts, trade, agriculture and tourism. The political and economical changes of the last 12 years brought progress and problems to the town. Old industries and agriculture lost their markets, new developments need time, money and efforts. So the situation is splitted, we have new companies with new products and a high productivity, but on the other hand a level of unemployment of 18 %.
The town is situated around the north bank of lake Storkow. A place called Karlslust was first a walking destination at weekends, later new houses were built a now it is a popular living area. At the end of 19th century wealthy Berlin factory owners discovered another lovely place at the lakeside: Hubertushöhe. The hunter’s castle of the same name was visited by the emperor Guillaume II. For this reason a railway station was found, a profit for the today’s residents.
Not far away in western direction one of the 14 Brandenburg Nature Parks conserves forests, fields and meadows, rare plants like orchids, ferns, carnivorous and rare animals like kingfisher, crane, ospreys and otters.
But here you find also one of the successful tourism companies, the fishermen of Köllnitz, with fishing, restaurant, hotel and museum. Every year thousands of wild goose, ducks and birds come here to breed.
Not to forget the stork. Majestically they strut trough the fields and meadows, fly over the town and villages. Actually we undertake efforts to help more stork families to settle in the Storkow area. People and council of Storkow (Mark) welcome the initiative of Staicele to come together and join into a new international organization of Stork Cities. The stork on his way between summer and winter residence is an internationalist. We stay normally on our places, have our home in Europe. But from time to time we like to travel, like to know new people, other countries. We want to travel in peace an friendship. This idea takes us to the advantages of an European Stork City Organization.