Leipe Village in Spreewald

Very nice little Spreewald town.

Leipe. The name itself evokes water, old wood, stories that can only be told when the wind rustles through linden trees. In fact, the place name goes back to the Lower Sorbian word lipa – linden tree. And anyone who has cycled or paddled through this little village will understand why.Leipe isn't just a place. It's a state of mind. Perhaps even a time. A Spreewald village that used to be – and sometimes still is – more easily accessible by water than by land. Until the 1960s, Leipe was completely surrounded by canals and streams. Mail, milk, even schoolchildren – everything came and went by boat.Today, around 100 people still live here. And the linden trees? They're still standing. Silent, vigilant, like witnesses to a world in which people still knew that the shortest route wasn't always the best. Between the tiles, the wooden walkways, and small bridges, Leipe seems like a forgotten jewel box—one that you have to open very carefully lest it fall silent.And perhaps that's precisely what makes Leipe so special: that you don't simply visit it. You enter it. Slowly. Step by step. Paddle stroke by paddle stroke.I passed by here on a bike tour through the Spreewald and later returned by kayak.
The Gurkenradweg (Gherkin Cycle Path) between Lübben and Cottbus as a video:

quiet holiday village in autumn. Our hotel also closed one day later.