There are cycle paths that simply tell you where to go. And then there's the Emster Canal. It tells stories. Of bricks loaded onto barges when Brandenburg still breathed soot. Of monks in Lehnin who not only prayed but were wise enough to think of waterways. And of a river that at some point no longer dared to be a river – and was canalized, like so many things in the 19th century.
The route between Lehnin Monastery and Brandenburg an der Havel is not for adrenaline junkies, but for people with a taste for slowness. There's also asphalt, but often you cycle on embankments, between meadows, water, and pastures. Sometimes a lake to the right, sometimes a reed belt to the left, in between dragonflies flying low and a heron demonstratively blocking the way – because it can.
The Emster Canal seems forgotten in some places – but that's precisely its charm. It's this mixture of quiet technological history, green exuberance, and the feeling of cycling somewhere in time between yesterday and tomorrow. The Havel River is never far away, but it gives way to the canal. At least on this tour.
And then you arrive. Somewhere between Gollwitz, Schlossblick, and Havelradstätte. Maybe you stop for a break, maybe you continue – but one thing is certain: anyone who has cycled here has experienced more than just kilometers. The Emster Canal is not a postcard motif. It is an encounter. With the landscape. With history. And a little bit with yourself, too.