About 100 km south-east of Berlin in the State of Brandenburg, lies the beautiful Spreewald Biosphere Reserve. This low-lying area in which the river Spree meanders in hundreds of small waterways through meadows and unspoiled forests is one of Germany's most beautiful and greenest holiday destinations.

Like most of Brandenburg, this region was sculpted during the last Ice Age by the retreating glaciers. As the glaciers began to melt and disappear, it left behind a delicate network of streams interspersed by small heaps of sand islands raised through deposits. Over the course of time, further deposition formed flat marshlands with thick forests of pines, birch, willow, oak, lime and alder.

Photo credit: Michael Bertulat/Flickr