Serrahn

The Serrahn beech forest can be experienced particularly well on the forest adventure trail (11 km) between Zinow and Schweingartensee. It offers a depth of insights into the flora of the mires near Serrahn. The Serrahn exhibition "In the Realm of the Beech" invites all ages to explore.

Lakes and mires enrich the extensive forest landscape and constitute a diverse range of habitats. The variety of biotopes and their diverse combinations are what makes this landscape so appealing, and are the prerequisite for its great biodiversity.

Rare bird species, such as crane and red-breasted flycatcher, are characteristic for the open, undisturbed landscape, where woodland and water are abundant. The area hosts the highest breeding density of white-tailed eagles and ospreys in Central Europe. The ancient forests around Serrahn also impress with a great diversity of organisms, dependent on coarse woody debris, such as insects and fungi. The abundant tree hollows provide habitats for many bat species.

Müritz National Park, covering a total area of 32,200 hectares, protects lowland beech forests on base-poor glacial sandy soils. With the designation of the national park, the era of human impacts and utilisation came to an end. The forests of Serrahn, undisturbed for decades, were also incorporated into the National Park. The predominant forest type here is melic grass beech forest.

The Grand Dukes of Mecklenburg-Strelitz were passionate hunters – as a result, the forests around Serrahn were virtually left untouched by forestry for a long time, allowing for the development of a natural area that today is valued for its unique qualities. Consequently, the forests around Serrahn were declared a conservation area, with selected sub-sections zoned as strict nature reserves (1961), and eventually became a National Park in 1990.