Life with the barge

In Lehde, almost all farmsteads can be easily reached via the water, while even today only a few farmsteads can be reached directly on land. The rivers here represent village roads and country lanes are elsewhere, the rivers are here. At the beginning of the 20th century, there were still only waterways in Lehde. There has only been a small road from Lübbenau to the village of Lehde since 1929.

To this day, the barge is our daily means of transportation. Anything that is too big or too heavy to be carried over the narrow step bridges is transported by water. For us, the barge is the most important means of transportation – whether for the post, the garbage or the way to school.

The boat is driven with the so-called “Rudel” – a round pole about 4 meters long, slightly tapered at the top and made mainly of ash wood. The rudder blade and a rudder iron are attached to the lower end so that you have a “firm stitch”. Driving the boat is called “staking”.

Even the youngest children learn to punt, because our daily life errands it, be it for the way to the village center, to Lübbenau or to the neighbor always starts on the water.

For this reason, the construction and use of the Spreewald barge has been recognized as an intangible world cultural heritage. This is looked after by the friendly Spreewaldverein e.V..