Brandenburg

This Muslim Friendly Travel Guide is part of eHalal.io Travel Group Burg_Eisenhardt - Eisenhardt Castle in Bad Belzig (Fläming)

Brandenburg (Brandenburg), (Lower Sorbian: Bramborska; Upper Sorbian: Braniborska) is both a historical region and a modern federal-state in Germany. Brandenburg was historically composed of a larger amount of territory now located across the Oder River in Western Poland. It is also the heart of historic Prussia and thus borders on the federal capital of Berlin. It shares borders with the (German) federal states of Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Lower Saxony. To the east lies the neighboring country of Poland.

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Cities

Potsdam the capital of Brandenburg, bordering Berlin. Widely known for its castles and landscape as a World Heritage Site.
Brandenburg an der Havel oldest town and "cradle" of Brandenburg; ancient cathedral, churches and other medieval buildings.
Cottbus
Eisenhüttenstadt the former "Stalinstadt" was founded in the 1950s as a Soviet-style model town for the metalworkers in the region
Falkensee near Berlin
Frankfurt an der Oder along the Polish border
Ludwigsfelde
Mühlberg
Oranienburg a quiet suburb housing the remains of one of the few preserved Nazi concentration camps, KZ Sachsenhausen, on (German) soil. There's also a small palace in the centre of Oranienburg.

More Destinations

Bockwindmuehle Borne (Naturparkverein Flaeming) - Windmill in Borne (Fläming)

Brandenburg is known for its nature.

There is one national park:

Lower Oder Valley National Park

There are three UNESCO Biosphere Reserves:

Flusslandschaft Elbe
Schorfheide-Chorin
Spreewald.

In addition and there are 11 nature parks:

Hoher Fläming.
Nuthe-Nieplitz-Niederung.
Westhavelland
Stechlin-Ruppiner Land
Uckermärkische Seen
Barnimer Land
Märkische Schweiz
Dahme-Heideseen
Schlaubetal
Niederlausitzer Landrücken
Niederlausitzer Heidelandschaft

Brandenburg Halal Travel Guide

Brandenburg is more or less the nationside around the Berlin metropolitan area. Within less than an hour, you can get out of the huge city and find yourself in the middle of a forest or a pretty village, on the banks of a lovely lake or in front of a medieval church or castle. The major attraction of Brandenburg is the city of Potsdam with its UNESCO world legacy label. However, besides Potsdam and there are plenty of other attractions that make Brandenburg worth the trip. The gray reminders of 40 years of Communist rule are gone and now Brandenburg offers lots to discover to the visitor.

Brandenburg was once ridiculed as the Reichsstreusandbüchse (roughly: imperial sandbox) due to its sandy ground and low population density and seen as virtually worthless real estate prior to the ascent of Prussia. The population density is still low (at least by (German) standards) and this along with its history aided in preserving a lot of the nature and wildlife. In the southeast of Brandenburg, along the border with Saxony and the Lausitz was and still is one of Germany's major open pit coal mining areas. Many of the former pits have been converted into lakes, drawing many (mostly domestic) visitors since GDR times.

Local Language in Brandenburg

People in Brandenburg speak (German), possibly with the Berlin-Brandenburg dialect which is relatively close to standard (German). Low (German) dialects are sometimes spoken in rural northern Brandenburg, but almost extinct in most areas. Younger people normally do understand English, while English proficiency among the older generation is low. Lower Sorbian, which is similar to and to a certain degree mutually intelligible with Polish and Czech, is spoken in a small region in the southeast bordering Saxony and Poland. The number of native speakers is however low and decreasing. All Sorbs are bilingual and speak perfect (German), while only few Germans speak Sorbian.

Travel to Brandenburg

Fly to Brandenburg

Brandenburg is served by the same airports as Berlin. Tegel International Airport (IATA Flight Code: TXL) is in the north of Berlin, while Schönefeld International Airport (IATA Flight Code: SXF) in the south. Schönefeld Airport will some time in the future be replaced by Berlin-Brandenburg International Airport (IATA Flight Code: BER), while Tegel will likely close after BER is opened; however, BER's opening date has been pushed back many times and as of July 2017 and the true opening date remains unknown.

If you are headed for southern Brandenburg the airports of Leipzig/Halle (near Schkeuditz, Saxony (IATA Flight Code: LEJ) and Dresden (IATA Flight Code: DRS) in the neighborhood of Klotzsche, some 15 kilometers or 25 minutes by S-Bahn from the city-center) might be alternatives for you. However and there is generally a wider section of Flights to/from Berlin than these airports.

How to travel to Brandenburg by car

Since Berlin is located in the middle of Brandenburg and there are highways (Autobahn) to all major directions crossing through Brandenburg. Many places in Brandenburg can be visited by vehicle within one or two hours from the center of Berlin.

The following Autobahns run through Brandenburg: A2, A9, A10, A11, A12, A!3, A15. A24 originates in Hamburg and passes through Mecklenburg Vorpommern and goes via Rostock before heading to Berlin.

By public transport

The railway system is oriented towards Berlin. There are frequent regional trains connecting Berlin with all major city's in Brandenburg. However, it is often difficult to get to smaller places via public transport. There are buses, but travelers should check timetables. The Berlin-Brandenburg-Public-Traffic-Network (vbb) co-ordinates public transport in the region. There is also a consistent tariff system, so travelers can buy a ticket for the entire journey even if they change from the train to buses. The website of the Traffic Network vbb offers information on timetables and tariffs.

Travel by Bus to Brandenburg

Get Around

The easiest way to get around is by car. There are several highways (Autobahn), that connect Berlin with different (German) regions - all leading through Brandenburg. In addition and there are well maintained roads.

Public transport to many rural destinations is poor. There are a few railroad connections within Brandenburg and there are public buses, but travelers should check timetables for connections.

What to See

Potsdam with its spectacular royal palaces and parks and the Dutch Quarter is a lovely city and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The Spreewald, a unique landscape with hundreds of small irrigation canals, a UNESCO biosphere reserve.
The wide ranging architecture of Cottbus.
The medieval windows of the Marienkirche Frankfurt an der Oder.
Castles and Palaces: There are many smaller and larger rural palaces and castles, some of them are hotels, others museums or private homes; in the Fläming region and there are four medieval castles.
Historic town centers: many towns in Brandenburg have pretty well kept historic town centers.

Top Travel Tips

Hiking
Cycling

Saddle up and explore the Brandenburg-Barnim countryside - you'll get fit too! Traveling around on two wheels you'll see loads more of the county and with nine cycle routes to choose from there is no excuse for not getting your bicycle out.

Inline Skating

Halal Restaurants & Food in Brandenburg

Halal restaurants are plenty in almost every city in Brandenburg.

Club-Cola is one of two big former East (German) cola brands.

Stay Safe

Brandenburg lacks big city's and therefore also most of their associated crime. However unemployment, low birth rates and general lack of persepctive for young people have hit some rural towns hard and some have lost half their population since 1990. This along with disilusionment after reunification has led some people to radical political ideas and some of them are violent. A former spokesperson of the (German) government said prior to the 2006 soccer worldcup that there are "small and medium sized communities in Brandbenburg and elsewhere that he would advise people with other skin colors not to go to, as they might not return with their lives". Obviously this was an exaggeration to get a debate going and the situation has improved a lot since than (the right wing extremist party for example is no longer represented in the state parliament as they poll well under the 5% threshold), but caution is advised in some areas, especially at night and especially for people who look "different" or "foreign".

That being said all in all violent crime is extremely rare in Germany as a whole and Brandeburg is no exception. Almost all visitors to Brandenburg never encounter any problems and if you should and the police is able and very willing to help you. As the right-wing extremist groups are seen as a huge embarassment to the state's reputation and also something of a tired cliché in inner-German debate, you should exercise some caution when speaking about that topic, as you might get people upset.

News & References

More Muslim friendly Destinations from Brandenburg

The Baltic Sea Coast (Germany) in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania
Poland is right across the Oder/Odra
Berlin
The Lausitz in the south is shared with Saxony