Zapel: Thousand-Year-Old Oak and Cycling Route
Accommodation in Zapel
Oak and cycling route as landmarks
A protected 1,000-year-old oak stands in Zapel and gives the village a distinctive natural landmark. The cycling tour invites visitors to explore Zapel and its legendary oak. This gives the oak a special role for anyone interested in cycling and natural monuments.
The map of the “Around Crivitz” cycling and hiking route takes the loop through Zapel and marks the Historic Forestry Estate in Zapel as a landmark. The forestry estate is now a guesthouse. As the map is older, check current route conditions before setting out.
File:Zapel-Hof Mecklenburg-Schweriner Ganzmeilenobelisk-02.jpg
Photo: Radler59 ( talk ) via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
History, remembrance, and local commitment
Zapel is one of the places where plaques were erected in 1976 to mark the route of the death march of prisoners from Sachsenhausen concentration camp. Another cultural reference, clearly dated, comes from September 2024: works by regional artists were displayed in a small exhibition at the village and community hall in Zapel.
A report from December 2017 describes an initiative at the time in which volunteers from Zapel joined forces with people involved in Demen, Barnin, Bülow, Friedrichsruhe, Tramm and the town of Crivitz. Their aim was to make the region around Crivitz more attractive to tourists and better known.
More topics in the wider Ludwigslust-Parchim travel destination
For an overview of other cultural and natural attractions in the wider Ludwigslust-Parchim travel destination, there are several themes to explore. Ludwigslust Palace was the residence of the dukes of Mecklenburg and, together with its park and the town, forms an ensemble known as the “Little Versailles of the North.” The palace is also the focal point of an almost completely preserved late Baroque town layout, with a former court church and an English-style landscape park. The palace presents art and courtly domestic culture from the 18th and early 19th centuries.
Tours at Zarrentin Monastery cover the history of the former Cistercian convent, the nuns’ lives, and the building’s architecture. There is also a permanent exhibition about the monastery on the ground floor. Check current dates and access arrangements before visiting.
The museum in Dömitz Fortress focuses on the history of the fortress and town, the history of the Elbe, harbor, and bridges, and Fritz Reuter; it also hosts special and art exhibitions. Dömitz Citadel is a Renaissance fortress built in the shape of a pentagon, following Italian models. Its grounds include bastions, casemates, and a drawbridge.
For nature enthusiasts, the calcareous fen near Zarrentin is another point of interest in the destination: it is part of the Schaalelauf nature reserve and can be explored from the nature trail. An approximately 4 km circular tour of the Strangen Peninsula around Kirchensee is described in the 2022 edition of the route leaflet. It starts at the parking lot next to Zarrentin church. Alongside the cycling route and natural monument in Zapel, the region therefore offers a choice of different interests for trip planning, including fen landscapes, monastic history, courtly culture, and fortress architecture.
Go to the wider travel overview: Amt Crivitz.
