Müritz National Park

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Müritz National Park is in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany, roughly between Berlin and Rostock. It covers part of the Müritz lakeland and was established on October 1, 1990. The park spans about 318 square kilometers.

The park has two areas: Müritz (the larger) and Serrahn (the smaller). Müritz stretches from the eastern shore of Lake Müritz to the town of Neustrelitz; Serrahn lies east of Neustrelitz.

The landscape includes glacier-made hills, flat sandy areas, and low-lying lands. About 65% of the park is forest, 12% is lakes, and the rest is swamps or meadows. Lake Müritz itself covers 118 square kilometers, but only its eastern shore is inside the park.

Nearby towns are Waren and Neustrelitz. There are about 100 lakes in the park, including Bullowsee, plus many small streams and brooks. The Havel River starts in the Müritz area near the divide between the Baltic and North Seas.

Animals to look for include red deer, cranes, white-tailed eagles and ospreys, as well as other birds like bitterns, reed warblers, redshanks, greenshanks, black storks, teals, garganey and little stint. The area also features old stands of common juniper, which were once used for grazing.

In 2011, the beech forests of the park were added to UNESCO’s Primeval Beech Forests of Europe World Heritage Site because of their pristine nature and history since the last ice age. For visitors, information can be found at Müritzeum near Waren.