Visit date(s):  May 10, 2025

Nearby sites on trip: Over 2 weeks: Frontiers of the Roman Empire, German Limes; Bamberg; Potsdam; Primeval Beech Forests, Serrahn; Stralsund and Wismar; Lübeck; Schwerin Residence Ensemble; Berlin Modernism Housing Estates, Wohnstadt Carl Legien, Museumsinsel.

Overnight location:  Lübeck before, Schwerin after.

Location(s):  Schaalsee

Travel method(s):  car, foot

Travel duration:  less than an hour from Lübeck or to Schwerin

Visit duration:  ~ 1-2 hours

OUV:  I was sceptical when I first read about this nomination.  The significance is actually the history of the areas, rather than the nature of the parks themselves. The much larger European green belt proposal (not necessarily as a UNESCO site, although, if this one does get a nod, I could see this as a transnational site in the future) somehow makes the idea seem more significant.  Perhaps it would be better to rework the concept to include comments about what was there before, possibly changing it to a mixed nomination.  With a little focus on why the parks can be built along these corridors, it could turn into a history lesson, as well as a beautiful place to exercise, relax and heal, and could support its inclusion.

Best of:  Nature seems to have recovered quickly, and the plants and animals have taken over again.

Worst of:  Neither the green belt as a whole, nor the individual park was well signed.