Räuberberg
[1] The 14-kilometer Blabbergraben connects and drains five elongated lakes located in the southwest of the Beeskow plate, running from north to south into the Krumme Spree between Werder and Kossenblatt.
The area and Storkow held significant strategic importance for the Wettin rulers in their efforts to integrate the territory into the Holy Roman Empire and safeguard its boundaries.
If the castle on the Räuberberg dates to the 12th century, it would be among the oldest German fortifications from the period of eastern settlement around the present-day municipalities of Tauche and Rietz-Neuendorf.
[11] No longer mentioned in this list by Petzold from 2005 is a strong iron chain which, according to Ledebur, was found on boggy ground at the end of the 18th century and was thought to be part of a former drawbridge (see below).
[13] In 1888, physician Robert Behla, one of the co-founders of the Niederlausitzer Gesellschaft für Anthropologie und Urgeschichte (Lower Lusatian Society for Anthropology and Prehistory), described the rampart in his work, Die vorgeschichtlichen Rundwälle im östlichen Deutschland.
In 1933, Walter Dinger stated in the Beeskow-Storkow district calendar that there were no finds available to shed light on the rampart's settlement age and type, to the best of his knowledge.
[15] In 1852, Leopold Freiherr von Ledebur, a historian, aristocratic researcher, and heraldist, documented the Räuberberg in his work Die heidnischen Alterthümer des Regierungsbezirks Potsdam.
3, to which Busse added the sketch of the castle rampart shown on the right, was entitled Der Burgwall oder Räuberberg bei Görsdorf, Kreis Beeskow-Storkow.
The finds that Busse presented, according to the editors of the journal, came from a Germanic urn field on the nearby Lüttkenbergen near Wulfersdorf, from which colossal masses of stones had been removed, under which the vessels were located.
[17] The Lüttkenberge mountains mentioned by Busse, like many other hills in the region such as near Lindenberg, were named after the Lusatian legend about the dwarves of the Lutken, who mostly lived in the earth and were called Lutchen, Lüttjen, Lütken or Lüttken in the Mark Brandenburg.
[11] Another legend explains the origin of the name Räuberberg in relation to a group of robbers who inhabited the mountain and frequently attacked people who traveled from Schwenow, Werder, and Limsdorf to Kossenblatt to buy goods.
It is said that a concealed rope was stretched across a narrow road between Lake Drobsch and the Räuberberg swamp to trap unsuspecting victims.
[18] Günter de Bruyn, the author, believes that the legend may contain a historical foundation, as robber barons may have utilized the fortification dating back to early German times amid the political confusion of the 14th century.
The Schwenower Forst nature reserve is part of the cohesive European ecological network called Natura 2000, which aims to conserve special areas.
The profile of the Bundesamtes für Naturschutz (BfN) (Federal Agency for Nature Conservation) characterizes the 746-hectare FFH area under the number 3850-301.
In springtime, the hollow between the two mounds is covered with two large colorful carpets of sky-blue petals of spring meadow grass.
This neophyte, which has been naturalized in Germany, was mainly planted in gardens and landscape parks as ground cover and path edging during the Romantic period.
The substantial presence on Talsand Island is most likely the result of plantings by landowner and forester Carl Starnitzky, who passed away in 1814 and had his beloved dogs buried on Räuberberg.
