Müritz National Park: Top 5 Experiences Between Eagles and Cranes
A white-tailed eagle glides silently over the treetops, a crane calls out in the moor, and the path ahead of you disappears among centuries-old beeches: In Müritz National Park, Germany suddenly feels like wilderness. Across more than 300 square kilometers, the country’s largest terrestrial national park protects a landscape of forests, moors and more than 100 lakes – a refuge for animals that have long since vanished elsewhere. The most astonishing part: this wilderness lies less than 20 minutes by car from Jabel. We’ll show you the five experiences that will make your national park visit unforgettable – and reveal how best to plan it.
Top 5 Experiences in Müritz National Park
1. Watching Eagles in Federow
The small village of Federow near Waren is the perfect gateway for your first visit – and home to an attraction that is a genuine rarity: at the information center, a live camera lets you look straight into an occupied osprey nest and watch the chicks being fed. Outside over the meadows, the adult birds hunt, often easy to spot with the naked eye. The rangers on site always know where the action is, too – whether it’s cranes resting, deer rutting or a new beaver lodge. Asking costs nothing and almost always pays off.
2. The View from the Käflingsberg Tower
55 meters above the treetops: the observation tower on the Käflingsberg is the highest point for miles around – and the view from up top explains the region better than any map. All the way to the horizon, a sea of forests rolls on, lakes flashing in between, and to the west the great Müritz glitters. The climb up the steps is easily manageable and part of many lovely cycling and hiking routes through the park. Once at the top, you understand why the people of Mecklenburg love their homeland so quietly: from here it simply looks boundless.
3. Cranes at the Rederangsee
It begins with a distant trumpeting, then the evening skies fill up: in autumn, the Rederangsee becomes a roost for tens of thousands of cranes, coming in from every direction in long chains. The spectacle is one of Germany’s greatest natural displays – and you can experience it up close on guided evening excursions run by the national park authority. The spots are in high demand, so book early. But even without a guided tour, you can watch the “birds of luck” all over the park in September and October, gathering strength on the harvested fields for the onward journey.
4. Old-Growth Forest in Serrahn
In the eastern part of the national park, around the village of Serrahn, beech forests grow that have been left to themselves for decades – fallen giants stay where they land, and deadwood becomes the nursery of new life. This pristine character has become so rare that the Serrahn beech forests were declared a UNESCO World Natural Heritage site, in the same company as the Great Barrier Reef and the Grand Canyon. A quiet, almost reverent place: you automatically slow down, speak more softly and, along the way, grasp what a forest looks like when people simply leave it in peace.
5. Through the Park by Bike
The most brilliant thing about Müritz National Park is its traffic policy: cars have to stay outside. That is exactly what makes it a cyclist’s paradise – on the well-signposted trails between Federow, Speck and Boek, you’ll meet no engines, only birdsong. The routes are flat to gently rolling and easy to ride for families, too; along the way, observation hides and swimming spots invite you to take a break. To find out how to combine the national park loop with other tours, read our post on the cycle paths around the Müritz.
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The History: From Restricted Zone to Wilderness
That Müritz National Park exists at all is thanks to one of the more curious episodes in German history. It was founded in 1990 – in the very last days of the GDR, when a handful of conservationists pushed the legendary national park program through the Volkskammer literally at the last minute. Five national parks in one stroke, decided by a state that would no longer exist a few weeks later. You can safely call that a coup.
The land itself already had an unusual career behind it: large parts were the state hunting grounds of the GDR leadership, others a military restricted zone. For people, that meant no entry for decades – for nature, it meant an involuntary period of rest. No development, no intensive agriculture, no roads. When the barriers came down in 1990, behind them lay a landscape that, in densely populated Germany, had essentially ceased to exist.
Since then, the park has been working to turn that period of rest into genuine wilderness: drained moors were rewetted, conifer plantations are giving way step by step to near-natural mixed forests, and the eagles returned as if they had only been waiting. For visitors, that means you experience a landscape here that grows wilder rather than tamer with each passing year – a process you can hardly observe anywhere else in Germany.
What Animals Live in Müritz National Park?
The park’s stars have wings: white-tailed eagles and ospreys breed here at a density that is hard to match anywhere in Europe – nowhere in Germany are the chances better of seeing these mighty birds of prey in the wild. The white-tailed eagle, Germany’s largest bird of prey with a wingspan of up to two and a half meters, patrols over the lakes; the smaller osprey puts on the show when it plunges into the water in a dive and rises again with wriggling prey.
But the park has more residents than its emblematic birds. In autumn the red deer bellow in the forests, beavers build their lodges along the shores, otters hunt at dusk, and in spring cranes display in the moors. Add to that kingfishers, bitterns, black storks and, in summer, a shimmer of rare dragonflies over the moor pools – a biodiversity that can only arise where people consistently step back.
The best sightings come early in the morning or at dusk from the designated observation hides – a pair of binoculars belongs in your pack as much as your water bottle. And one request for the animals’ sake: stay on the trails. The park is this wild because everyone sticks to that. The reward is encounters no zoo in the world can offer – and the certainty of having disturbed no one in the process.
Our Tip: The Perfect National Park Tour from Jabel
Here’s what our favorite day in the park looks like: you set off in the morning by bike from Jabel and roll along quiet paths to Waren – a short stop at the harbor is worthwhile there before heading on to Federow. First check the osprey cam at the information center, then ask the rangers for the latest observation tips. They know what’s flying, bellowing or resting right now.
From Federow the path leads car-free deeper into the park, toward the Käflingsberg tower. Up top: a picnic with the best panorama in Mecklenburg. Afterward you roll along the forest paths southward or back toward the Müritz shore – and by now, at the latest, it pays off to have swimming gear in your pack, because the swimming spots in the park are among the finest in the region.
If you prefer to hike, park right at the Federow or Boek entrance and pick one of the loop trails – everything from an hour to a full day is on offer. Admission to the park, by the way, is free; you only pay for parking and guided tours. You’ll find current maps, events and the coveted crane dates at the national park authority at mueritz-nationalpark.de.
One more practical tip from experience: bring more time than the plan calls for. The park has a habit of blowing up schedules – sometimes it’s an eagle over the clearing, sometimes a deer at the roadside, sometimes simply a bench with a lake view you no longer want to get up from.
Staying by the National Park: Base Camp Jabel
For national park explorers, Jabel is an almost ideal base – and we don’t say that just because we live here. Our nature and beach campground on the Jabelscher See lies right in the middle of the Nossentiner/Schwinzer Heide nature park itself: so you’re already staying in the green before the national park even begins, with eagles over the lake and forest right down to the shore.
It’s about 20 minutes by car to the Federow entrance, or a lovely bike tour via Waren. So you can comfortably explore the park as a day trip – and sit on your own beach again in the evening, instead of having to share lodgings around the park. After a day between eagles and cranes, there’s hardly anything better than a jump into the lake and dinner on the restaurant terrace anyway.
And you’ll be accommodated just the way you like it: in a tent or motorhome by the water, in a comfortable rental caravan or in one of our vacation apartments and holiday homes in Jabel and Nossentin. And if you’d rather continue the nature experience from the water: the canoe from the rental is waiting right at the jetty – the Kölpinsee with its bison reserve lies just across the way.
Our Restaurant: Enjoyment with a Lake View
Linger on our beautiful terrace with 120 seats and a direct view across the Jabelscher See and the Nossentiner Schwinzer Heide nature park. We offer you an appealing selection of drinks, a variety of café specialties, as well as small fresh dishes and a choice of different pizzas. We also offer cakes and tortes.
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Your Home at the Edge of the Wilderness
Genuss-Ferien lies right in the middle of the Nossentiner/Schwinzer Heide nature park itself – it’s only about 20 minutes to the Federow national park entrance. Eagles and cranes in the morning, a jump into the Jabelscher See in the evening: rarely do a place to stay and wilderness come together so closely.
Whether in a tent, at a pitch or in a holiday home, you’ll stay right on the shore – and the bike tour into the park starts at your doorstep.
- 1.5 hrs
- from Berlin
- 2 hrs
- from Hamburg
- Right
- on the Jabelscher See
Frequently Asked Questions About Müritz National Park
More questions?
Forests, moors, more than 100 lakes, observation towers and hides – plus white-tailed eagles, ospreys, cranes and red deer. The highlights are Federow with the osprey cam, the Käflingsberg tower, the Rederangsee and the UNESCO old-growth forests of Serrahn.
Alongside white-tailed eagles and ospreys, cranes, beavers, otters, red deer and many rare waterbirds live here. The park is one of the most important eagle breeding areas in Central Europe – the chances of a sighting are excellent.
No, admission is free. Costs apply only for parking at the entrances and for guided tours – such as the popular crane excursions in autumn.
No, the park is largely car-free – and that is exactly what makes it so special. You park at the entrances such as Federow or Boek and get around on foot, by bike or on the national park bus line.
The best time is from September to early November, when tens of thousands of cranes rest at the Rederangsee. The evening arrivals are the great spectacle – guided viewings are best booked early.
Yes – short loop trails, the osprey cam in Federow and observation towers make the park exciting for little explorers, too. By bike is the easiest way for families, and swimming spots beckon along the way.
From Jabel and Waren, Federow is the nearest entrance, with an information center and osprey cam. If you want to see the eastern old-growth forests of Serrahn, you’re better off starting in Neustrelitz.
About 20 minutes by car to the Federow entrance – or a lovely bike tour via Waren (Müritz) with a stop at the town harbor. That makes Jabel the perfect quiet base camp.