Buckow

Buckow is a town in the Märkisch-Oderland district, in Brandenburg, Germany. The water cure resort is the administrative seat of the Amt Märkische Schweiz and located in the centre of the eponymous hill range, since 1990 part of the Märkische Schweiz Nature Park protected area.GeographyBuckow is located about 8km northwest of Müncheberg and 45km east of the Berlin city centre. The town is situated in a glacial trough between the Berlin Urstromtal in the southwest and the Oder Valley in the northeast, crossed by the Stobber River with its source in the Rotes Luch lowland. The trough comprises several lakes, of which Schermützelsee west of the town centre is the largest.OverviewThe town arose at the site of a former Slavic (Wendish) settlement which according to archaeological findings possibly arose in the mid 9th century, its name referring to the Slavic: buk, "beech". The Märkische Schweiz area was part of Lubusz Land held by Prince Mieszko I of Poland in the late 10th century, which later formed the northwestern part of the Duchy of Silesia. In 1224 the Piast duke Henry I the Bearded granted large estates to the Cistercian monks of Lubiąż (Leubus) and Trzebnica (Trebnitz) Abbey and had the lands settled with German-speaking colonists.