This report is on the probably smallest mountain I have ever walked up, the Schmiedeberg in Rerik. The peak of the Schmiedeberg is just 16 meters above sea level, the height distance of the walk up this mountain is about 10 meters and for walking up you will not even need five minutes.
But is it worth walking up? Especially when you grew up in Austria like me?
Rerik is a small town near Rostock in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany.
You start this walk on the main square, that is called "Haffplatz". From there you cross the Dünenstraße and…
walk up the wooden stairs towards the Seebrücke (pleasure pier).
Then you turn right and you will already see the Schmiedeberg.
Now you can walk up the Schmiedeberg. The Schmiedeberg is an artificial hill and was once part of an Ancient Slavic castle built in the 8th century. All other relics of the castle have been destroyed by a flood in the year 1872.
The town built next to the castle was called "Alt-Gaarz", "Gaarz" is an Ancient Slavic word for castle.
The Nazis wanted the people to forget the Slavic history of this area and renamed the town to "Rerik" because they believed that a Viking settlement called "Reric" was located here. According to the latest research, the Viking settlement Reric was located 19 kilometers southwest of today's Rerik.
On the top of the Schmiedeberg you can find a lookout tower!
From the pavilion you have a nice view on the Seebrücke (pleasure pier) built in 1992. Unfortunately the Seebrücke had to be closed in 2020.
You can also look to the "forbidden" Wustrow peninsula. The Nazis closed this peninsula in 1932 and built a training center for anti-aircraft gunners as well as an airbase. At the end of the war the Nazis handed over the peninsula to the Soviet Army without fighting.
Today it is still not known, what the Soviet Army exactly did there. After the fall of communism, the then Russian Army handed over to the German Army (Bundeswehr). But the German Army had no use for the peninsula and sold the area in 1998 to an investor that wanted to realize a tourism project there.
The project has not been realized and the area is now a nature protection area.
The spit ("Nehrung") between the mainland and the peninsula is called "Wustrower Hals", the water left of it is called "Salzhaff".
In the East you see the town Rerik with its church dedicated to Saint John. The brick building was erected in the middle of the 13th century.
So, is the small mountain worth walking up? Definitely!
A detailled description in German language, including a map has been published on Schmatz.cc.
GPS data can be downloaded here