What Lies Around Karschau

Arnis: Germany's Smallest Town

Arnis stands on a peninsula in the water and has held town rights since 1667 — with a few hundred inhabitants it is the smallest town in the country. You walk down the one street, past captains' houses and rose bushes, and ten minutes later you are back at the water.

The little ferry to Sundsacker belongs to the place as much as the boatyards do. If you are seeing the Schlei for the first time, this is where you will understand it fastest: fjord, village and harbour all within a few hundred metres.

Kappeln: Harbour, Shops and the Herring Weir

Kappeln is where you go for anything practical — supermarkets, pharmacy, doctors, restaurants, and a harbour where an afternoon passes easily. The bascule bridge across the Schlei opens at fixed times for the sailing boats; below, the boats wait, above, the cars stop, and everyone watches.

The herring weir in the Schlei — one of the last working ones in Europe — carries the town's history into the present. In spring the herring run through here, and for a few weeks the whole town arranges itself around it.

Towards the Mouth: Maasholm and Schleimünde

Where the Schlei meets the Baltic lies Maasholm — a fishing village of thatched houses that has not shed its character for the sake of tourism. From there the view opens onto the river mouth and the sandbanks beyond.

Furthest out lies the pilots' island of Schleimünde with its lighthouse, reachable only by boat. It is the point where the fjord ends and the open sea begins — and one of the quietest places on this whole coast.

The Baltic Is Just Behind

The fjord is one thing, the open sea another. The Baltic beaches at Olpenitz, Schönhagen and Damp are a short drive away: wide sand, dunes and waves of a kind the calm Schlei never produces.

A day at the sea and the evening back on your own terrace fits comfortably into one day — which is exactly the mixture this area is good for.

Vikings, Castles and Towns

At the other end of the Schlei lies Haithabu, the most important Viking settlement in northern Europe and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2018. The museum and the reconstructed houses by the water make a good half day, children included.

Schleswig itself offers Gottorf Castle with its collections and St Peter's Cathedral. A little further on are Flensburg with its merchants' courtyards and Eckernförde with its old town and harbour — both good destinations for a rainy day.

Angeln: The Landscape, Not the Pastime

The countryside between the Schlei and the Flensburg Firth is called Angeln — the Angles of Anglo-Saxon fame came from here. It is gentle, rolling country of fields, hedgerows and old avenues, threaded with narrow roads on which you rarely meet anyone.

Those hedgerows — banked earth walls grown over with shrubs, called Knicks — shape the look of Angeln as much as the thatched roofs and the fieldstone churches of the villages. They blossom in spring and carry sloes and rose hips in autumn.

For cycling and walking it is ideal terrain: no climbs that will finish you off, but enough shape in the land that something new appears beyond every rise.

On Foot and by Bike

If you want to walk, walk along the water. The paths beside the Schlei lead through reeds, across pastures and past boat moorings; the ground is flat enough that children and less practised walkers get a long way.

By bike the area opens up best. The side roads are narrow and lightly used, and the distances between villages are such that a morning covers the journey out and back. Bring your own bikes if you can — in summer the local hire bikes are spoken for quickly.

One tip for rainy days: the museums in Schleswig and at Haithabu will fill a day without difficulty, and the drive there runs along the entire length of the Schlei.

Shopping and Eating Out

For everyday needs you drive to Kappeln — supermarkets, baker, pharmacy, all close together. Bear in mind that the shops here close earlier than in a city and are shut on Sundays.

For dinner out, the harbour at Kappeln is the obvious address, with fish as a matter of course rather than an occasion. If you prefer something smaller, Arnis and Maasholm have inns that live off their regulars — in high season it is worth booking ahead.