A nearly thousand-year-old oak, a 40-metre-high viewing platform and an almost completely preserved Baroque castle ensemble give Ivenack several different highlights for visitors. There is also Lake Ivenack and a natural circular trail about 5.5 kilometres long. When planning your stay, you can consider whether you’d prefer to observe ancient trees and animals, experience the landscape on foot or explore the castle grounds.
Ancient Oaks and Wildlife Park
Ivenack Wildlife Park is Germany’s first National Natural Monument. It includes a wood pasture and five thousand-year-old oaks. On 2 July 2025, the nearly thousand-year-old Ivenack Methuselah Oak became the 50th tree to be added to Germany’s National Heritage Trees list. Ivenack thus brings together the story of a single award-winning tree and the characteristic landscape of the wildlife park.
At the Ivenack Oaks, you can observe fallow deer, wild horses and wild boar at close range. Visitor facilities also include a nature trail and an exhibition in the Baroque pavilion. You can arrange a guided tour with forest educators if you’d like to explore the oaks with an expert guide. If a guided tour is part of your visit, make sure to arrange it as a separate step.
Lake, Viewing Platform and Circular Trail
Lake Ivenack is about 1,180 metres long, 550 metres wide and covers around 97 hectares of water. At the Ivenack Oaks, a 40-metre-high viewing platform offers panoramic views over the crowns of the ancient oaks and the lake. It is accessible by lift. The treetop walkway at the Ivenack Oaks is 620 metres long.
If you’d rather plan a longer walk, you can take the natural circular trail around the lake. It is about 5.5 kilometres long and leads through the castle park, woods and fields, as well as the Ivenack Oaks wildlife park area. This makes the lakeside route different from a visit to the viewing platform: it takes in several types of landscape and passes through the wildlife park grounds.
Castle Park and Architectural History
Around 1800, Ivenack’s Baroque castle park was transformed into an English landscape garden; its grounds include the thousand-year-old oaks. The almost completely preserved Baroque castle complex comprises the castle, stables, orangery, tea house, church and park. A walk through the castle park lets you explore every part of the castle ensemble.
Ivenack’s former monastery church also has a long history: it dates back to the 13th century, making it an older historical landmark than the park’s redesign around 1800. When planning your visit, you can therefore distinguish between the church’s medieval history and the later landscaping of the castle park.
Plan Your Visit and Journey
The Ivenack Oaks grounds are accessible and suitable for pushchairs and wheelchairs. Check the accessibility information again before your visit, as these conditions may change. There is also a forest shop and forest café at the thousand-year-old oaks; check their current availability in advance.
Visitors can reach the Ivenack Oaks from Stavenhagen on foot or by bicycle, over a distance of about 3 to 4 kilometres. If you plan to take a bus, check the service and timetable separately. This lets you take your travel arrangements and the focus of your visit—such as the wildlife park and oaks, the lakeside route or the castle ensemble—into account together when planning.
Discover more destinations: Bredenfelde, Rosenow, Briggow, Gülzow, Stavenhagen, Knorrendorf, Kittendorf, Zettemin.
View the broader travel guide: Amt Stavenhagen.
