Visitors choosing Drehna for a trip can get to know the place through three specific themes: its pond landscape, the cultural center and a cycling tour that passes through Drehna. Nature and culture are distinct focal points; the route adds an active way to explore the surrounding area.
Pond Landscape and Character of the Village
Drehna lies amid a pond landscape. The Großer Drehnaer Teich covers 21.54 hectares and lies in the western part of the Drehna pond group. A man-made floating island was planned as a nesting site for common terns in the Drehna pond group for spring 2025. Back in 2000, an island for black-headed gulls in the pond group was cleared and fitted with a protective fence. Volunteers from Drehna, the biosphere reserve administration and the Uhyst fishery worked together on this project.
Cultural Center and Local History
The cultural center is the cultural hub of Drehna. The village’s history includes its layout as a street village and a strip-field system resembling a Gewannflur, covering 294 hectares. Drehna was first mentioned in 1501. Older forms of its name include Drene, Drähna, Drahnge and Grünhain; its Sorbian name is Tranje. A cholera epidemic struck the village in 1866. Major fires destroyed the village center in 1878 and 1928, and half of the properties were destroyed during the Second World War. The residents rebuilt their village; the cultural center also came about in connection with these efforts. Drehna was incorporated into Uhyst in 1974 and has been a district of Boxberg/Oberlausitz since October 1, 2007.
Cycling Tour and Nature Watching
The “In the Realm of the White-Tailed Eagle” cycling tour passes through Drehna and is 67 kilometers long. It runs through the Oberlausitzer Heide- und Teichlandschaft Biosphere Reserve. The route uses paved cycle paths and quiet side roads, but also includes gravel, sandy and forest trails in places. Conditions can change with the seasons; check the route details before setting out. The circuit passes through, among other places, Driewitz, Litschen, Friedersdorf, Weißig, Hermsdorf/Spree, Rauden, Mönau, Lieske and Klitten, then continues via Klein Oelsa, Zimpel, Tauer, Kreba-Neudorf and Dürrbach. Allow enough time for breaks on your chosen stage and check the signs along the way.
Along the tour, you can watch white-tailed eagles, cranes, herons and other water birds, either from the route or from purpose-built observation points at the ponds. The white-tailed eagle features in the tour title; the opportunities for wildlife watching also include other water birds.
Historical Nature Conservation Projects in the Reserve
A project report from the biosphere reserve records around 100 nests and 150 fledged young in 2006 for a man-made island for common terns. These figures apply to the reserve project as a whole. For the Drehna pond group, the event calendar announced a guided tour with ranger Lorenz Richter in June 2025: the tour was to check whether the birds had accepted the newly built floating island. It was also to explain measures to protect breeding birds in the biosphere reserve.
For the overall travel overview: Boxberg/Oberlausitz.
