Maksaust
Traveller
11 comments
Posted 5 days ago
we are Aussies, going to Poland; will depart from Belgium and will be going to husbands side of family in what was known as Prussia.
I have the name of the place that I believe we are looking for it is LANGMEIL, known today as OKUNIN.
is there a train that goes to this place, I believe if we go to Zbaszynek or Zielona Gora, then a local train to Sulechow. if this is correct how do I book the tickets please: what is the start station please and then were too? Is there accomodation there. thanks in advance (TIA) any help or advice would be welcomed.
argon
Traveller
489 comments
Just forget about Prussia and the German names , we dont like it ! Book Bruxelles to Berlin at bahn.de and Berlin to Sulechów at intercity.pl . Plan with about one hour of connection time (Trains in Germany and Poland are not known for being the most presise) . For accomodation look at booking.com , its also the standard here in Europe .
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argon
Traveller
489 comments
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argon
Traveller
489 comments
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argon
Traveller
489 comments
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MisterSteve
Traveller
1096 comments
I suspect this is going to be more about genealogy than travel - what do you expect to see there? Does it involve the Lutheran exodus from the area led by August Kavel? Okunin is a very small place now so won't have been much then. Even now Google Maps can miss it off the suggestions list if you start from a location too far away, so search for Sulechów and then look about 7km east. There is a very limited local bus service which seems to revolve around schools hours and the walk through Sulechów from railway station to bus station will take longer than the bus ride. But history has to be considered. After the Lutherans left I suspect their presence was pretty much deleted by the Prussian state or the Calvanists who remained. And then there was WW2, this area was overrun by the Soviet army in heavy fighting in March 1945 and what was there in 1944 may not have survived. After 1945 any Germans who were still there were purged and even the Calvanist churches were closed. Don't expect to walk into a records office in either place, if anything exists it could be in Zielona Góra .
Google Maps shows very little in the way of places to stay in Sulechów but the visit could be so short it would easy to do as a day trip from Berlin. The cross border fast trains run almost every hour and have connections to Sulechów at either Zbaszynek or Zielona Góra, but not both so make sure you know which for your train. If you do want to stay in the region for longer then Zielona Góra will be easier as a base. Bear in mind that this area is much closer to Berlin than Warsaw so if you want an international flight afterwards use BER airport, and in that case a local taxi will be a lot faster and could be cheaper than using public transport.
For the Brussels - Berlin tickets use bahn.de as already said, but pay attention. There is basically an option every hour via Cologne but half of Brussels-Cologne trains are run by Eurostar and DB do not sell their really cheap advance booking tickets on those. Use a connection with DB-ICE train from Brussels around 25 minutes past even hours and book it as a through ticket to Berlin for the best price - and do it at least 6 weeks in advance.
Maksaust
Traveller
11 comments
thank you for your helpful detailed information. much appreciated and had needed to know the amount of time I would need to spend there. thanks again