Like Berlin/Cölln and Spandau, the Köpenick district in Berlin is the site of a very old settlement going back to the Late Bronze Age. In the middle of the 12th C. Jaczo de Copnic was made Prince, and in 1240 the first mention was made of the "Fortress of Koppenik" on the island south of the town. Covering an area of 127.3 sq. km/49.15 sq. mi, Köpenick is both Berlin's largest district and also the richest in woodland and lakes.
The extensive woods carpeted with heather (about 5,880 hectares/14,700 acres) boast birch, oak, beech and lime trees as well as the characteristic pine. Until well into the 18th C. the woods around Köpenick and the Müggelsee were among the richest wild-life preserves to be found between the Elbe and the Oder. It is in Köpenick that the Dahme, or Wendish Spree, enters the River Spree. This leads, by way of Langer See and Grosse Krampe, to the Oder-Spree-Canal, which was laid out from the Seddinsee in 1887-91 and which just before Fürstenwalde reaches the Spree and cuts short the latter's meandering route.
In summer tens of thousands of walkers and water-sports enthusiasts are attracted here by the expanses of woodland and water. Köpenick embraces the localities of Oberschöneweide, Friedrichshagen, Rahnsdorf with Wilhelmshagen and Hessenwinkel, Müggelheim, Grünau and Schmöckwitz together with Karolinenhof and Rauchfangswerder. Even though 80 per cent of its surface is covered by water, woodland and grassland, making it the main recreation area in the eastern section of the city, it is at the same time also the biggest industrial site in the region.
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