01 map

– The town of Nienburg on the Weser

This charming old town on the banks of the River Weser can be explored via a very special round tour called the Nienburger Bärenspur. 500 large white bear paws lead visitors along a 3.3 km round tour of 30 highlights in the old district town.

Below lie the three historic buildings that make up the Nienburg Museum. The Fresenhof (Leinstraße 48), a town residence dating back to the 16th century, is the main building of the regional museum and exhibits the history of the town and district. The classicist Quaet-Faslem-Haus (Leinstraße 4) was the brainchild of its builder, the Royal architect of Hanover, Emmanuel Bruno Quaet-Faslem. This also contains a gallery containing paintings by the Nienburg artist, Ernst Thoms; a Biedermeier garden and a lapidarium (stone collection). In the Lower Saxony Asparagus Museum (Leinstraße 4) you can find out everything you want to know about asparagus – from planting and harvesting all the way to marketing. The Burgdorf asparagus collection – fine china and cutlery – is exhibited in the upper storey of the museum.

Leinstraße 48, 31582 Nienburg, Tel. 05021 / 124 61, www.museum-nienburg.de

One of the main themes in the Lower Saxony Police Museum is dedicated to the Haarmann case, a serial murder in the 1920s in Hanover. The museum provides a vivid demonstration of the many facets of crime detection and presents a number of different vehicles used by the police in Lower Saxony.

Polizeimuseum Niedersachsen, Lange Straße 20-22, 31582 Nienburg, Tel. 05021 / 887 78 80, www.polizeigeschichte-niedersachsen.de  www.pa.polizei-nds.de

The Parish Church of St. Martin, a three-aisled hall church in North German redbrick Gothic style, is situated in the heart of the old town. It is the main church and its 72 metre high tower is generally regarded as the hallmark of the town. It contains precious tombs, works of art, sarcophagi and the remains of mediaeval decorations.

Evangelisch-lutherische Kirchengemeinde St. Martin, Kirchplatz 3, 31582 Nienburg, Tel. 05021 / 916 310, www.martin-nienburg.de

Since 2008 one thing’s for sure in Nienburg: The town on the Weser can boast of "Europe’s most beautiful weekly market". More than 60 regional suppliers deliver the market with fresh vegetables, fruit, meat and fish, cheese and flowers etc.

Tel. 05021 / 872 80, www.nienburger-wochenmarkt.de (all the year round, Wednesdays and Saturdays 8.00 to 13.00)

The German Wood Creative Centre

The wood experience! Day and weekend courses and open workshops invite people to discover their own creative powers and craft skills. Comfy holiday flats are also available.

Reinhold Büdeker, Bürgermeister-Stahn-Wall 37, 31582 Nienburg

Tel. 05021 / 866 05 11, www.dkholz.de

– The Giebich rock in Stöckse

In the "Krähe"“ wood near Stöckse lies the largest boulder in Lower Saxony: the granite rock weighs around 207 tonnes and arrived here from Sweden via a glacier from the Saale ice age. It has given rise to the legend of the dwarf king, Giebich. An archaeological path informs visitors about a Stone Age hunters’ camp and a nearby Bronze Age barrow cemetery.

Zum Giebichenstein, 31638 Stöckse

Information: Samtgemeinde Steimbke, Tel. 05026/9808-0

– The “Schünebusch” old barn district in Estorf

The district contains nine barns. They house the local museum with its various exhibitions on agricultural equipment, the living conditions of farmers, a history of the village and a small bakery. The “Radler barn” offers groups rustic overnight accommodation (reservations in advance).

Neue Schulstraße, 31629 Estorf

Tel. 05761/70514, www.sg-mittelweser.de

– The Landesbergen wedding mill

The Dutch windmill built in 1782 is one of the most unusual places to get married in the district of Nienburg. The wedding mill stands on the old mill square with its bakery, spike and an old ferry boat used on the Weser. The wooden bridal book in which the wedding guests can make themselves immortal is truly unique.

Mühlenplatz, 31628 Landesbergen

Tel. 05021 / 980 80, www.sg-mittelweser.de

– The Brokeloh feudal estate

In the 16th century Clamor von Münchhausen had a moated castle built in Brokeloh. Today holiday apartments and a “hay hotel” offer an ideal setting for relaxation and adventure. August is a particularly busy month. This is when the world’s largest role game, the “Conquest of Mythodea” takes place. More than 8000 fantasy fans gather here from all over the world and transform the venue into a fantastic spectacle with orcs, fairies and knights.

Brokeloh 1, 31628 Landesbergen

Tel. 05027 / 13 41, www.rittergut-brokeloh.de

– The Mariensee cloister

The cloister has been a place of refuge for nuns for over 800 years. As well as the Cloister Museum, the bright, early-Gothic redbrick church, the imposing 18th-century convent building and the blossoming gardens document the history of the Protestant cloister. In addition there are regular concerts, exhibitions, retreats and seminars. The Cloister cafe is open at weekends.

Höltystraße 1, 31535 Neustadt -Mariensee

Tel.: 05034 / 879 99 00, www.kloster-mariensee.de

– Passenger ships

You can also explore the landscape by water, either on a stylish passenger ship along the rivers Weser and Leine, or the Mittelland canal, on day trips, special trips or afternoon tea trips. Alternatively you can sail along Lake Steinhude in one of the traditional wooden boats often used by the people of Steinhude, that once belonged to Schaumburg-Lippe, 100 years ago.

The Weser fleet: Tel. 05021/919314, www.flotte-weser.de

Mindener Fahrgastschiffahrt GmbH & Co. KG, Sympherstraße 16, 32425 Minden, Tel. 0571 / 648 08 00, www.mifa.com

Steinhuder Personenschifffahrt & Berufssegler GmbH, Meerstraße 2, 31515 Steinhude am Meer, Tel. 05033 / 17 21, www.steinhuder-personenschifffahrt.de

– The Bog Adventure Trail

The bog is a habitat that has equally frightened and fascinated people since time immemorial. The trail leads through dense vegetation along the banks of the dried-up lake all the way to the high-lying bog areas. The stops along the way explain the close relationship between the use and misuse of the bog, and the current measures to preserve this rare stretch of landscape. Between May and October the Nature Park offers guided tours of the bog. Information and reservations at the information point in Mardorf.

Mardorfer Straße 8 B, 31535 Neustadt-Mardorf

Tel: 05036 / 889, www.naturpark-steinhuder-meer.de

– Landestrost Mansion

The mansion is one of the most beautiful houses in the style of the Weser renaissance. It was built by Duke Erich II zu Braunschweig-Lüneburg between 1573 and 1584 as a representative home and administrative headquarters. Today it is owned by the “Kulturregion Foundation”. A large number of events take place in the lavishly restored historic rooms. The sole champagne cellar in Lower Saxony can be found in the vaults of the building. The gardens offer a glorious view of the meadows around the River Leine.

Schlossstraße 1, 31535 Neustadt am Rübenberge

Telefon: 05032 / 899 157, www.schloss-landestrost.de

– Wilhelmstein Island

The small island with a great past is a favourite place for day trippers. Duke Wilhelm zu Schaumburg-Lippe had the island artificially built up in 1761 and built a miniature fort there. The star-shaped citadel was once used as a military school and was also the state prison of the Duchy up until the 19th century. Today it contains the Fort Museum, an information point for the Nature Park, a restaurant and open-air exhibitions. Passenger boats and traditional wooden dinghies travel to the island from Steinhude and Mardorf.

Inselfestung Wilhelmstein

Tel.: 05033 / 14 36, www.wilhelmstein.de

– Steinhude

The fishing village on the banks of Lake Steinhude has a maritime flair. The freshly smoked eel is a well-known regional product that can be directly enjoyed on the waterside. The Steinhude museums contain exhibitions on the traditional way of life of fishermen and weavers. Here you can admire a unique seamless shirt. The Steinhude Insect Museum with its hundreds of colourful butterflies flying freely around the tropical hall is an exotic experience. Visitors can enjoy a glorious stroll along the waterside promenade with views of Wilhelmstein Island. From here they can take a boat or a traditional dinghy to Mardorf or to the island. In addition there are huge number of popular events like the “Fischerkreidag” street festival and the “Festliches Wochenende” firework show.

www.steinhuder-meer.de

– The Steinhude barn quarter

After several fires in the old centre of Steinhude the storage barns were moved to the edge of the village in the 18th century. Thus the barn quarter was created. Today the listed ensemble of timbered houses is a tourist attraction with a cafe, tourist information, small shops, an “art barn” with changing exhibitions, and the Nature Park information centre containing an interactive exhibition on the fascinating flora and fauna in the bog and the EU Meerbruch bird protection area. The virtual boat trip over Lake Steinhude is a very special experience – not only in bad weather. Here you can get the latest tips and find out what guided tours are available in the Nature Park. Regular markets and other events take place in the central square.

Naturpark Infozentrum, Am Graben 3-4, 31515 Steinhude

Tel.: 05033 / 939 134, www.naturpark-steinhuder-meer.de

Tourist-Information Steinhude, Meerstraße 15-19, 31515 Wunstorf-Steinhude

Tel. 05033 / 950 10, steinhude@steinhuder-meer.de

– SeaTree - The Lake Steinhude Adventure Park

The "SeaTree" high rope garden is an exciting, well thought-out adventure for the whole family. An appealing obstacle course with 27 climbing stations in three levels of difficulty and a special parkour for team training offer a variety of learning and personal experiences. Both young and old can test and train their own limits in complete safety.

Warteweg 4, 31535 Neustadt-Mardorf

Telephone 0521/ 329 920 20, www.seatree.de

– Mardorf

The old village centre in the officially recognised health resort is an attractive place to spend some time. Take your choice from the Aloys Bunge square with its ensemble of timbered houses, relax under the oak trees by the village pond, or enjoy a snack in a cosy cafe or restaurant. The shore front is ideal for a stroll and the bathing and surfing beach give the village a maritime flair.

Tourist-Information Mardorf (Aloys-Bunge-Platz), Mardorfer Str. 8b, 31535 Neustadt-Mardorf, Tel. 05036/92121, mardorf@steinhuder-meer.de

– Water and more – the adventure park

The park was created in 2004 and here you can find out everything you want to know about water. There are three areas: “For those thirsty for knowledge”, “For all the senses” and “For health”. Each of them use playful teaching experiments to making more acquainted with water. All ages are guaranteed a lot of fun.

An der Trift, 31515 Wunstorf/Steinhude

Tel.: 05725 / 941 30, www.wasser-nordschaumburg.de/erlebnis

– The old royal mansion at Hagenburg

The 20 stops on the village tour will make you more acquainted with the highlights in the area. These include the mansion that was used for many years as the summer residence of the house of Schaumburg-Lippe. Visitors enter along a boulevard of rhododendrons that stretches for several hundred metres and transforms the route into a sea of pink and lilac during flowering time. A learning path in the Hagenburg bog Garden will enable you to explore the specific bog landscape with its inimitable flora and fauna. Another attraction in the village is the boulder garden. The 23 gigantic geological monuments bear witness to the ice age. From far off you can see the St. Nicolai church with its square-shaped west tower, which offers a panoramic view across Lake Steinhude. The neo-Gothic hall church is a masterpiece designed by the architect, Conrad Wilhelm Hase from Hanover. The furnishings and furbishings in the church date back to the time it was built.

www.hagenburg.de

– Sigward’s Church in Idensen

This church is generally recognised as a Romanic jewel. Its extraordinary and precious mediaeval frescoes are the oldest in the whole German-language region. The Bishop of Minden, Sigward, had the chapel built as his burial church between 1129 and 1134. The storks’ nest on the top of the church tower has been an eye-catcher for many decades.

Brinkstraße 59, 31515 Wunstorf, www.sigwardskirche.de

– Wunstorf

The old village centre is dominated by the church that is linked to a lovingly restored little street known as the Wasserzucht. Starting with the priory, the former residence of the abbess, the ensemble also features the council cellar, the Röbbigs tower and many half timbered houses. It is made additionally attractive by a range of fountains designed by well-known artists. The parish of Wunstorf also contains the Wunstorf airbase where air squadron 62, the largest German air force unit, is based.

Stadt Wunstorf, Südstraße 1, 31515 Wunstorf

Telefon: 05031 / 10 11, www.w tourmaline unstorf.de

– The Landgrafen Thermal Baths in Bad Nenndorf

Simply dive in and leave your troubles behind you. Total relaxation is provided by a thermal salt water bath with indoor and outdoor pools, a large area of sauna baths, the wellness area with a Turkish hammam bath, a Rhassoul bath, a variety of different massages and an illuminated sea salt grotto. A restaurant with an outside terrace and a bistro in the sauna area round off the attractions.

Kurhausstraße 2, 31542 Bad Nenndorf

Tel. 05723 / 702 650
Tel. 05723 / 702 685
Tel. 05723 / 702 552

www.landgrafentherme.de

– The St. Martini church and the Mausoleum

There were several churches in Stadthagen in the Middle Ages, but St. Martini was the parish church, and hence the centre of religious life. The church and its tower were built in 1318. Today’s three-aisled gothic hall church and its extensions were erected over a number of different mediaeval building periods.

Directly behind the choir of the St. Martini church on a seven-cornered site stands the mausoleum of Prince Ernst zu Holstein-Schaumburg, which is linked to the church by a short path. From 1625 onwards this is where the Schaumburg lords buried their relatives until the new mausoleum in Bückeburg was completed in 1916. The tomb monument, on which the resurrected Christ stands over the sleeping guards, was created between 1618 and 1624 by the sculptor Adrian de Vries in his workshop in Prague. This internationally important work, a total work of art featuring architecture, painting and sculpture, remains unchanged to the present day.

Am Kirchhof 3, 31655 Stadthagen

Telefon 05721 / 934 242, www.stadthagen.de

– Wilhelm Busch’s birthplace

The 200 year-old farmhouse where Wilhelm Busch (he was the oldest of seven children) first saw the light of day in 1832 now houses a museum. The interactive exhibition containing the rooms where he spent his childhood, as well as letters, photos, sketches and original paintings, gives a fascinating insight into the artist’s life. He lived in the peaceful solitude of his home village for more than forty years. This is where he wrote most of his illustrated stories and completed a major painting.

Hauptstraße 68a, 31719 Wiedensahl

Tel.: 05726 / 388, www.wilhelm-busch-geburtshaus.de

– Loccum Abbey

This imposing building is one of the most important Cistercian abbeys north of the Alps: it was built in 1163 and contains a late Romanic church, a cloister, an impressive gatehouse and various service buildings. The Abbey is well worth a visit because it is also a Protestant seminary belonging to the Lutheran Church of Hanover, a religious site, a cultural centre and the starting point for a pilgrim trail.

Im Kloster, 31547 Rehburg-Loccum

Tel.: 05766 / 960 20, www.kloster-loccum.de

– The Dino Park in Münchehagen

Eye to eye with Tyrannosaurus rex. The Münchehagen Open-Air Museum is German’s largest scientific adventure theme park. 230 lifelike reconstructions of dinosaurs can be found along the 2½ kilometre long evolution trail. They give visitors an impressive insight into the life of these prehistoric gigantic animals that left the footprints here over 140,000,000 years ago. The “Saurierfährten” Nature Monument displays over 300 fossilised vestiges.

Alte Zollstr. 5, 31547 Rehburg-Loccum/ OT Münchehagen

Tel. 05037 / 969 99 90, www.dinopark.de

– Romantic Bad Rehburg

Bad Rehburg was once known to its aristocratic guests as the “Madeira of the North”. The old spa resort is a unique architectural and cultural monument from the Romantic age. Here visitors can experience culture in a Royal atmosphere in the pump room, the bathhouse with its museum and the Friederike Chapel. It is well worth taking a look at the large programme of different events. The repertoire ranges from spa concerts via temporary exhibitions and readings, all the way to jazz shows. If you simply prefer the natural surroundings you can take a stroll through the extensive park, just as the members of the Royal house of Hanover used to do.

Friedrich-Stolberg-Allee 4, 31547 Rehburg-Loccum/OT Bad Rehburg

Tel. 05037 / 300 060, www.badrehburg.de

– The Meerbruch

You can hear noisy concerts of frogs and see impressive flocks of birds in this extensive area of wet meadows. Waterfowl and waders have found ideal living conditions between the shallow quiet waters. In autumn and springtime thousands of migratory birds find a temporary place to stay in the marshy lake where they offer a spectacular natural show that can be best observed from the viewing towers. This is also the hunting ground of the sea eagle. The Lake Steinhude Ecological Preservation Station (ÖSSM) is actively engaged in nature protection. Visitors can learn more about the Meerbruch habitat in the garden and on guided tours.

Naturpark, www.naturpark-steinhuder-meer.de

ÖSSM, Hagenburger Straße 16, 31547 Rehburg-Loccum, Tel. 05037/967-0

www.oessm.org

– Bückeburg castle

A journey back in time through seven centuries. A guided tour will provide you with an unforgettable impression of historic splendour and court life. The Castle Park is designed in an English landscape style and contains an impressive number of trees. At the edge of the park you can find the burial places of the Royal house of Schaumburg-Lippe. The golden mosaic in the cupola of the mausoleum is 500m² in size, the largest in Europe.

Schlossplatz 1, 31675 Bückeburg

Tel: 05722 / 50 39, www.schloss-bueckeburg.de

– The Court Riding Academy-Baroque Equestrianism

In the 18th century the Court Riding Academy was one of the most important equestrian centres in Europe. Today the old Equestrian House offers visitors over 250 shows of princely equestrianism, enlivened by classical music and baroque costumes, and celebrated by proud and fascinatingly graceful stallions. A tour of the Marstallmuseum and the old stables will give you some fascinating background information as well as a close-up view of the horses.

Schloßplatz 7B, 31675 Bückeburg

Tel: 05722 / 898 350, www.hofreitschule.de