Top 20 Natural Monuments around Melle

The Teuto - always worth a hike.

Just above Gesmold, the Hase forms a bifurcation. Here, the Else branches off from the Hase, causing around 2/3 of its water to flow into the Weser river system. It is still not clear whether this branch was artificially created to supply more water to the watermills of Gesmold Castle. A great environmental education site has been developed at the bifurcation since 2000. And there is also more information at the Terra Tip Bifurcation. Bifurcation Day takes place here every year on the first Sunday in May. Cyclists, families and nature lovers meet for an exciting festival with environmental education activities, concerts and delicacies. The extensive pastures around this striking place are grazed extensively and serve as a refuge for meadow birds such as lapwings, skylarks and also grass frogs.

High up along the ridge path, the landscape changes from typical deciduous forest to beautiful heathland: Enjoy one of the last natural occurrences of fragrant juniper heath here.

The local juniper plants used to be the basis of the world-famous schnapps production in Steinhagen. Today there is only a small remnant on the ridge path of the Teutoburg Forest. In Steinhagen there are still numerous field names (including Deterts Heide, Hasenheide, Voßheide), which are reminiscent of the poor sandy soil and the time when the juniper heaths almost reached the village. In general, the slopes of the Teutoburg Forest used to be completely heathed - heathland was still to be found along the Hermannsweg in the first half of the 20th century. The juniper is a cypress plant that is widespread in Europe and North America in many species. Special abilities were ascribed to juniper as early as Germanic mythology and medieval popular belief. It should offer protection against magic and evil spirits and drive away the plague. The "berries" contain a lot of sugar and have been used in a variety of ways for centuries, for example as a kitchen spice or in game dishes. Even if the beginnings of the juniper distillery in Steinhagen are in the dark, a drink made from juniper berries is said to have been produced in the area as early as the late Middle Ages. Based on the knowledge gained over the following centuries, the farmers then initially produced juniper brandy for their own use. Source: https://www.teutonavigator.de/de/teutonavigator/streaming/detail/POI/p_100077797/wacholderheiden-am-petersberg-wanderwege-steinhagen

A bifurcation (fork) is the natural division of a river, in which one of the resulting branches does not reunite with the other, but moves on independently and connects with a foreign river. It occurs on plains where the watershed is very shallow and barely noticeable and represents a rare geographic feature.

The Teutoburg Forest is a to 446.4 m above sea level. NHN high low mountain range in the Lower Saxony highlands. It is now in Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia and stretches from the Tecklenburger Land past Osnabrück and through Bielefeld to Horn-Bad Meinberg in the southeast. Until the 17th century, the mountain range with the Eggegebirge to the south-east was called Osning and is sometimes still called that today. The Teutoburg Forest is known nationally above all for the Varus Battle (also known as the Hermannsschlacht or Battle in the Teutoburg Forest) between Romans and Germans in 9 AD. Tourist attractions include the Hermann Monument, the Externsteine and the Dörenther Cliffs. The highest mountain is the Barnacken. In addition, it is the longest ridge in Germany. (Source: Wikipedia)

A little break is mandatory here 💚

There, in the very early spring, a special natural spectacle takes place when the short but magnificent flowering of the liverwort begins. More than a million of these warmth-loving plants then illuminate the still barren forest and its soil, which at this time is still leafless and without flowers waiting for spring.