On the way on the Niesetalweg – art and history in the Teutoburg Forest

The start of the Niesetalweg was Schwalenberg, where you can easily park your car 😉 The Niesetalweg, which is always well signposted, starts directly in Schwalenberg's beautiful market street with its great half-timbered houses 🤩 The path up to the castle and further through forests and meadows. Sometimes you cross a street, only to be back in nature again. The path is often just a path, but is always easy to see. But you should wear waterproof shoes on dewy days, otherwise your feet will get wet 👣 😉. There are always beautiful views, including the Köterberg. When you arrive in Marienmünster, you should take the time to pay a visit to the abbey. Or you can stop off at the Klosterkrug to fortify yourself (as long as you're not on vacation 🙈). The remaining kilometers now lead mainly between fields and up to Schwalenberg again. Here too, various restaurants invite you to finish your hike 😃

We walked the path in the opposite direction - so there was pizza in Schwalenberg at noon. Disadvantage: In the end it was the shorter part with 8 kilometers, but I personally liked the first part better (15 kilometers). Next time I would do the path again in the recommended direction. ☺️

Yesterday the Niesetalweg was on our plan - a 25 km long quality hiking trail that connects Münsterbrock, Schwalenberg and Kollerbeck ☺️ We started at the free parking lot of the Marienmünster Abbey, this is also where the official entrance is, clockwise. 😊 The Niesetalweg is known for its varied hiking trails and yes, we can confirm that. 🥰 Simple dirt roads, short asphalted stretches, narrow forest paths, great paths along meadows, small stream crossings, magnificent views and always with a decent amount of altitude, some of which were quite tough 🥵🙈 You're pretty out of practice when you because of the wet weather, couldn't go on a big tour for more than four weeks.. 🫣 We were particularly impressed by the little town of Schwalenberg! 🥺 If you love half-timbered houses, small alleys and cobblestones, you've come to the right place! 😍 The way up towards the castle was also super nice. With the stairs, the narrow path up and the view of the roofs of the city, all three of us had a déjà vu: Stolberg in the Harz Mountains! 🤩 Aaund: the tourist information was open, which is why I stocked up on new information material 🫶🏼 Another highlight: picking fresh wild berries, mhhm! 🤤 The blackberries were super delicious! 👌🏼 However, what we didn't like was that there were now and then (estimated 5-6 pieces) sections of track that were overgrown. For an officially signposted path, a quality hiking trail borderline! 😬 And the signage was also questionable. Sometimes signs were completely missing (probably unscrewed), overgrown or simply no longer available because the Baim didn't survive the last storm. 🤷🏼‍♀️ After seven hours we were back at the parking lot and strengthened ourselves again directly in the restaurant of the abbey 💪🏼🤤

Today we hiked in the middle of the Teutoburg Forest and Weserbergland region in Ostwestfalen-Lippe. We started in the beautiful, historic half-timbered town of Schwalenberg. Here childhood memories come to life for me and when you walk through the town, the breath of bygone times still seems to be blowing through the many winding streets with the half-timbered houses. Fountains splash on the roadsides and if you come up to the Schwalenberger Castle, you have a great view of the surrounding landscape from the height. We hiked on the "Niesetalweg" which connects the two historic towns of Schwalenberg and Marienmünster. This hiking trail is named after the Niesebach, which has its source on the Köterberg and flows into the Emmer near Schieder. The path is not well signposted in all places. There's room for improvement here. He himself constantly switches between forest, fields and meadows. That's great. Mostly narrow paths and close to nature. Great deciduous forests with huge old trees. Constantly chirping birds. Almost pure nature. A recommended stopover is the beer garden at the Marienmünster Abbey. But be careful, it only opens at 5 p.m. Unfortunately, we were too early - but the backpack still gave a lot. Strengthened, it went mostly between meadows and fields, back to the starting point. At the end of the day a wonderful Dutch pot with suitable drinks. (Thanks Ulli and Birgit)

Once again a day off and, fittingly, the best hiking weather: sunny, but not too warm, and a wind speed of "light breeze". For our hike, we chose the Niesetalweg: a well-signposted loop that we had already partially completed a few years ago. This time, we started from Marienmünster Abbey and walked the circular route counter-clockwise. Unfortunately, the first 4 kilometers of the original route are exclusively on asphalt. Probably, the renovation work on the farm tracks (new asphalt surface and verges) had been completed a few days before our tour. In several places, barriers were pushed aside, and at junctions (e.g., near Born), we found signs indicating a changed route for the hiking trail due to the construction work. This alternative would probably have been a bit more interesting than the long, asphalted straight sections. Nevertheless, we had a wide view towards the Niese lowlands. A nice change is the village of Born, nicely maintained by its residents, with some original buildings and imaginative garden design. The turn-off to cross the Niese is not easy to find at all. There is no sign at the turn-off from the eternal asphalt, and you have to find your way across a meadow towards the bridge more or less on your own. The path becomes a bit more challenging when crossing Dohlenberg and becomes really interesting in the beautiful historic town center of Schwalenberg. One gets thoroughly worked up again during the ascent to Schwalenberg Castle and the subsequent repeated crossing of Dohlenberg. In general, we had the feeling that more than two-thirds of the ascents on the entire route are located in the vicinity of Schwalenberg. But the efforts also have their good side: you have magnificent views of the town and the surrounding area. Further on, after passing through a shady beech forest, you reach a panoramic path located on the edge of the forest above Kollerbeck, from which you have a wonderful view of the village, the Niese meadows, and also the Köterberg. After crossing the Niese meadows, you climb up near Papenhöfen to the beautiful Hellbergpfad. We timed our tour well and had plenty of blooming Corydalis and primroses along the wayside. In a wide arc, you walk around Oldenburg. The castle of the same name, located there, can be seen from a distance now and then. Finally, we returned via forest paths to the starting point of the tour, Marienmünster Abbey. We took a closer look at its grounds during a final tour, which is why we ended up with about 1 km more on the clock than the actual length of the Niesetal-Wanderweg.

Absolutely amazing discovery, the trail is a real highlight! We started at the abbey so we could be in Schwalenberg for lunch. We ended up driving around quite a bit because I couldn't stomach the food 😬🫣 So, it's better to use an official trail to follow! I highly recommend this trail; along with the viaduct trail in Altenbeken, it's an absolute highlight for me!

A wonderful round. We particularly liked the small detour to Schwalenberg (which you could simply skip if the route was shortened). If you like to stop off during the hike, it is recommended that you walk the tour counter-clockwise. Then you can eat something in one of the many restaurants in Schwalenberg and then you don't have more than 2/3 of the way to go 😉 In a general description of the path, reference is made to a fallen tree in connection with the closure of the path. In the meantime, however, the tree has been removed and you can walk the path as normal without any detours.

Today I explored a new part of the Lipperland region 😃 a truly wonderful "field-forest-meadow trail." It has everything from wide to narrow paths. ☺ I wish I had a lawn trimmer handy on some of the narrow paths. 🤣 The view of the surrounding landscape was fantastic. With the cow pastures, I felt like I was in the Allgäu. 😍