Romantic heath views and an open-air museum with typical heath farms round off the tour.
Special features on this tour:
Aller, Oertze and Meisse
Surrounded by rivers
Although the 260 km long Aller was straightened considerably to make it navigable, some natural areas have been preserved. They include Hornbosteler Hutweide, a cultural landscape characterised by grazing.
The 62 km long River Oertze converges with the River Aller in Winsen. The poet Hermann Loens called it the "most genuine river of the heath". You may well agree when you see the meandering, natural river. The summer-cold, clear river offers brown trout and crayfish a habitat.
Experience the beauty of the Aller and Oertze rivers on a paddling tour. Attention: only the 38.5 km long route between Müden (Oertze) and Winsen (Aller) on the River Oertze is open to canoeists (navigable from 16 May to 14 October when water levels allow).
The water of the 42 km long Meisse feeds the Meissendorf ponds. Its former widely branched catchment area has been significantly altered by drainage ditches. The Upper Drebber at Wolthausen is one of these trenches.
Meissendorf ponds and Bannetz Moor
Sea eagle in sight
The Meissendorf Ponds and Bannetze Moor to the south incorporate 350 hectares of water surface, making this area the largest aquatic landscape of Lueneburg Heath.
Great crested grebe, goldeneye and cormorant are omnipresent. With a little luck, you can also see white-tailed eagles and cranes. The area is also a paradise for the rare otter as well as for dragonflies and butterflies.
In the past, the ponds were intensively used for fish farming, but today the focus is on nature conservation. In 1948, wildlife filmmaker Heinz Sielmann documented the fascinating beauty of the ponds in his first feature film. The NABU has set up a nature experience center with seminars at Gut Sunder manor. The interactive "wild animal" exhibition focuses on film footage of the animals living here.
Museum court Winsen
Old heath farms rebuilt
You can admire typical farmhouses from the 17th to the 20th century at Museum Farm Winsen.
Realised largely at the initiative of the museum association, typical buildings - from dwelling houses to barns to pigsties and granaries – have been removed in different places of the south heath and rebuilt here since 1982.
The houses are used as a museum, café, restaurant, as outlets for regional products and cultural event venues.
Many open-air events take place from Easter on. For further information visit: www.winser-heimatverein.de