Grenzgängerroute Teuto-Ems

You can enjoy every single kilometer of the Teuto-Ems cross-border route without borders today: discover castles and palaces, feast on asparagus and ham and experience twelve historic towns and villages in Osnabrücker Land, Ostwestfalen-Lippe and Münsterland. You will cross historical borders several times and follow old smugglers' trails and trade routes.

In the past, people here could by no means travel without borders. Today, for example, you can whizz from Versmold to Bad Laer on the border crossing route in no time at all, as the communities on the southern slope of the Teutoburg Forest are neighbors. However, it wasn't until 1880 that a road connected the kingdoms of Hanover and Prussia at this point. Smugglers, however, had long known other ways of secretly transporting the precious Bad Rothenfeld salt "duty-free" to Westphalia, where it was used to refine the aromatic hams - still a delicious accompaniment to Glandorf and Füchtorf asparagus today.

The old border lines are marked by fortifications such as the striking hilltop castle above Bad Iburg. The 1,000-year-old fortress was later expanded into the baroque residence of the Osnabrück prince-bishops and is now a place of culture and historical experience. Bad Laer, now a relaxing spa town with an idyllic spa park, was also one of the diocese's border fortresses. When danger threatened, the citizens took refuge in the Griesen Torn, the early Romanesque church tower of St. Marien.
In the "neighboring countries" you will discover more defensive buildings. For example, the Loburg moated castle in Ostbevern and the extraordinary Harkotten double castle complex in Füchtorf. The older of the two manor houses has a baroque façade and haunted legends surrounding the image of the "White Lady". The younger one is built in a neoclassical style and has not yet been haunted.

Ghosts and crooks, horror stories and smugglers' adventures, historical and amusing tales: all the legends and stories of the Border Crossers Route are spun around the old border triangle, where today only two countries meet in the middle of forests, asparagus and strawberry fields: Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia. The county of Ravensberg and the prince-bishoprics of Osnabrück and Münster once clashed here, and later the kingdoms of Prussia and Hanover. But as I said: today you can enjoy the region without borders on the cross-border route.

More information about the Teuto-Ems  border Crossing Route can be found on the homepage.