NORDPFAD Vörder See - Osteland

Our hike starts at the Giant Egg parking lot, one of the parking lots of the Nature and Adventure Park at Vörder See, the "green  nen jewel" of the town of Bremervörde. From here, you walk through the rhododendron garden to the Sailor in Lake Vörder See. The sculpture in the lake is one of several works of art in the Sculpture Meadow and was created by artist Jonas Kötz from a former dolphin from the port of Hamburg.

We follow the lakeside promenade to the fork in the path. If you like, you can take a detour to the Haus am See, a courtyard complex rebuilt in 1860 with a restaurant, beer garden and apothecary and farmer's garden. In addition, the World of the Senses invites you to gain playful insights and sensory experiences into the secrets and laws of nature.

The NORDPFAD now leads past a playground and the interesting "Tree of the Year" area.We walk on, leaving the lake stage and barbecue area behind us, enjoying the quieter section of Lake Vörder until we leave it and catch sight of the extensive Fresenburgsmoor. On the grass verge next to the tarmac field path and accompanied by the moor canal, we now walk through the tranquillity of the extensive meadow landscape.

On arrival at the Fresenburg Canal, we cross it over a small bridge and shortly afterwards walk through an idyllic little wood. After around 1 km, we reach Nieder Ochtenhausen with the historic granary. The granary, which dates back to the 18th century, is around 18 m long and 12 m wide and has three floors with large grain storage lofts above the first floor. There is also a shed with old agricultural equipment on the site.

From Nieder Ochtenhausen, we walk through an open marshland landscape to the Ostedeich. We follow the Oste upstream and walk along the top of the dyke to the Vörder See viewing tower, also known as the Ostewiesen viewing tower. The roofed tower invites you to take a break and offers a view of parts of Lake Vörder See and the Osteland. Continue along the top of the dyke to the jetty. Here we leave the dyke and follow the Oste along the paved footpath and cycle path. A short time later, we reach the Bremervörde harbour, where there are excellent restaurants and shops nearby.

From the harbour, we walk through a pedestrian tunnel to the park at the district hall. Over 200 impressive trees from different countries can be seen here. We walk along the Kreishaus until we reach the Bachmann Museum on the opposite side. The 400-year-old building and the moats, some of which are still clearly visible, bear witness to Bremervörde's former importance as the seat of the Bremen archbishops from 1218. (Important note: Due to extensive renovation work, the Bachmann Museum exhibition is currently closed to visitors. During the renovation, the Bachmann Museum is offering a series of events and educational programs on the life of people in the Middle Stone Age in the Stone Age camp for school classes and children's birthday parties.)

If you like, you can relax by the ponds in the museum park before heading back to the Oste through the Auepark. Fallow grassland, shallow water areas with reed beds and alder forests form a charming landscape on the banks of the upper Oste, which is very different to the diked lower Oste. If we are very lucky, we may even spot a kingfisher. We walk under the railroad bridge and finally reach the Ostetalbrücke via a narrow path.

After the bridge, the landscape changes as the path now leads through the Vorwerk forest. Once at the edge of the forest, the Vorwerk viewing platform offers a good place to take a break before we continue along soft, shady forest paths and cross an ungated level crossing.

Passing the old forester's lodge, we reach Bremervörde again. Cross the wooden Vorwerkbrücke bridge a second time over the Oste and back to the Bachmann Museum. We keep to the right, pass the Kreishauspark, pedestrian tunnel and Bremervörder Hafen again until we are back at Lake Vörder. We follow the lakeside path towards Seemann. Along the way, the rose garden, water play area, exercise trail, mini and disc golf course, pedal boat hire and rhododendron garden invite explorers of all ages to take a break before returning to the Seemann in Vörder See and the Giant Egg. From there, a detour leads to Bremervörde's city center with pedestrian zone and the Bremervörder Bahnhof.

Variants
For those who don't want to hike that far, the following variants are available:

• Variant 1 - Vörder See-Tour (4.0 km, approx.1 1/4  hour):
  Start at the RiesenEi, walk around Lake Vörder and enjoy the nature and adventure park with all its attractions.
  
  
• Variant 2 - North Tour (13.7 km, approx. 4 1/2  hours):
  This tour takes you from RiesenEi to Nieder Ochtenhausen, along the Ostedeich dyke to the crossroads, where you continue to Bremervörder Hafen harbour or to the Seemann in Vörder See lake. Follow the latter route and return to the starting point at Lake Vörder.
• Variant 3 - South Tour (5.1 km, approx. 1 3/4  hours):
  From the Bachmann Museum, you walk through the Auepark to the Ostetalbrücke bridge and from there via Forst Vorwerk and Vorwerkbrücke bridge back to the starting point.
  
  

Disturbance reports
Before your walk, find out about possible detour and path disruptions caused by storm damage or flooding, for example, on www.nordpfade.de may occur.

Markierungszeichen
Das Markierungszeichen zeigt ein weißes „N“ auf orangem Grund mit dem Namen des NORDPFADES Vörder See-Osteland. 

Beschilderung
Zielwegweiser ergänzen die Markierung und sind an markanten Stellen platziert. Auf den Wegweisern sind Orte aufgeführt, die sich auf der Strecke befinden oder von dort abzweigen, samt den Entfernungskilometern. Unterhalb befindet sich das Logo des jeweiligen NORDPFADES.

It is around 50 minutes by car from the A1 and A27 highways to the starting points, each of which has an information board and parking facilities. 

• Starting point 1: 27432 Bremervörde, RiesenEi im Natur- und Erlebnispark am Vörder See, Huddelberg
• Starting point 2: 27432 Nieder Ochtenhausen, Historischer Kornspeicher, Mühlheimer Str. 11
• Starting point 3: 27432 Bremervörde, Bachmann-Museum, Amtsallee 8
  

There are two parking options available at the NORDPFAD. The respective starting points can also be found there.

• Parking lot 1: 27432 Bremervörde, RiesenEi im Natur- und Erlebnispark am Vörder See, Huddelberg
  
• Parking lot 2: 27432 Nieder Ochtenhausen, Historischer Kornspeicher, Mühlheimer Str. 1
  
• Parking lot 3: 27432 Bremervörde, Bachmann-Museum, Amtsallee 8. The neighboring parking lot of the Kreishaus can also be used. In addition, free parking is available at Bremervörde train station, which is within walking distance
  

Komoot
In der bekannten Outdoor-App haben wir alle 24 Rundwanderwege in einer eigenen NORDPFADE-Collection zusammengestellt. Die Touren sind auch im Portal unter der Region "Nördliche Heide" zu finden.

Noch nicht auf Komoot?
Für Neukunden gibt es einen kostenfreien Gutschein-Code.Der Code lautet ROW und kann über "Gutscheinn einlösen" auf komoot.de/g oder unter dem Link https://komoot.com/de-de/g?code=ROW eingelöst werden.

Die folgenden Prospekte sind kostenfrei in den örtlichen Touristinfos und unter Prospektbestellung erhältlich. Dort stehen sie auch als Download zur Verfügung. 

• NORDPFADE-Tourenbegleiter
  Die kleine Broschüre enthält alles Wissenswerte zur Wanderregion.


• NORDPFADE-Übersichtskarte
  Das handliche Faltblatt ist die kleine Planungsgrundlage für Umweltbewusste.
  
  
• NORDPFADE-Wanderpass
  Die stempelfreie Variante für Sammler.

Zudem gibt es ein Taschenbuch das der Editon Temmenverlag herausgebracht hat. Ein amüsant geschriebener "WanderVERführer" von Lucia Gefken, die ihrem Alltag entflieht und zu wandern beginnt.

• Meine NORDPFADE 
  Oder: "Es muss ja nicht immer der Jakobsweg sein!"