Enjoy the Teutoburgerwald, Germany
Half-timbered houses, winding roads and yellow rapeseed fields in a rolling hilly landscape: the Teutoburgerwald immediately gives you a foreign feeling. Camping in the land of the Pied Piper of Hamelin.
Rat plague in Hamelin
They were everywhere, eating everything and multiplying like… rats. The year is 1284 when the German town of Hamelin is infested by rats and mice. Until a shabbily dressed gentleman at the town hall announces that he can rid the city of the rat plague once and for all. This makes the mayor laugh and in a funny mood he promises the Pied Piper the enormous sum of a hundred gold ducats if he succeeds.
Happy end?
The story is well known: with a song on his flute, the Pied Piper lures all the vermin to the Weser, where they drown in the river. When the mayor refuses to pay, the Pied Piper repeats the trick, but: with the children of Hamelin, the 130 boys and girls were never heard from again... So no happy ending for the residents - that only came very much later. Because now the legend attracts tens of thousands of tourists every year to the city, where inscriptions in centuries-old half-timbered houses confirm the story of the Pied Piper saga. In summer, the legend of the is re-enacted every Sunday on the market square of Hamelin. And on Wednesdays there is a nice musical about it.
Beautiful in Teutoburgerwald: Extersteine
Highly recommended in Teutoburgerwald: the Hermannsdenkmal, a kind of statue of liberty near Detmold, hidden in the greenery. The 53-meter-high statue pays tribute to General Hermann, who trapped and defeated advancing Romans at that location. Nearby you can also marvel at a special natural phenomenon at Externsteine. This is a 120 million year old rock formation that was pushed up from the otherwise flat earth's surface by shifting tectonic plates. It is almost Disney-like: a row of enormous Obelisks rising from the lawn. In prehistoric times people even lived there, you have to see it to believe it.
Beautiful ancient environment
It has been private property of the Von Klencke family for almost six hundred years: Schloss Hämelschenburg in Emmenthal, a stately castle on the spot where a pilgrim route used to pass. The castle is open to the public and this also applies to the surrounding park - with funerary pyramid -, the associated church, stables, barns and an old forge. And don't forget: the beer garden in the castle courtyard - here you really feel like you're back in the Middle Ages. And because the River Weser is not far away, you can of course tie the bikes to the car. Because the cycle path along the river at Höxter is one of the most beautiful routes in the region.
Half-timbered houses and schnitzels
If you are looking for special half-timbered houses, you should definitely make a stop in the village of Schwalenberg, a kind of open-light museum where you can stroll through narrow cobblestone streets. The wooden frames of the half-timbered houses are richly decorated with paintings and inscriptions. Not one of the half-timbered houses is the same and they almost seem to fall over - so the facades remained sheltered from the weather. Another lunch tip: Paradiesmühle in the village of Rischenau. In this converted mill you can enjoy a delicious meal in the courtyard. With free-roaming peacocks in the Biergarten. Keep an eye on them, because they will take something off your plate...
About the campsite
Ferienpark Teutoburgerwald is a beautiful, small campsite under Dutch management. There are about a hundred pitches under old oak trees and you can walk to the town of Barntrup in a few minutes. A huge walnut tree on the campsite provides buckets full of walnuts every year. Perfect sanitary facilities, WiFi and fully equipped glamping tents are available for rent. Dutch-language animation in high season. Tip: the giant schnitzels from the Zum Raben restaurant in Barntrup, within walking distance of the campsite. As big as a Persian rug.
That's how you get there
From Utrecht take the A28, A1 and A30 towards Osnabrück. At exit 28 (Hiddenhausen) take the B239 towards Bad Salzuflen and Lemgo. Then follow the signs to Barntrup. Follow the camping signs in the town. Campsite address: Badeanstaltsweg 4, D-32683 Barntrup.
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