Jun 30, 2009, 11:44 GMT
Quakenbrueck, Germany - The Hase River meanders through the countryside north of the German city of Osnabruck. A smallish stream, it rises in the Teutoburg Forest and joins the Ems River in the town of Meppen. Along the way it flows through pastures and rapeseed fields, passing many large farms and several towns including Bramsche and Herzlake.
Cyclists can hardly go wrong in the Hase Valley. All they have to do is follow the river -- for example on a Hase-Ems tour, which they can take from Osnabruck to Herzlake as well as to Meppen or the city of Rheine.
The Hase introduces itself within Osnabruck's city limits, where it suddenly appears behind a bend on its course westward. The generally flat landscape in the Hase Valley is made to order for a leisurely bike ride, smelling the fields of rapeseed and watching rabbits hop over the pastures.
The tour is rarely uphill. Practically the only incline between Osnabruck and Bramsche is one measuring several metres on the bridge across the Zweig Canal.
Once famous for its fabrics, Bramsche is worth a stop simply to see the Clothmakers Museum. 'The clothmaker guild existed as early as the 16th century,' says the museum's curator, Kerstin Schumann. Some 150 master clothmakers worked in Bramsche around the year 1824.
The museum tells the clothmakers' story and shows how cloth used to be made -- with a blending willow to loosen the sheep's wool, for example, and a large spinning machine with 280 spindles making the yarn.
Then it is off to the town of Bersenbrueck. The tour soon comes to another stop, however, because in the village of Rieste is an attractive little cafe in a half-timbered house built in the 17th century. The cafe is run by 71-year-old Gerda Rohde, who serves homemade plum tarts, apple pie and strawberry cake. It is an ideal rest stop before continuing on to Bersenbrueck.
The region traversed by the Hase includes the Artland. It is renowned for its farmsteads, many of them hundreds of years old with impressive half-timbered facades. Here the soil is good and the farmers were once wealthy, which shows in villages like Gehrde and Bad Bergen. Some of the farmsteads rent out holiday apartments to tourists.
It does not take long to reach the town of Quakenbrueck. Several arms of the Hase flow through it before they rejoin. Home of the Artland Dragons, a basketball team in Germany's top league, Quakenbrueck is rather small but has a huge marketplace. In the middle of the marketplace is a fountain in the shape of an oversized bull's head.
There are also a number of half-timbered buildings in Quakenbrueck, one of which houses the municipal museum. Nearby is the town hall and a Catholic church. In this respect, too, the Hase Valley shows diversity. Unlike many towns in the region, Quakenbrueck is predominantly Protestant.
Your Talkback on this Story