Leine-Heide Cycle Path
Encyclopedia
The Leine-Heide Cycle Path is a long-distance cycle path in Germany that has a total length of 410 kilometres (254.8 mi) and runs through the German federal states of Thuringia
, Lower Saxony
and Hamburg
. Until 2009 it was called the Leine Cycle Path after the River Leine and ended north of the river's confluence with the Aller
in Hodenhagen.
, Göttingen
, Northeim
, Einbeck
, Kreiensen
, Freden (Leine) Alfeld, Gronau, Sarstedt
, Hanover
, Neustadt am Rübenberge
, Schwarmstedt
, Walsrode
, Soltau
, Schneverdingen
, Buchholz in der Nordheide
.
and ends in Hamburg's old town (Altstadt
). It follows the course of the Leine usually at a distance of a few hundred metres; in several places it runs immediately alongside the river. As a result the path has few inclines. After the Leine discharges into the Aller
the route follows the course of the Aller and then swings east near Ahlden. After crossing the Aller it runs through the Lüneburg Heath
to Hamburg.
with the Lüneburg Heath and the Hanseatic city of Hamburg.
s and small towns, some with historic buildings are characteristic of this thousand-year old cultural landscape
.
The route passes through the gently rolling river landscape, crosses the old Inner German Border near Besenhausen Manor and runs to the Friedland Border Camp. Around 20 km further north the path reaches the university town of Göttingen
with its many point of interest. The castle of Plesse
near Bovenden
has a wide view from its tower.
Beyound the timber-framed town of Northeim
is the Northeim Lake District (Northeimer Seenplatte) with its European bird reserve. Shortly thereafter the path reaches Einbeck
with its very well-preserved medieval centre with richly decorated timber-framed houses. Further north it enters the densely wooded region of Hildesheim. From here there are frequent views of the Leine valley. From the collective municipality of Freden (Leine) paths lead to the Radweg der Kunst ("Cycle path of Art") and to Hildesheim. Between Kreiensen and Freden ((Leine) the path passes the pumped storage station of Erzhausen and there is a wonderful view of the Selter and its crags . Othe sights en route include the timber-framed towns of Alfeld and Gronau between the Seven Hills
(Sieben Bergen). In the Fagus Factory
in Alfeld, built by Walter Gropius
in the Bauhaus
style, there are changing exhibitions.
Somewhat further north is the castle of Marienburg, built in the middle of the 19th century in the neogothic style. The route then continues on into the North German Plain
through the water meadows of the Leine to Hanover
.
and through the river landscape of the Aller-Leine valley
with its meadows, woods and bogs. In Bothmer and Ahlden there are castles by the side of the path.
In the Lüneburg Heath, the fields, meadows and small woods are exchanged for the heathlands typical of this region. The path passes Walsrode
and well-known heath resorts like Schneverdingen
or Wilsede. The finish of the route is the Hanseatic city of Hamburg.
At Einbeck it crosses the R1 European long distance cycle route.
Thuringia
The Free State of Thuringia is a state of Germany, located in the central part of the country.It has an area of and 2.29 million inhabitants, making it the sixth smallest by area and the fifth smallest by population of Germany's sixteen states....
, Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony is a German state situated in north-western Germany and is second in area and fourth in population among the sixteen states of Germany...
and Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
. Until 2009 it was called the Leine Cycle Path after the River Leine and ended north of the river's confluence with the Aller
Aller
The Aller is a river, long, in the states of Saxony-Anhalt and Lower Saxony in Germany. It is a right-hand, and hence eastern, tributary of the River Weser and is also its largest tributary. Its last form the Lower Aller federal waterway...
in Hodenhagen.
Brief description
The cycle path starts in Leinefelde (Thuringia) and ends in the city of Hamburg, passing through the following places: HeiligenstadtHeilbad Heiligenstadt
Heilbad Heiligenstadt is a spa town in Thuringia, Germany. It is the capital of the Eichsfeld district.-Geography:Heiligenstadt is approximately 14 km east of the tripoint where the states of Thuringia, Hesse and Lower Saxony meet...
, Göttingen
Göttingen
Göttingen is a university town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Göttingen. The Leine river runs through the town. In 2006 the population was 129,686.-General information:...
, Northeim
Northeim
Northeim is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany, seat of the district of Northeim, with, as of 2002, a population of 31 000. It's located on the German Half-Timbered House Road.-History:...
, Einbeck
Einbeck
Einbeck is a town in the district Northeim, in southern Lower Saxony, Germany. It is located on the German Timber-Frame Road.-Economy:Einbeck is famous for its 600 year old beer brewery, home of Einbecker Bier, the origin for the term Bock beer...
, Kreiensen
Kreiensen
Kreiensen is a municipality in the district of Northeim, in Lower Saxony, Germany.-Geography:Kreiensen is situated on the river Leine, approx. 20 km north of Northeim, and 35 km south of Hildesheim....
, Freden (Leine) Alfeld, Gronau, Sarstedt
Sarstedt
Sarstedt is a town in the district of Hildesheim, Lower Saxony, Germany. It has around 17,800 inhabitants. Sarstedt is close to Hanover.The GEO 600 gravitational wave detector is located nearby....
, Hanover
Hanover
Hanover or Hannover, on the river Leine, is the capital of the federal state of Lower Saxony , Germany and was once by personal union the family seat of the Hanoverian Kings of Great Britain, under their title as the dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg...
, Neustadt am Rübenberge
Neustadt am Rübenberge
Neustadt am Rübenberge is a town in the district of Hanover, in Lower Saxony, Germany. At 357 km², it is the 9th largest settlement in Germany by area , though only about 45,000 inhabitants live there...
, Schwarmstedt
Schwarmstedt
Schwarmstedt is a municipality in the Heidekreis in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated near the confluence of the rivers Aller and Leine, approx. 20 km south of Bad Fallingbostel, and 30 km east of Nienburg...
, Walsrode
Walsrode
-Middle Ages:986 Foundation of Walsrode Abbey by Count Walo. The first recorded mentionof the town is dated May 7, 986.1383 The dukes of Brunswick and Lüneburg grant Walsrode a town charter.1479 First recorded instance of Walsrode's coat of arms...
, Soltau
Soltau
- Middle Ages :The region of the Lüneburg Heath had already been settled by the start of the New Stone Age about 4,000 years ago. The Soltau area was initially occupied by a few individual farms. The parish of Soltau was probably founded around 830 and the first wooden church Sante Johannis...
, Schneverdingen
Schneverdingen
Schneverdingen is a town in the northern part of the district of Heidekreis, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approx. 15 km north of Soltau, and 50 km south of Hamburg....
, Buchholz in der Nordheide
Buchholz in der Nordheide
Buchholz in der Nordheide is the largest town in the district of Harburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approx. 25 km southwest of Hamburg.-Geography:Buchholz is home to the Brunsberg, the region's highest mountain...
.
Route
The Leine-Heide Cycle Path starts at the source of the river Leine near Leinefelde in the Thuringian region of EichsfeldEichsfeld
The Eichsfeld is a historical region in the southeast of Lower Saxony and northwest of Thuringia in the south of the Harz mountains...
and ends in Hamburg's old town (Altstadt
Altstadt
Altstadt is the German language word for "old town", meaning "historical city centre within the city wall", in contrast to a Neustadt built outside later....
). It follows the course of the Leine usually at a distance of a few hundred metres; in several places it runs immediately alongside the river. As a result the path has few inclines. After the Leine discharges into the Aller
Aller
The Aller is a river, long, in the states of Saxony-Anhalt and Lower Saxony in Germany. It is a right-hand, and hence eastern, tributary of the River Weser and is also its largest tributary. Its last form the Lower Aller federal waterway...
the route follows the course of the Aller and then swings east near Ahlden. After crossing the Aller it runs through the Lüneburg Heath
Lüneburg Heath
The Lüneburg Heath is a large area of heath, geest and woodland in northeastern part of the state of Lower Saxony in northern Germany. It forms part of the hinterland for the cities of Hamburg, Hanover, and Bremen and is named after the town of Lüneburg. Most of the area is a nature reserve...
to Hamburg.
Landscape and points of interest
The Leine-Heide Cycle Path links the hill country of the Leine UplandsLeine Uplands
The Leine Uplands is a region in Germany's Central Uplands which forms a part of the Lower Saxon Hills and lies along the River Leine between Göttingen and Hanover...
with the Lüneburg Heath and the Hanseatic city of Hamburg.
Leine Uplands and Leine valley
The path begins in the south at the source of the Leine near Leinefelde in Thuringia's Eichsfeld region. Forested ridges, cken, scattered orchardOrchard
An orchard is an intentional planting of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit or nut-producing trees which are grown for commercial production. Orchards are also sometimes a feature of large gardens, where they serve an aesthetic as well as a productive...
s and small towns, some with historic buildings are characteristic of this thousand-year old cultural landscape
Cultural landscape
Cultural Landscapes have been defined by the World Heritage Committee as distinct geographical areas or properties uniquely "..represent[ing] the combined work of nature and of man.."....
.
The route passes through the gently rolling river landscape, crosses the old Inner German Border near Besenhausen Manor and runs to the Friedland Border Camp. Around 20 km further north the path reaches the university town of Göttingen
Göttingen
Göttingen is a university town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Göttingen. The Leine river runs through the town. In 2006 the population was 129,686.-General information:...
with its many point of interest. The castle of Plesse
Plesse Castle
Plesse Castle is situated to the north of Göttingen in Germany, close to the village of Bovenden.The castle was transferred in 1015 from the private estate of Meinwerk, bishop of Paderborn to the city of Paderborn. Since 1150 it is the seat of the noble lords of Plesse, who named themselves for the...
near Bovenden
Bovenden
Bovenden is a municipality in the district of Göttingen, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the river Leine, approx. 6 km north of Göttingen.-External links:*...
has a wide view from its tower.
Beyound the timber-framed town of Northeim
Northeim
Northeim is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany, seat of the district of Northeim, with, as of 2002, a population of 31 000. It's located on the German Half-Timbered House Road.-History:...
is the Northeim Lake District (Northeimer Seenplatte) with its European bird reserve. Shortly thereafter the path reaches Einbeck
Einbeck
Einbeck is a town in the district Northeim, in southern Lower Saxony, Germany. It is located on the German Timber-Frame Road.-Economy:Einbeck is famous for its 600 year old beer brewery, home of Einbecker Bier, the origin for the term Bock beer...
with its very well-preserved medieval centre with richly decorated timber-framed houses. Further north it enters the densely wooded region of Hildesheim. From here there are frequent views of the Leine valley. From the collective municipality of Freden (Leine) paths lead to the Radweg der Kunst ("Cycle path of Art") and to Hildesheim. Between Kreiensen and Freden ((Leine) the path passes the pumped storage station of Erzhausen and there is a wonderful view of the Selter and its crags . Othe sights en route include the timber-framed towns of Alfeld and Gronau between the Seven Hills
Seven hills
-Places that have seven hills:1.the Seven hills of Istanbul 2.the Seven hills of Rome 3.the Seven hills of Moscow 4.the Seven hills of San Francisco 5.the Seven hills of Seattle 6.the Seven hills of Iaşi...
(Sieben Bergen). In the Fagus Factory
Fagus Factory
The Fagus Factory , a shoe last factory in Alfeld on the Leine in Germany, is an important example of early modern architecture. Commissioned by owner Carl Benscheidt who wanted a radical structure to express the company's break from the past, the factory was designed by Walter Gropius and Adolf...
in Alfeld, built by Walter Gropius
Walter Gropius
Walter Adolph Georg Gropius was a German architect and founder of the Bauhaus School who, along with Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Le Corbusier, is widely regarded as one of the pioneering masters of modern architecture....
in the Bauhaus
Bauhaus
', commonly known simply as Bauhaus, was a school in Germany that combined crafts and the fine arts, and was famous for the approach to design that it publicized and taught. It operated from 1919 to 1933. At that time the German term stood for "School of Building".The Bauhaus school was founded by...
style, there are changing exhibitions.
Somewhat further north is the castle of Marienburg, built in the middle of the 19th century in the neogothic style. The route then continues on into the North German Plain
North German plain
The North German Plain or Northern Lowland is one of the major geographical regions of Germany. It is the German part of the North European Plain...
through the water meadows of the Leine to Hanover
Hanover
Hanover or Hannover, on the river Leine, is the capital of the federal state of Lower Saxony , Germany and was once by personal union the family seat of the Hanoverian Kings of Great Britain, under their title as the dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg...
.
North German Plain and Lüneburg Heath
The path runs past the Steinhuder Meer Nature ParkSteinhuder Meer Nature Park
The Steinhuder Meer Nature Park , with northwest Germany's largest inland lake, the Steinhuder Meer, at its heart, covers an area of within the districts of Nienburg and Schaumburg and the region of Hanover...
and through the river landscape of the Aller-Leine valley
Aller-Leine Valley
The Aller-Leine Valley is the name of a region north of Hanover in Germany, that has been created for the purpose of regional marketing and inter-community cooperation...
with its meadows, woods and bogs. In Bothmer and Ahlden there are castles by the side of the path.
In the Lüneburg Heath, the fields, meadows and small woods are exchanged for the heathlands typical of this region. The path passes Walsrode
Walsrode
-Middle Ages:986 Foundation of Walsrode Abbey by Count Walo. The first recorded mentionof the town is dated May 7, 986.1383 The dukes of Brunswick and Lüneburg grant Walsrode a town charter.1479 First recorded instance of Walsrode's coat of arms...
and well-known heath resorts like Schneverdingen
Schneverdingen
Schneverdingen is a town in the northern part of the district of Heidekreis, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approx. 15 km north of Soltau, and 50 km south of Hamburg....
or Wilsede. The finish of the route is the Hanseatic city of Hamburg.
Transport links
A railway line accompanies the cycle path, running more or less parallel to it, for almost the entire route, so that access to the path is possible in many places. The route is also easily accessible by car everywhere.At Einbeck it crosses the R1 European long distance cycle route.