exploring Bremen & its surrounding areas
You are here: worth seeing in the surroundings
Neu Helgoland (New Heligoland) Worpswede (1/2)
Perhaps things get lively at Bistro & Biergarten, but only with a table volcano at most
Neu Helgoland - maybe a result of underwater volcanic activity right next to the island of Heligoland in the North Sea? What nature creates is sometimes powerful and spectacular, but here it’s a bit smaller. Even though there are a few kilometers of green land between the Lower Saxon artists' colony and said Neu-Helgoland, we’re talking about Hammehafen (Habor of Hamme River) Worpswede - a few houses and ... just keep reading.
TELESCOPIUM-Lilienthal, replica of Schroeter’s 27-foot reflecting telescope
If you set off by bike from Bremen, you have about 25 kilometers ahead. The route takes you through the town of Lilienthal, where at the end of the 18th century the largest reflecting telescope on the European continent was erected, and today a replica can be visited. By car, you can also take this route through the town, but the A27 motorway toward Bremerhaven relieves the city’s residents and is more pleasant to drive. On the subsequent unavoidable country roads, you may occasionally be slowed down because the road is wavy or the edges have sunk. The culprit is the marshy subsoil - but more on that later.
Only those light enough can travel by leaping from leaf to leaf over the water lilies along the banks of the Hamme
No matter how you arrive, at some point you might ask yourself: Is there anything else coming? Yes, if you take the right turn - and even then, you’ll encounter Neu-Helgoland, a sparsely populated spot in an absolutely flat landscape. Campers will appreciate the fact that the site is wonderfully quiet.
Swing Bridge over the Hamme
At least on weekends during the pleasant months, there’s no question of solitude - just look at the numerous parking spaces. In addition, many cyclists arrive from various directions via sometimes very pleasant car-free paths.
Via well-paved paths like the Jan-Reiners-Weg, where a section of the Bremen-Tarmstedt narrow-gauge railway once ran, you can cycle from Bremen to Neu Helgoland.
Why the buzz? Adjacent to the campsite is a boat rental with kayaks, canoes, and SUPs. There’s also a bistro with a beer garden offering many seats by the water. Additionally, the club-organized Adolphsdorfer Torfschiffer set off on excursion trips with their half-Hunt barges, which can accommodate up to 16 people and are often booked by groups.
Part of Hammehafen with peat boats, sports boats, and bistro
Others come to stop at the rustic restaurant “Hamme Hütte Neu Helgoland.” While the floors in the interior of the former timber-framed farmhouse may be a bit crooked, the friendly staff and good cuisine are not. Fish and Northern German cuisine are served. If the timing is right during the appropriate season, you might still manage to have a short chat (brief conversation) with peat boatmen if they stop by for a small nightcap on the very nice terrace directly on the Hamme.
The Hamme Hütte Neu Helgoland in the evening sun
Into the water or just onto it
If you don’t want any of that and see no other way out, you’ll just go into the water. And you can do that well from a small sandy beach. As a swimmer, however, you share the water with paddlers and peat boats at this point, as the harbor entrance is only a few meters away. Without intention, there may still be bumps on the head or bruises if someone isn’t considerate. Those who can’t swim but still go into the water have fewer fears, but other problems.
Part of the sandy beach area
Problems can certainly arise in the first few meters with the small rental boats if you’re doing something for the first time. But since everything in life is done for the first time at some point, you grow with the tasks - provided you don’t chicken out. The first task is choosing the right watercraft.
In doubt, stay relaxed, don’t flail around, and don’t stand up in the boat
As a beginner who doesn’t want to go swimming, you have no business on a stand-up paddleboard. Kayaks are agile and fast, but with the double paddle - pulling it out of the water on one side and almost vertically inserting it into the water on the other - you’ll inevitably get wet to some degree. In return, you have sole control over the boat.
Three sleek kayaks and a canoe at the dock in Hammehafen
On the other hand, you’re more leisurely in a canoe and must coordinate with at least one partner to make progress - yes, it’s possible alone. The physical strain is more one-sided due to the single paddle, even if you switch sides occasionally. Personal tip for beginners: Try a canoe first. But no matter how you decide, it’s all fun, including contactless encounters on the water.
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Map
Further information
Hamme Harbor Worpswede
Campsite, Canoe and Kayak Rental, Bistro & Beer Garden
Season: April - October
Hammeweg 10-12
27726 Worpswede
Phone: +49 (0) 4792 509
Mobile: +49 (0) 151 12783007, +49 (0) 151 52460175
Open daily from 10 AM - 6 PM
Email: info@hammehafen.de
www.hammehafen.de
Hamme Hut Neu Helgoland
Hammeweg 29
27726 Worpswede
Phone: +49 (0) 4792 7606
Email: info@hammehuette.de
https://hammehuette.de
Open: Tuesday to Sunday 11 AM - 10 PM, closed on Monday
Adolphsdorfer Torfschiffer e. V.
Hammeweg 12
27726 Worpswede
Phone: +49 (0) 4792 951200
Email: info@torfschiffe.de
www.torfschiffe.de
Worpswede
In 1889, the painters Fritz Mackensen, Otto Modersohn, and Hans am Ende laid the foundation for this art center with their decision to work and live in the small, previously unknown village. They were quickly followed by other artists such as the painter Paula Becker, the poet Rainer Maria Rilke, Clara Rilke-Westhoff, Fritz Overbeck, Heinrich Vogeler, and later the sculptor, painter, and craftsman Bernhard Hoetger, after whose designs, among others, the Paula-Becker-Modersohn-House in Bremen's Böttcherstraße was built.
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Cycling to Lilienthal
It's about 11 kilometers from the city center of Bremen to Lilienthal in Lower Saxony, just behind the city border. Although tram line 4 connects both places, a bike tour is more fun. On the Jan-Reiners-Weg, you can cycle through a green landscape without car traffic, and even within Lilienthal itself, the route follows the Wörpe River along small roads with light traffic into the historic city center.
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Bremerhaven in general
Bremerhaven was founded only in 1827. To secure its importance as a port city amid the threat of silting up of the Weser River - the lifeline of Bremen - Bremen acquired 342 morgen (approximately 850 acres) of land at the mouth of the Weser from the Kingdom of Hanover for 74,000 talers in 1827 under then-mayor Johann Smidt. About 60 km downstream from Bremen, the first urgently needed seaport for Bremen, known as the Alte Hafen (Old Harbor), was established there by 1830.
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Findorff district
The history of the Findorff district is closely linked to the moors of the surrounding Lower Saxony countryside. In 1819, the so-called peat canal was dug to transport peat as fuel from places like Teufelsmoor to Bremen by water. Even today, the second peat harbor, built in 1873, exists in a smaller form within the district, with traditional peat barges moored there. However, peat transportation no longer plays a role today.
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Water-based activities in and around Bremen
In a city on a major river with numerous lakes, it's natural to extend sporting or leisure activities from land to water. The most family-friendly water activity is certainly taking a rowboat ride on the canals of Bürgerpark. But there are also more options outside the city limits.
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Vegesack in northern Bremen
Old Warehouses, a museum harbor with ships, the "Utkiek" with the jaw of a blue whale, and more are part of Vegesack's Maritime Mile, which stretches for about one nautical mile (approximately 1.8 kilometers) to the former site of the "Bremer Vulkan" shipyard, which went bankrupt in 1996. This also includes the Stadtgarten (a park), which runs almost from the ferry terminal to the former "Vulkan" site.
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Artists' colony & peasant village: Fischerhude
Signposts make it clear to every previously unaware visitor that this place differs significantly from many other traditionally agricultural villages. Fischerhude is hip. Numerous cafés and restaurants, ceramics studios, art galleries, a local history museum, the Modersohn Museum, and more vie for the favor of an audience that is sometimes more and sometimes less interested in art but regularly strolls through Fischerhude in large numbers.
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Knipp
Quite hearty and not suitable for a diet program is Knipp. The "Grützwurst" made up of 50% pork meat and bacon, 20% oatmeal as well as water, onions, dextrose, and spices, including mainly pepper and salt, was long considered „poor people's food“, because it was formerly actually made from leftovers that fell off during slaughtering. Today, Knipp is considered a specialty in Bremen and some parts of Lower Saxony.
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