Highlights in the Duchy of Lauenburg & Stormarn
Between Hamburg and Lübeck, rare moorland landscapes, deep forests and small towns rich in history in red clinker brick dress await.
On the hunt by bike for traces of the past
Where once the so-called “white gold” was transported from Lüneburg to the Baltic Sea, today, the varied landscape between Hamburg and Lübeck can be explored on two wheels. The “Alte Salzstraße” (“Old Salt Road”) long-distance cycle route measures 116 kilometres and runs along the Elbe-Lübeck Canal via Lauenburg and Mölln to Travemünde.
The railway cycle paths in Stormarn offer a truly special cycling experience. They lead alongside disused railway lines past dense forests, lakes and old station buildings. Sleuths can also cycle from one adventure to the next on a crime trail and uncover a million-dollar heist at the end.
City, river, history
In the historic town centre of Bad Oldesloe, the half-timbered houses of the Stormarn district town directly on the river invite you to take walks and enjoy a Nordic old-town flair. Not far away, an educational trail on the era of brine extraction explains how the old Oldesloe became a spa. In Mölln in Lauenburg, too, you can sense centuries long past behind clinker-brick half-timbering. The city’s best-known son, court jester Till Eulenspiegel, always springs to mind with small details and large-scale festivities.
Fish galore
Every autumn, Reinfeld is in carp fever: The Herrenteich, dammed by Cistercian monks, is pumped completely dry in order to capture its carp population in one day. Even in summer, there is a big carp festival for holiday guests, but the traditional spectacle in October also attracts a large audience. Friends of such delicacies will also find what they are looking for in Ratzeburg: The local fishermen prefer to pull the whitefish and its little sister, the silver whitefish, out of the water. With a view of Ratzeburg Cathedral, the regional delicacy tastes all the better.
