Cranes at dawn in the Dümmer Nature Park, © Nicole Holtmann

Para­dise, not just for the birds


Nature park Düm­mer

Guests from around the world are flocking to this place: nature park Dümmer is in great international demand year-round, no matter the season. There’s a good reason for that: the lakes, floodplains, ditches, and moors are ideal recreational areas and popular resting stations for a large variety of migratory birds, including Arctic wild geese or cranes, as well as black terns and reed warblers. The cranes in particular arrive in flocks to live their best lives here. They are easy to observe if you’ve packed some binoculars before setting off into the nature park that reaches into the two federal states of Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia.

Crane spectacles for the eye and ear

As mentioned, nature park Dümmer is appreciated by humans and animals alike year-round. Cranes use it to stop on their long journeys between the breeding grounds in northern Europe and their wintering grounds in the south every autumn and spring. Up to 70,000 birds can be seen crowding the wetlands around the Dümmer See lake then, turning the area into the third-largest crane resting place in Europe. The boggy landscape provides enough food and safe places to sleep for them. Get out your binoculars and have a good look – and listen – at the shy animals from a distance: Their typical trumpet-like calls can be heard from as much as two kilometres away, adding an acoustic aspect to the offering.

Historical rails into the moor

Do you want to learn more about the cranes? The “Moorwelten” exhibition not only explains the relevance of the moors for our climate; it also has some interesting facts about cranes and other residents of the nature park. Feel free to combine moor theory and practice by venturing on an excursion to the Neustädter Moor, right on the doorstep, on foot, by bike, or with the historical moor train.

Experience accessible nature

The nature park has another means of transport for people with limited mobility: An all-terrain wheelchair can be borrowed to accessibly discover the various spaces of nature. Accessible trails around and within nature park Dümmer can also be explored easily by wheelchair or with a walking aid, along with accessible resting and picnic areas, cafés, and restaurants. Listening panels, accessible observation towers, and a landscape model to touch are some further offerings designed to make the nature park a place for everyone.

www.naturpark-duemmer.de

  • Cranes in the Dümmer Nature Park, © Herman Dirks
    Duck family in the Dümmer Nature Park, © Rainer Storck
    Cranes in the moor in the Dümmer Nature Park , © Nicole Holtmann
  • Moor in the Dümmer Nature Park, © Willi Rolfes
    Lapwing on the Bullock Moor, © Oliver Lange
    Surfers on Lake Duemmer, © Torsten Krüger

Half-timbered houses in Minden

Portrait of the Instagramer Gabi Hirnschal
Ideas for ex­cur­sions in the sur­round­ings? In­s­tagram tip by Gabi Hirnschal @gab­ral
Half-timbered houses in Minden, © Gabi Hirnschal

"Minden is a great place to visit with many small, enchantingly charming alleyways. I especially liked Ritterstraße, which has some lovely houses and a really cute café."