Geschichte und Geschichten

From the Lippisches Landesmuseum, we head south along the castle moat. We cross Bruchstraße, pass the restaurants there and continue along the "Wall". We now follow the signs for BahnRad Route Weser Lippe and European Cycle Route R1. At the traffic lights (Paulinenstraße/Allee) we can already see the so-called Friedrichstal parkland, which we want to cycle into. We now continue along the R1 European Cycle Route and the BahnRadRoute towards Horn-Bad Meinberg/Holzhausen as far as the Externsteine. We pass the Obere Mühle (restaurant), see the parking lot of the LWL open-air museum on the left (worth a detour, duration 2-4 hours) and soon come to Friedrich-Ebert-Straße. Cross the road and turn left after the bus stop. At this point you have to make a decision: The path to the Hermannsdenkmal requires fitness, but rewards you with a magnificent view, a monument steeped in history and a great descent.

There are two options:

1. If you decide to climb up to the monument , take the tarmac path straight up the mountain ("Hermannsweg", "E1"). At the edge of the forest there is a refuge where we turn right behind the farm. Shortly afterwards, we enter Hiddesen and come to the Cheruskerweg, which later becomes the Germanenweg. At the junction with the Hünenweg, we turn left and climb the hill to the Maiweg, where we have to turn right. Here the route continues flat until we reach the road to the Hermannsdenkmal at the end of the road. Now we have to turn left and pedal hard again to get to the monument. Once at the top, a break in the restaurant is certainly in order (accessible via the parking lot, just like the Hermann monument). Afterwards, a wonderful descent awaits on the monument road towards Vogelpark and Heiligenkirchen. At the junction of Denkmalstraße/Paderborner Str. (with traffic lights), continue right on the "Europaradweg R1" and the "BahnRadRoute" to Berlebeck.

2. If you want to avoid the climb, turn left into Unterer Weg after the Friedrich-Ebert-Straße junction and follow the further signs for "R1" and the "BahnRadRoute". In Heiligenkirchen, turn left onto Denkmalstraße and then right at the next major junction with traffic lights as described under 1).

In Berlebeck, at the junction with Fromhauser Straße, cross the pedestrian lights and continue on the R1 and the BahnRadRoute to the Externsteine. (If you would like to visit the Berlebeck Eagle Observatory, simply cycle straight ahead at this point and then turn right into Hangsteinstraße). When you reach the Externsteine, cycle through the two rocks and keep right. The cycle route signposts lead across the parking lot and then right through the forest to Horn on Schützenstraße. At the end, turn left onto Jahnstraße. We cycle along the "BahnRadRoute Weser-Lippe" through the historic town center of Horn, past Horn Castle. At the traffic circle in "Nordstraße", we leave the BahnRadRoute and turn right onto Wilberger Straße. In Wilberg  we meet the B 239, the Bad Meinberg-Detmold link. We now follow the Werre cycle path to Detmold. In the town, at the state theater, we leave the "Werre-Radweg" and turn left into Ameide, where our start and finish, the Lippische Landesmuseum, is located.

The descent from Hermannsdenkmal in the direction of Vogelpark and Heiligenkirchen (Denkmalstraße) is particularly steep at the beginning, sometimes winding and sometimes a little more busy. Although the road is paved, the surface is not always level. This is a reminder to drive carefully.

Bicycles with gears that are suitable for hills are advisable Pedelecs are ideal.

It is worth taking some time to visit the Lippisches Landesmuseum (start and finish), the Hermannsdenkmal, the LWL open-air museum (2-4 hours!), the Heiligenkirchen bird park, the Berlebeck eagle observatory, the Externsteine  and the two historic town centers of Detmold and Horn. The tour can be as long or as short as you like: anything from 3 hours to a whole day is possible.

By car: You can reach Detmold easily and conveniently via the A 2 Ruhrgebiet-Hannover freeway (exit Bielefeld Zentrum, B66 towards Oerlinghausen/Detmold and via the A 33 (exit Paderborn-Elsen, B1 towards Detmold/Hameln). From all directions, the distance to the respective highway is about 25 km.

Parking spaces in Detmold city center: Lustgarten multi-storey parking lot, Kaiser-Wilhelm-Platz, a little further from the start: Kronenplatz. All chargeable, free of charge on Sundays and public holidays.

Tourist bus route at weekends from Easter to November 1st (bicycle transport to the Hermannsdenkmal and the Externsteine, if required). Detmold city bus route 701 (train station - Detmold-Berlebeck). Bus 780 Detmold - Externsteine and Horn/Mittelstraße.

Westfalenbahn Detmold - Horn-Bad Meinberg

A wide range of literature about the Hermann Monument and the "Varuss Battle" as well as the Externsteine can be found in bookshops.

Cycling in Lippe, scale 1 : 50,000, BVA

www.detmold.de/tourismus

www.lippisches-landesmuseum.de

www.hermannsdenkmal.de

www.vogelpark-heiligenkirchen.de

www.detmold-adlerwarte.de

www.hornbadmeinberg.de

Lippisches Landesmuseum, Ameide 4, 32756 Detmold

Lippisches Landesmuseum, Ameide 4, 32756 Detmold