History route

The oldest, the largest, the only one,… On this route of superlatives, you will discover testimonies of the exciting history of the Emsland.

You start in Sögel – and should stop immediately when you reach the world's only star-shaped Baroque castle Clemenswerth. Built in an extensive landscape park for the electoral parforce hunt, the pavilions at the points of the star's spikes now house the collections of the Emsland Museum: historic hunting weapons, magnificent faiences, and other furnishings from the castle's heyday.

Through the gentle hilly landscape of Hümmling, you cycle further towards Hüven – and find here some of the oldest preserved buildings in the northwest: Neolithic megalithic tombs. A total of half a dozen megalithic sites lie directly on the path. And if you take smaller detours – for example on the Hünengräberstraße of Hümmling – you will discover numerous other graves, which were constructed about 5,000 years ago solely by muscle power from ton-heavy granite boulders. Much younger but also astonishing: the Hüven mill, which is powered by both the force of water and wind. There is no other like it in Europe.

The oldest town in the Emsland is reached a little further north: Haselünne, home to traditional corn distilleries and city of the Burgmannshof holdings. Get to know this high-proof landmark during company tours or at the distillery museum and enjoy the splendor of the grand houses in the historic old town.

On the way back to Sögel, stops at further megalithic tombs and the Bruneforth watermill are worthwhile: it stands on an oak foundation in the idyllic mill pond.