The rural beauty of Hardenberg

Authentic hamlets, Saxon farms and a tranquil scenic landscape: cycling around Hardenberg is relaxing.

A mill with a story
The Windlust is a flour mill with a special story. Its predecessor from 1861 burned down completely in 1877 due to a lightning strike. A replacement was purchased in Oosterhesselen, thirty kilometers away: a century-old oil mill. It was taken apart and driven to its current location on seven farm wagons. Windlust has been owned by the Ter Voorde-Nijeboer miller family for decades. They still use the mill on a professional basis.

Klepperstad
Hardenberg is an old and pleasant town. Wonderful to drive through. You will see, among other things, the hull of the Haarmolen, a flour mill from 1831 that was dismantled in 1950. In the summer, Hardenberg presents itself as a 'great city'. Some activities revolve around the clapperman, a night watchman who used to go around with a clapper and shout out what time it was. At the end of your route you can refuel at Holiday Park't Rheezerwold.

Just cross the border
You drive a bit through the German forests in Landkreis Grafschaft Bentheim. Don't be surprised if you hear Dutch in and around the village of Wielen: eighty percent of the residents here are of Dutch descent. This part of Germany certainly has a strong bond with the Netherlands, because the Protestant inhabitants since the sixteenth century have not been Lutheran, but Calvinist. Partly for this reason, Dutch was also spoken in this area until the end of the nineteenth century. And now again, so that the area lives up to its nickname The Holland of Lower Saxony even more. Would you like to enjoy the beautiful Vechtdal even more? Then also drive route 327972.