Attractions and Places To See around Osterheide - Top 20

The town of Soltau in the Lüneburg Heath lies in the so-called Elbe-Weser triangle, at the center of the metropolitan areas of Hamburg, Bremen, and Hanover. With approximately 23,000 inhabitants, Soltau is the second-largest town in the Heidekreis district and a state-recognized climatic health resort with a brine spa. A wide range of cultural and leisure activities, numerous sports facilities, an above-average range of shopping and amenities, green spaces in the town, cozy alleys and corners in the pedestrian zone, safe traffic routes, and, last but not least, a protected environment for families make Soltau an attractive, medium-sized town.

Soltau Town Heritage of the Carolingian period, a garrison town with 300 years of history, a French border town, a town of "white gold," ruled by a famous heath poet. Soltau is a town of endless wonder and discovery. It's also worth a visit in winter with its Christmas market.

Soltau offers, among other things, these sights: Heath Park Resort; Designer Outlet Soltau; Soltau thermal baths; Hagen and Marriage Fountain; lifting bridge; bell tower/carillon; the castle; bailiwick; Breidung's Garden; Felt World Soltau; Foundling with wrestlers; royal post office; Old Town Hall; Soltau Game Museum; Soltau Museum; Soltau Salt Museum; st. St. John's Church; Luther Church; Holy Spirit Church Wolterdingen; st. St. Mary's Church; Waldmühle Library; Böhme Family Park; Soltau memorial; Juniper place with sheepfold; Halifax; Ahlftener Flatt What Soltau also offers is the pleasant sound of artillery (sometimes into the night as sleep music 🤠) from the nearby Munster military training area. That's why you should find out in advance when you can drive through which parts of the areas. There is information here: https://www.munster.de/home/stadt-politik-verwaltung/buergerservice/schiess-und-uebungswarenen.aspx

Soltau – a place full of possibilities! Soltau is located in the picturesque Elbe-Weser triangle, right between the major cities of Hamburg, Hanover, and Bremen. A wonderful combination of vibrant city life and quiet, green oases awaits you here. Soltau itself offers more than just Marktstraße as a highlight. Feel free to leave the city and find a side street. 😉 Exciting days at Heide Park Resort or relax in the Soltau Thermal Baths. Experience a varied program of events and then retreat into the soothing tranquility of the beautiful heathland. Soltau is a lovely place for a wonderful vacation in one of Germany's most impressive landscapes. In terms of cycling routes, you can find many pre-designed tours at Soltau Touristik. Download them as a GPX file and add them to komoot.

There are various species of birds to watch. There are information boards about the birds on the tower.

Soltau has a nice pedestrian zone with nice rest stops and small shops. It's best to come here on Saturday mornings when there's a market! The fish from the Lanz fish trolley is unique!

It is assumed that there were already bridges in Winsen (Aller) around the year 1000. Winsen used to be at the intersection of two important trade routes: the north-south military route came from Lübeck and led to Frankfurt am Main - the east-west connected Bremen and Braunschweig. There was heavy traffic on both streets. At Winsen there was a ford through the Aller and that alone was an attraction. Around 1300, the Duke of Celle had a wooden bridge built, making Winsen even more important. After the bridge was destroyed in the Battle of Winsen in 1388, the Duke of Celle had it rebuilt and guarded by a protective force consisting of 45 armed men and 20 archers. Since the old wooden bridges did not have a long lifespan, the wood soon rotted, ships & ice damaged it, information about the construction/reconstruction of the bridges and maintenance is missing for a long time. The wooden drawbridge built in 1726 crossed the Aller until 1924. In 1924, the dilapidated, 200-year-old drawbridge was replaced by an iron structure - the Hindenburg Bridge. It was blown up by German troops in April 1945 to make the English advance more difficult. A temporary bridge was built under the direction of the English troops within a few days. The Bailey Bridge, the English Bridge near the Winsern, now makes it possible to cross the Aller. The current bridge was built in 1963. The construction costs amount to 850,000 DM. In 1984 the nameless bridge is widened. Source: https://winsen-tourismus.de/kultur/sehenswuerdigkeit/allerbruecke

The Bannetze lock is located in Winsen / Aller in the district of Bannetze. More precisely, in the lock canal at km 0.490. The Bannetze lock was built in the course of regulating the Aller from 1909 to 1912. Like the other Aller locks in Oldau, Marklendorf and Hademstorf, which were built in the same way, it has a usable chamber length of 159 m and a usable width of 10 m. 6 m wide and, depending on the water level, max. 2.5 m draft as well as a carrying capacity of up to 650 t. Freight shipping was operated until about 1969. Today the Aller is a popular leisure area that is used by passenger and sport shipping.