The best hikes from bus stations around Wentorf bei Hamburg

The Parkschloss was built in 1903 as "Villa Lichtenfels". It was part of the Wentorf building boom around the turn of the century around 1900, when wealthy Hamburg merchants, shipowners, and senators had huge summer and retirement residences built there in the countryside. The Parkschloss served as a representative stately estate for one of these shipowners. The lover of the Rhine Romanticism wanted to realize architectural elements inspired by the famous Stolzenfels Castle in Koblenz am Rhein in the building. Many of these rich Hamburg families lost their possessions or financial means in the course of the Great Depression and the political upheavals of the 1920s and 1930s. Thus, "Villa Lichtenfels" also had to be sold. The new owner was the National Socialist People's Welfare (NSV). After the Second World War, the building experienced various uses and was finally operated for many decades as a senior citizens' home and nursing home ("Parkschloß Wentorf"). Operations ceased in 2017. Today, the villa is privately owned again.

The well-known publicist and television presenter Roger Willemsen acquired the villa, built in 1889, in the summer of 2015. He saw it as an ideal place to work in an inspired and creative way. He also spent the phase of his life from his cancer diagnosis to his death on February 7, 2016, at the age of sixty, here. Willemsen died in this villa in Wentorf. A few days before his death, his friend, the Mare publisher Nikolaus Gelpke, had suggested that the villa be preserved as an artists' residence in his name. Willemsen was enthusiastic about the initiative and gave his consent. The Mare publishing house made the purchase of the villa for its future tasks possible. At the same time, the non-profit Roger Willemsen Foundation was established. The foundation awards up to ten residency scholarships for the Mare artists' residence.

The Mühlenteich is a reservoir of the Bille river, which here forms not only the border between the towns of Reinbek and Wentorf, but also between the districts of Stormarn and Herzogtum Lauenburg. There is a walking path around the Mühlenteich. The easy loop is a little over three kilometers long.

The oldest and most significant building in Reinbek is the castle in the Dutch Renaissance style. Duke Adolf I of Gottorf had the castle built between 1572 and 1576 in its present form. Initially a secondary residence of the sovereign, the castle was the residence of the district administrator during the Danish era and later briefly the seat of the district administration for the Stormarn district. Today, the faithfully restored building is available for public use, for example as Reinbek's cultural center.

The current artists' house was built in 1889; it was designed by the renowned Hamburg architect Martin Haller. Roger Willemsen acquired it in the summer of 2015 and saw it as an ideal place for inspired and creative work. Since 2019, the house has been a listed building. The idea of preserving the villa as an artists' house in his name arose a few days before Roger Willemsen's death among friends. Roger Willemsen was deeply moved by the initiative and gave his consent. Its realization was made possible by his friend Nikolaus Gelpke with mareverlag through the founding of the Roger Willemsen Stiftung. Light-flooded work and living areas, an event room, as well as Roger Willemsen's personal library, his music collection, and the preserved furnishings make the artists' house a special place. Our heartfelt thanks go to the heirs for their loans. The Roger Willemsen Stiftung maintains and preserves the artists' house as a place of inspiration, creative work, and cultural encounter. The foundation, in the spirit of its namesake, promotes exceptional talents and courageous artistic projects. Founded by mareverlag and its publisher Nikolaus Gelpke, the foundation awards scholarships to cultural creators in the fields of visual arts, composition and music, literature, film, or performance, and enables scholarship holders to undertake project stays in the artists' house in Wentorf near Hamburg. https://rwstiftung.de/

Through this forest it brings a lot of fun

Some loose sand and stones. Hold on tight to the handlebars ;-) But there are curious cows and not much going on when the sun isn't shining.

Great fun for dogs and humans!