The best cycling routes around Spenge

The Spenge church is documented as far back as 1160, but it is believed to be a much older structure, as it was built on top of Germanic graves, a practice common during the Christianization of the German region. Unfortunately, the church is locked and cannot be visited, but there is a QR code available that provides its history as an audio guide.

The Werburgmuseum is open every Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The café in the museum is highly recommended; it is, of course, also open to non-museum visitors and offers a large selection of cakes, but the museum itself is also worth a visit! The exhibition is very interactive and, in addition to real finds that all come from the Werburg, shows many films and audio contributions, some of which are activated with a provided magnetic card and some by pressing a button. The contributions are predominantly child-friendly (sometimes including clips from Löwenzahn and similar shows) to make life during all periods of the Werburg easier to understand. Particularly motivating for children (but also adults) is an excavation site where you can search for finds in the sand, which then have to be identified, or a quiz game for which you have to run through the entire museum to find the answers. The children who played it during our visit were certainly highly motivated and rushed into the appropriate room for every quiz question to find information there. Even as an adult, you spend about 2 hours and 20 minutes here, including a coffee break and all the films and audio clips. Unfortunately, there is little information about the history (except via QR code outside the museum). In any case, the castle was first mentioned in 1468 as being in the possession of the von Ledebur family. Overall, however, the castle is at least 40 years older, as finds prove. While the manor house today is of more recent origin (but is based on the old predecessor), the gatehouse, which is still standing, dates back to 1596. Through inheritance, the castle later fell to the von Münch family and thus later to the von dem Bussche-Münch family, who still have some possessions in the Bad Essen area today. However, the Werburg was sold to the city of Spenge in 1941.

This avenue repeatedly becomes my favorite spot in the Herford district. This succeeds in years like these, when rapeseed is grown on the adjacent agricultural land - and then of course always during the rapeseed flowering season from the end of April to the beginning of May.

Is especially worthwhile in the flat light of morning and evening. Then not only are the soft contrasts right, but also the side lighting. Perfect for good photos!

Don't start too early. On Friday, for example, it only opens at 3 p.m. Best to check online beforehand.

The Enger Bruch is a nature reserve along the Bolldammbach and the Bruchgraben. The green areas form a wetland, which is partly mown and partly left untouched during the dry season, and where beautiful wildflowers grow along the paths and meadow edges. Wild geese also like to stay on the ponds, which can be overlooked from an observation tower.

Nice place for a break, the café invites you for a coffee, and the small museum is open from 11 am, and is free.

The Birkenallee is closed to through traffic and therefore a beautiful promenade on the edge of the former spa park.