Goldhortweg - Wildeshauser Geest Nature Park

You won't believe it, but instead of rain there's blue skies and sunshine. It doesn't get any better than this time of year. This original tour comes from wildegeest.de or outdooractive.com.

The circular route belongs to the series of Wilde Geest footpaths.

The Golthortweg trail from the "Wild Geest on Foot" hiking series offers two truly amazing highlights: the Syke District Museum, which also houses the Gessel Gold Hoard Forum, and the observation tower on the Hohen Berg, which offers a beautiful view all the way to Bremen. However, the paths to both highlights are rather substandard: wide, partially asphalt-heavy, and not car-free field paths dominate the route. In addition, you have to walk part of the tour twice. And this section in particular leads through the residential areas of Syke. Except for the "Gesseler Specken" forest area and the short stretch along the Hache River, you shouldn't expect any special trails on this tour. By the way: The Gold Hoard is a Bronze Age hoard discovered in 2011 not far from the Syke district of Gessel. It is a gold treasure consisting of 117 pieces. It is one of the largest prehistoric gold hoards in Central Europe (source: Wikipedia, 2025). All information about the Goldhort Trail can be found at the following link: https://www.wildegeest.de/wandern/20-wandertipps/goldhortweg/index.html (as of April 4, 2025).

We found it a bit unfortunate that you first have to walk 2.5 km, mainly through a settlement, to the start of the actual Goldhortweg and at the end the same 2.5 km back again

A little detour on the way back from Bremen. The Syke District Museum is absolutely worth a visit, the Goldhortweg didn't completely convince me, lots of asphalt, few trails. But maybe I'm just ready for spring 🤔😉

We walk in the footsteps of gold. The gold hoard trail revolves around Gessel's sensational find of gold. The Goldhortweg near Syke is one of the Wilde Geest hiking trails. Tip: https://www.tberg.de/wanderregion-wilde-geest/ The starting point for us is the car park at the Syke District Museum. Here, among other things, parking strips are available directly on the B6. The district museum is a regional and open-air museum sponsored by the district of Diepholz. The focus is on old handicrafts and rural life. but also prehistory and early history as well as natural history play a role. A new museum extension was opened here in 2020, the Forum Gesseler Goldhort. The extension is used for the presentation of the gold find by Gessel. This was found near here in 2011 during construction work for a natural gas pipeline. Before (or after) the hike, it may be a good idea to deal with the history of the gold find in the forum. However, we postpone this visit to another day. From the parking lot it goes a bit along the Hache through Syker residential areas and under the railway line in the direction of Leerßen. I'll write more about directions later. We hike through the surprisingly hilly Geest landscape near Syke. Passing small groves and groups of trees, the path leads through fields to the Hoher Berg. You can clearly see the route of the natural gas pipeline. Somewhere here the spectacular gold hoard was found again after 3,000 years. Exactly where that was is still a secret from the public today. Maybe that's a good thing. A piece of pipe was erected as a memorial on Hohen Berg to commemorate the construction of the natural gas pipeline and the archaeological finds that were made in the process. An imposing lookout tower sits enthroned on the Hoher Berg. With the tower, the Hoher Berg reaches a breathtaking height of 75 meters. We have been here several times, for example for the lunar eclipse in 2018. Tip: https://www.tberg.de/die-totale-mondfinsternis-2018-bei-syke/ When the weather is good, the tower offers a 360-degree all-round view of the old terminal moraine landscape. If the weather is good, you can even see as far as Bremen. Many different habitats such as meadow orchards, ponds and hedges can be experienced on the Hoher Berg as part of the nature experience. An anti-aircraft missile station was set up here from the mid-1970s to the 1980s. Remains of the former military use are still visible today. From the Hoher Berg we continue to the small forest area Gesseler Spreeken and then along fields and meadows back to the parking lot. On the hike we experienced really idyllic nature experiences and also great panoramic views on several occasions. The topic of gold hoard, however, was somewhat neglected. Perhaps one or the other explanation in the form of a display board would be appropriate here. In the aftermath, the route gives the impression that an intern at the table with the map and two or three corner points had been instructed to plan a hike to the gold find. Sometimes the routing is careless and haphazard. Why do you have to hike through Syker residential areas? This is where the Hache comes in, where the tour is twice as much fun. The path under the railway duct past the biogas plant to the Hoher Berg was okay. After the Hoher Berg then along the street Am Spreeken it would also be better to design the path through the forest area instead of along the street. After the forest area, the asphalt dirt road. You can definitely find alternatives here. Apparently they are there. I think that if the route of this hiking trail is revised again, it could really be a great top tour. Highlights of the tour: - Syke County Museum - Forum Gesseler gold hoard - the course of the Hache - the High Mountain - the terminal moraine landscape - Gesseler Spreeken forest area

The "Gessel Gold Treasure" The gold hoard, named after the place where it was found, consists of 117 individual parts. According to current research, these were made a good 3300 years ago, i.e. in the Middle Bronze Age. They are a brooch (garment clasp), two bracelets and 114 spirals of different sizes. The majority of the find consists of eight chains, each with ten spiral rings connected in a garland-like manner. The majority of the objects have a gold content of around 90 percent and a silver content of around 8.5 percent. The gold used probably comes from Central Asia, possibly from the area of present-day Afghanistan. A bundle of six bronze needles was found above the gold ensemble. There is much to suggest that the treasure was wrapped in a bag made of organic material and that this was closed with the needles. Why the valuable artefacts were buried - just a few hundred meters from here - remains a mystery. They were not discovered in a settlement or in a Grave context. Were they a votive offering to the gods? Or did a dealer hide the gold hoard? The "Gessel Gold Treasure" consists of "factory-fresh" pieces and chain jewelry with clear signs of wear, of at least one semi-finished product and a brooch that was rendered unusable by removing the pin and bending it. The brooch, whose ironing plate apparently shows five sun symbols in addition to other decorations, is the most unusual of the 117 individual pieces. Since it was made of solid gold, apart from the pin, this garment clasp has no known parallels in Central Europe. You can find out more about the "Gessel Gold Treasure" in the Syke District Museum.

This trail isn't what I consider hiking. 70% asphalt and 30% good. But we don't always have to complain 😎😂