Südbrookmerland: Great Lake, Cycling Routes and Museums

You can plan a trip to Südbrookmerland around several specific interests: the water at the Great Lake, cycling, a pilgrimage route and museums exploring regional history. If you’re looking for a hotel, you can start by considering which of these themes you’d like to shape your stay. The options vary considerably—from combining canoeing and cycling to exploring sacred art and gaining insights into working life in the past.

Water Activities at the Great Lake

Sailing and surfing are possible on the Great Lake, East Frisia’s largest inland lake. Motorboats are not permitted on the lake; instead, they travel along the many waterways around it.

You can start canoe or cycling tours at the paddle-and-pedal station on the Great Lake. The combined tour begins with a circular canoe route along the Süderriede back to the Great Lake, followed by a cycling tour on the 3-Meere-Weg. If this itinerary appeals to you, check the tour’s availability before you travel. This will help you decide whether to include a single activity or combine both modes of transport in your travel plans.

Cycling Routes and Pilgrimage Route

Cycling routes in Südbrookmerland pass fields and meadows, follow East Frisian waterways and pass through villages; they also run directly along the Great Lake. If you’d like to plan your own cycling tour, you can use the numbered junction system and follow it from one sign to the next. Check the signs on site. The different route settings offer varied scenery to consider when planning: open landscapes, waterways and village sections, as well as stretches along the lake.

The 40-kilometre “Schola Dei” pilgrimage route runs from Ihlow through Südbrookmerland to Norden and follows an old pilgrimage trail for much of its length. The route description thus combines a specific distance with a historic character. If you’re planning your trip around a pilgrimage route, “Schola Dei” is an option in its own right alongside the water and cycling activities.

Museums and Regional History

The open-air museum Museumsdorf Dörpmuseum Münkeboe brings together workshops, facilities, tools and machinery from the village’s past working life and its immediate surroundings. The living museum includes a fully operational grain windmill. Visitors can try fresh bread from the stone oven. Check the museum’s current information to find out whether this is available on the day you visit.

The Moordorf Moor Museum depicts the challenging 200-year development of an East Frisian moorland colony in an original moorland landscape. The two museums have different focuses: Münkeboe highlights working life in the past and the grain windmill, while Moordorf explores the development of the moorland colony. This lets you choose your museum visit according to your interest in village history, working life or the history of the moors.

The Ev.-luth. Church in Wiegboldsbur offers another cultural detail: it houses a Gothic metal baptismal font. The font is round and widens towards the top; it rests on four knight figures and is decorated with twelve images. These include depictions of eight apostles, the baptism of Jesus and the Crucifixion. Its shape, supporting figures and imagery make the baptismal font a subject in its own right, alongside the historical insights offered by the museums.

Discover more destinations: Tannenhausen, Lütetsburg, Norden, Osteel, Großefehn, Rechtsupweg, Halbemond, Wrisse.

Return to the main travel overview: Aurich.