Barßel: Museum Ship, Fehn Canal and Moorland

Barßel brings together maritime history, Fehn culture and moorland themes. If you are looking for a hotel in Barßel, you can base your choice on the interests you want to shape your stay: historic ships and canal engineering, the landscape history of Elisabethfehn, or cycling tours along rivers, moors and dikes.

Canal history and boat trips

The museum ship Angela von Barßel was built in 1896 as a tjalk at the A. Mulder shipyard in Stadskanaal, the Netherlands. Members of the association of friends restored the ship in 1985 and 1986. Since 2008, it has been listed as a movable monument in Lower Saxony. Excursions and special trips can be booked aboard the Angela von Barßel; check in advance whether a trip is available for your dates.

The Elisabethfehn Canal is considered Germany’s only remaining fully navigable Fehn canal. Its infrastructure includes six lift bridges and four manually operated locks. This canal brings together different types of engineering structures: movable bridges and hand-operated locks. If you are interested in river navigation, take a trip on the MS Spitzhörn along the Barßeler Tief, the Jümme and the Soeste. Timetables are seasonal, so check them before your trip.

Tides are also part of the waterways around Barßel. The waterways are affected by the tides; the tidal range at Barßel harbour is about one metre. Actual conditions vary with the tide timetable.

Understanding moors and Fehn culture

The Elisabethfehn Moor and Fehn Museum explains how raised bogs formed and how people have shaped the landscape around Elisabethfehn. Natural development and human influence are presented as interconnected themes. The museum includes a moorland educational garden and a raised bog observation platform; it also displays large peat machines and canal boats.

The museum and its grounds are historically connected with the bridges and lock of the Elisabethfehn Canal as an ensemble. A tea room serves food and drinks related to the moorland. If you plan to visit, check in advance whether it will be available during your visit.

Windmill engineering and cycling tours

The Ebkens windmill was built in 1892. It is a three-storey gallery Dutch windmill with a horse mill and an oil press. Its construction date and features make it a distinct engineering attraction alongside Barßel’s maritime and Fehn history.

Four themed tourist routes meet at Dreibücken: the German Fehn Route, the Cloppenburg Cycling Tour, the Moorland Experience Route and the Boxenstopp Route. For self-planned cycling tours, the Barßel-Saterland recreation region lists distances of about 20 or 80 kilometres. The tours run along rivers, canals, moors and dikes. The two distances offer different starting points for your planning; check route conditions and signage in advance.

Harkebrügge barefoot park offers 60 barefoot stations in a woodland setting. As visitor facilities may change, check current access before your visit.

Another cultural highlight in the wider Cloppenburg destination

In the wider Cloppenburg destination, the Cloppenburg Museum Village – Lower Saxon Open-Air Museum offers insights into the living conditions of the rural population of north-west Germany through around 60 historic buildings. The period represented ranges from the late Middle Ages to the 1980s. This gives visitors a broader historical perspective on rural life, alongside Barßel’s focus on Fehn culture, moorland and waterways.

More destinations

Discover more destinations: Lastrup, Bösel, Petersfeld, Emstek, Löningen, Friesoythe, Cappeln, Lindern.

Back to the main travel overview: Cloppenburg.