Asendorf: Heritage Railway, Art and Markets

Asendorf is a destination for trips shaped by railway history, changing art exhibitions and markets. If you are looking for a hotel in Asendorf, you can plan your visit around your main interest: the heritage railway represents a rich cultural legacy, while exhibitions change and individual markets take place on set dates each year.

Heritage railway and its route through history

Since 1966, the German Railway Association (Deutscher Eisenbahn-Verein e.V.) has operated Germany’s first heritage railway between Bruchhausen-Vilsen and Asendorf. The route is over 100 years old, eight kilometres long and preserved as a living open-air museum, with eight stations and stops. This makes not only the railway itself but also its route part of the cultural heritage. The route’s length and number of stations give the subject a tangible scale: this is a preserved railway line between two named places, not just a single locomotive.

Art and a changing programme

The Kunst-Schuppen Asendorf is run by Kunst-Schiene and hosts changing art and arts-and-crafts exhibitions. Its events programme includes the Kunst-Schiene-Slam (poetry slam), readings and puppet theatre. Alongside the permanently preserved railway line, the Kunst-Schuppen offers a different cultural focus: exhibitions and events shape its programme. As the programme changes, check the specific dates before your visit.

Markets throughout the year

The potato market takes place every year on the first Sunday in October. It is accompanied by a flea market and a Sunday when the shops are open. The Christmas market takes place every year on the third Sunday of Advent in December. At the strawberry market, you can enjoy strawberries on their own, strawberry milkshakes, freshly baked waffles, cake, punch, wine, ice cream and strawberry jam. Vendors and specific offerings may vary.

The markets each have a different focus: the potato market brings together market stalls, a flea market and open shops; the Christmas market is held on the third Sunday of Advent, while the strawberry market centres on the food and drinks listed above. If you are planning your trip around a market, check its date. If you plan to take the heritage railway on a market day, coordinate your visit with the current timetable.

In the wider destination of Diepholz

The district of Diepholz includes two tourism regions and two nature parks. Cultural attractions in the wider destination of Diepholz include the Dümmer Museum in Lembruch and the Syke District Museum. The Dümmer Museum presents the nature, landscape and culture of Lake Dümmer in the past, present and future. Its “Life in Water” research station explains the ecology of the Dümmer ecosystem. The museum’s Stone Age exhibition at Lake Dümmer features original artefacts dating from 4,000 to 2,000 BC, as well as reconstructions.

The Dümmer Museum also offers a two-hour discovery tour to investigate life in the waters of Lake Dümmer. The tour uses hand nets, a plankton net, a thermometer, a questionnaire and a microscope. It is intended for families and smaller groups of fewer than 15 people, school classes, and groups of up to 25 people. The Syke District Museum, with the Gesseler Gold Hoard Forum, is the cultural and social history museum of the district of Diepholz; it presents everyday life from the Stone Age to the threshold of the present day.

Nature and outdoor activities also shape the wider destination of Diepholz. A cycle route guidance system directs recreational cyclists along around 1,700 kilometres of routes in the district. In the Diepholz Moor, a roughly two-kilometre-long moorland trail with ten informative stops leads through the moor ecosystem, bringing it to life in every season. Lake Dümmer offers leisure opportunities for sailors and windsurfers. The River Hunte has been developed as an attractive nature-tourism destination for canoeists in the district of Diepholz; it is navigable by canoe for around 105 kilometres, from the Osnabrück region to Oldenburg.

Discover more destinations

Discover more destinations: Weyhe, Lembruch, Bassum, Freistatt, Wagenfeld, Neubruchhausen, Mellinghausen, Heiligenrode

Back to the main travel guide: Diepholz.