Discover Damme: Trails, Nature and Mills

Damme offers a range of options for a stay, from hiking and cycling trails to natural and cultural sites. Numerous well-maintained and signposted trails are connected by a junction system. It makes shorter and longer routes to regional attractions possible. This lets you plan your tour around your preferred distance and choose whether nature, views or a particular theme should be the focus.

Landscape of Forest, Moor and Valley

The landscape of the Dammer Berge around Damme combines hilly forests with meadows, valleys, fields, pastureland, moors and heathland. The natural areas also include open stream valleys with meadows and wetlands in spring. They provide a habitat for a large stag beetle population.

Dammer Bergsee was a settling basin for iron ore mining; the surrounding area was declared a nature reserve in 1995. Its former use and subsequent designation as a protected area thus mark two distinct phases in the area's history. Bergsee is also known for numerous rare and endangered plant species.

Hiking Trails, Valley and Views

The Dammer Bergsee nature trail is a discovery loop about 2.5 kilometres long and takes roughly two hours. For planning, the junction system offers a choice of shorter and longer routes; the nature trail also has a specific distance and an approximate duration. This makes it possible to compare different ways of planning a tour.

Bexaddetal is a narrow erosion valley with a natural stream, seepage springs and alder spring forest. The valley can be accessed from hiking car parks near the Benedictine monastery and on Gramker Straße. It is a recreational area and provides a setting for learning outside the classroom.

Mordkuhlenberg observation tower offers views across the Dammer Berge recreational area and beyond. Eight large iron sculptures line the path to the tower; they depict characters from a play. The Olgahafen nature trail offers another way to explore nature: its six stations cover the ecological development and biodiversity of the Dümmer lowlands.

Mills, Museums and Special Insights

Schnatmühle is an octagonal brick-built Dutch windmill dating from 1895. Check its restoration status before visiting. At Höltermann watermill, two periods come together: the restored watermill dates from 1801 and is once again ready to grind; an exhibition in the building explores the history of the mill and farm. Visitors can also experience the mill through the sounds of its machinery, the waterwheel and the mill stream.

Damme City Museum focuses on local and regional history, including iron ore mining. It also hosts changing special exhibitions. As the exhibition programme may change, it is helpful to check what is currently on display before visiting.

The Dümmer Bird Exhibition presents almost 200 bird species from the Dümmer area as taxidermy specimens. As visiting arrangements may change, check the visitor information in advance. The Transall transport aircraft at the airfield offers a different perspective on Damme: it is on permanent loan and can be viewed from the outside. Separate arrangements are required to visit the interior.

Discover more destinations: Vechta, Bakum, Holdorf, Dinklage, Steinfeld, Lohne, Visbek, Goldenstedt.

Go to the main travel overview: Vechta.