What awaits you on the hiking tour?
The circular hiking trail up to the Wietzer Berg starts at the Wietzer Berg car park. On the top of the mountain we find the Lönsstein as a memorial for Hermann Löns. From the 102 m high Wietzer Berg there is an impressive view over the extensive heath area to the landscape of the southern heath. The legendary Elfenberg lies to the southwest near Bonstorf.
Other interesting waypoints are the heath village of Müden (Örtze) and hill graves from prehistoric times embedded in a small forest. Next to the heath area on Wietzer Berg, forests, meadows and fields line the path.
The Lönsstein - a monument to Hermann Löns
Hermann Löns (1866 to 1914) is one of the best-known German writers. Among other things he worked as a journalist for a daily newspaper in Hanover, where he worked his way up from freelancer to editor-in-chief. The profession of a journalist, however, served him only as a breadwinner, while the sideline of writing was his real passion.
He regularly visited the Lüneburger Heide, where he found peace and inspiration for his numerous works, but also explored nature. The novels "Der letzte Hansbur" (1909), "Dahinten in der Heide" (1910) and "Der Wehrwolf" (1910) were very successful at that time. In 1921, the German Hunters' Association placed the Lönsstein on the Wietzer Berg near Müden in memory of the writer.
A real elfin mountain?
According to another story, the Elfenberg played a role in the feud of the monastery in Hildesheim (1519 to 1523). After that, on Saint John's Day 1519, a few days before the Battle of Soltau, there was a bloody vanguard battle between Kalenbergers and Lüneburgers in the Brunautal. The Kalenberg knight Hans von Ollershusen sank with his horse into the mud and was only saved by the help of the opposing knight Hans von Sporeken, an old weapon companion.
The hill graves of Bonstorf
Between Backeberg and Bonstorf, six hill graves bear witness to a cemetery that was built at the end of the Neolithic Age and at the beginning of the Bronze Age.
An information board shows the excavation results for a hill grave which was located on a neighbouring farmland. The ground plan of the hill grave was reconstructed from field stones. The hill grave was surrounded by a stone wreath. The earth covered a wooden chamber in which a man was buried. A clay pot, a hatchet, a sword and a bronze dagger were placed in the tomb. At the northern edge of the hill, a woman had been buried with bronze dress components. The bronze grave goods are characteristic of the older Bronze Age in the Lüneburg Heath (about 1500 to 1200 BC).
The most important facts of the tour in a nutshell
- impressing panoramic view
- legendary elfin mountain
- picturesque heath place Müden (Örtze)
- hill graves