Experience.Circle.GT - Circular hike along the Dalke river and to the memorial site of the LWL Hospi

Start your circular hike at the Gütersloh district office. After crossing the Herzebrocker Straße (pedestrian traffic light), head into Teckentrups Weg, where you will reach the greenery after a few minutes. After crossing a small wooded area, you will reach the Dalke. The course of this 24 km long, right-side tributary of the Ems was renatured in the 90s and 2000s. This has once again created a diverse habitat for wildlife and plants, which now serves as a recreational area.

After a short section along the Herzebrocker Straße, turn left into the Rhedaer Forst. This approximately 1,000 hectare forest is owned by the princely family of Bentheim-Tecklenburg and borders the city of Rheda-Wiedenbrück. On your way, you will pass the listed Kalthof from 1708. At the western edge of the Rheaer Forst lies the Wapelbad, which used to be a light and air bath and now offers recreational activities with a gastronomic offer as well as cultural and sporting events.

From here, it is not far to the present-day LWL Clinic. Numerous buildings of the nursing home built in 1911, as well as the park and garden, are listed as historical monuments. In 2014, a memorial was inaugurated for the euthanasia victims of the former Westphalian Provincial Mental Hospital Gütersloh, to commemorate the patients who were murdered during the time of National Socialism. This place of remembrance and commemoration consists of the Room of Names (Kreuzkirche), the tour of clinic history (cemetery), and the Stone of Remembrance. After your tour of the LWL Clinic grounds, you will be back at the Gütersloh district office in a few minutes.