Cycle route of the megalithic culture

Granite boulders are even heavier than they look: The 70 megalithic tombs along the Megalithic Culture cycle route were built from boulders weighing up to 50 tons - as much as 2,500 bicycles put together. Who created such structures more than 5,000 years ago without machines and with pure muscle power? Giants! People believed this in the past and told tales and legends about the "giant graves".

Follow these myths on the way between Osnabrück and Oldenburg. Discover the Devil's Stones, Devil's Trough, Devil's Oven, and other Neolithic cult sites on esker ridges in vast heaths or in the semi-darkness of deep forests.

Furthermore, learn the truth about the megalithic tombs, which is at least as fascinating as the legends. Because apparently, the Neolithic builders already used draught animals over 5,500 years ago and applied the laws of leverage that Archimedes formulated 3,000 years later.

The megalithic tombs also provide insights into the everyday life of the Neolithic period, as they contained grave goods such as weapons, jewelry, and food. Different foods were found in the typical "funnel beakers", showing us today that the people back then kept sheep, goats, cattle, and pigs, and they grew wheat, barley, peas, and beans.

Replicas of megalithic tombs with complete equipment can be found in the Exhibition Center for the Archaeology of the Emsland in Meppen and in the State Museum of Nature and Man in Oldenburg. Information panels on-site provide background information on individual burial sites.