Agricultural history round hiking trail Brakel-Bellersen

The path leads you 6 km through Bellersen and the area south of Bellersen. There, village, meadows, fields, and forests can be explored. Along a scenic route, you will experience impressive nature and gain insights into agricultural and forestry history. At the individual stations, you will be familiarized with the historical circumstances through information boards.

The following stations and themes await you:

1. Overview map:
At the starting point in the center of Bellersen, you can inform yourself about the course of the path.

2. Mill ditch and bleaching area:
At this point, the artificially created mill ditch branches off from the Bruchte stream, flowing through Bellersen and driving a mill wheel south of the village. The meadow between Bruchte and the mill ditch was formerly used by the villagers for bleaching the mostly self-produced linen.

3. Mill:
From the Middle Ages until 1965, a grain mill was in operation here. The mill wheel is still turning.

4. Former garden area at Rammelsberg:
Some hedges and terrace edges are the last visible evidence of a variety of small vegetable gardens that were cultivated here near the village as a supplement to the insufficient house gardens, some of which were still managed until the 20th century.

5. Heck cattle "Aurochs":
In areas that are hardly profitable in modern agriculture, the ancestors of our domestic cattle are increasingly being used for nature conservation and landscape maintenance.

6. Rafting meadows in the Bruchte valley:
In 1893/94, a rafting facility was built in the valley below the village. With two weirs, the stream water can be dammed there and led through the rafting ditches over the meadows to promote grass growth. The weirs and some sections of the rafting ditches of the now abandoned facility are still present and illustrate the functioning.

7. Village site Hemmenhusen, old country road at Süsterfeld, and former glassworks Sengenthal:
From the 9th to the 13th century, the village of Hemmenhusen was located here. The current place name "Süsterfeld" (Sisters' field) preserves the memory of old legal relations, as the monastery in the village of Gehrden received contributions from the fields of Hemmenhusen. A hollow way remnant is the relic of a medieval long-distance road used until the 19th century. South of Süsterfeld, the former Sengenthal forest lodge marks the location of a forest glassworks.

8. Fruit tree plantations on Schmandberg:
A large orchard is the still impressive and ecologically valuable remnant of an orchard planting established from 1892, which last encompassed 3,200 fruit trees of various varieties on 272 ha of land. However, due to unfavorable soil conditions, the majority of the plantation has been abandoned.

9. Schmandberg viewpoint:
From the height of Schmandberg, you have a wide view of the Bruchte valley all the way to the city of Brakel. The location of Hinnenburg on a mountain spur above the valley is also remarkable.

10. Pasture and forest ownership:
In the past, Schmandberg served as a community pasture for the village of Bellersen for a long time. The grazing of cattle, pigs, goats, and sheep in the fields, fallow lands, and forests by shepherds was the basis for livestock farming until the 19th century. A map shows who owned the forests around Bellersen at that time.

11. Forest development and forest use:
At the beginning of the 19th century, the forest around Bellersen had its smallest extent. Since then, the forest area has significantly increased. The forest quality has been sustainably improved through targeted forest management. The latter is only possible because the customary forest use for agricultural purposes - especially as pasture in the 19th century - has been discontinued.

12. Fahlenkämpen viewpoint - Geology and landscape:
The location of the viewpoint at the edge of the forest provides a good overview of the northern edge of the Brakel Muschelkalk threshold and the southern Lippian Keuper mountain region. A panel illustrates the geological structure of the landscape.

13. Changes in agriculture:
In the 19th century, the foundation for modern agriculture was laid. The legal and economic conditions that prevented the introduction of effective agricultural methods over centuries were ended. The changes in the landscape due to this are understandable by comparing the former and current forest and field boundaries.

14. The development of the village of Bellersen:
When you reach Strickberg, the village of Bellersen lies before you. Using a map, it is shown how the village has acquired its current shape since its foundation around 800 BC.