Day laborers' route

The Heuerlingsroute is an approximately 21 km long circular route that leads around the town center of Enger and connects the outlying districts with each other. The term "Heuerling" refers to the Heuerlings houses or Kotten, where the Heuerlings lived in poor conditions and worked for the farm owners from the Middle Ages onwards. These Kotten can still be found in the landscape today.
A meaningful starting and finishing point for the circular route is the town center of Enger. Here you can access the rail-bike route via the May meadow and cycle along the Bolldambach until you reach the route at Steinbeck. From here, the route initially leads north through the loosely populated Steinbeck and past some farms to the small village center of the farming village Besenkamp. The route continues through fields and past hedges to Siele, the smallest village in the Enger area. Here too, the small village center is characterized by large farms. Behind Siele, the tour turns south again and continues through the hilly cultural landscape dotted with small groups of trees and farms to Dreyen and Klausheide. From here, a detour to the center of Spenge is not far either. However, the Heuerlingsroute continues south over the Baringer Bach and then up to the highest point of the route at Ringsthof, one of the 5 remaining Sattelmeier farms in the Engeran area. There are various explanations for the origin of the term "Sattelmeier". It may be because the owners of the farms had to provide a saddled horse in case of war. In the gateway to the large courtyard of the Ringsthof, a coat of arms is embedded, in the shield of which there is a saddled and bridled horse. The Sattelmeier farms are probably the oldest farms in the region and today belong to the largest farms in the Ravensberger Land. The Heuerlingsroute continues through Pödinghausen and Oldinghausen, past two more impressive Sattelmeier farms. The last place on the circular route is Herringhausen-Dorf, before the starting point at Bolldammbach near Steinbeck is reached.
The route design focuses on experiencing the historical cultural landscape with its Kotten, farms, villages, fields, hedges, and forests overall. Those who cycle the Heuerlingsroute focus on the essentials, namely cycling and the scenic experience. The hills of the Ravensberger Land offer constantly changing views of the landscape, but also require a certain level of fitness to handle the recurring ascents well. The route is very low in traffic and leads almost exclusively on quiet, asphalted side streets. Therefore, the route is well suited for groups or families, as well as for racing bikes.
For more information on the route and waypoints, visit the Enger city website or the Herford district's cycling leisure website: www.fahr-im-kreis.de.