Durch den Ellernbruch und das alte Dorf Kirchweyhe

We start at the Sudweyher watermill, walk towards Sudweyhe and turn left into "Achter de Beeke". Along the Beeke we pass the old farms of Sudweyhe, the "Finterei" is worth a short detour, as there are beautiful half-timbered houses here. We cross the tracks of the narrow-gauge railroad from Huchting to Thedinghausen and can see Sudweyhe station from here. Finally, we turn left, with a stately home in front of us, and walk to the Hache. On the left, we mostly see some exotic animals that are kept here in a small "private zoo".

A bridge leads over the Hache, we walk towards Felicianus Church and pass a memorial stone commemorating the first documentary mention of Weyhe. We take a look at the church tower, the oldest building in Weyhe. We walk across the old churchyard alongside the church to the "Kirchplatz", keeping to the left and passing two farms along the way. To our right is the Kirchweyher lake, into which Süstedter Bach and Hache flow. The river is then called Ochtum.

On reaching the main road to Kirchweyhe, we turn left and walk to the war memorial. There we cross the road carefully and take the footpath opposite, the "Kirchweg". We soon come to the "Dobbenweg" and turn right until we reach the "Scharmarsch" road. We turn left again until we reach the village road. We turn left until we reach Kirchweyher Straße again. We cross it, take the Wischweg, turn left at the end and then right again. Finally, we reach the path that leads to Felicianus Church. We keep to the right, this time not crossing the Hache, but following the path through the Ellernbruch. Finally, we reach the road "Im Mühlengrunde" and turn left to return to the starting point.

On this short walk, which requires sturdy footwear due to mostly muddy patches in the Ellernbruch, we see the old farms of Sudweyhe and Kirchweyhe. With a bit of luck, a horse will peep out of the first door. Some of the trees along the Beeke had to be cut down. Some of the tall stumps are still standing and provide shelter for many animals. "Die Finterei" is an ensemble of half-timbered buildings, one of which is an old farm that was demolished on Kirchweyher Straße. After the last courtyard, we find ourselves on an ancient connecting path to the church, which Sudweyhe churchgoers used to take.

On the way past Kirchweyhe's old farms, we realize that the church was once located in the middle of the village. The footpath "Kirchweg" leads to Dorfstraße, whose extension Schulweg leads via the elementary school to the Moordammbrücke bridge. At "Am Dobben", we see a farm that is elevated on a "Wurt", as this is where the old Weser arms were located, which used to cause flooding. Today, ditches provide drainage.

The Ellernbruch (Ellern = alder) is an old wood that was created as an estate park in the 18th century. Just behind the bridge are some gigantic beech trees. Opposite the watermill is an old estate, the Sudweyher Gut, today unfortunately without a manor house, which was demolished due to dilapidation. A retirement home was built on the site in 2020. The watermill is an event venue for the municipality of Weyhe. At weekends, the mill is usually open for exhibitions. And on Sunday afternoons, the café in the "Kulturbahnhof Sudweyhe" opens.

You can also find the tour at Komoot.

Safety information:

• Throughout the entire tour, please note that the paths are used at your own risk
• No guarantee is given for the usability of the paths
• In the cities/towns, increased attention is generally required
• On the tour, you must expect dangerous spots, such as bollards, barriers and unsecured crossings