Introduction
This is a fairly short and relaxed walk to the grave of the “Poet of the Heath” Hermann Löns (29 August 1866–26 September 1914). The walk follows the river Böhme, goes through a beech and conifer forest to the village of Elferdingen, explores the enclosed juniper grove with the grave of the poet, and returns to Bad Fallingbostel via Tietlingen.
The walk is easily completed in less than three hours. It is as rewarding in winter when the pure cold air and the snow covered ground transmit an aura of beauty and tranquility, as it is in summer when the heather is in full purple bloom and revellers populate the picnic area.
The trek is well marked by a red deer symbol which is found in abundance along the route and guides you along your way.
Bad Fallingbostel Car Park Idinger Heide to Templin Brücke
The walk starts at the small car park off Idinger Heide. From here turn right into Idinger Heide and walk past a number of pretty houses. The first of many red deer route markers is easily spotted on the trunk of the third silver birch, past house number 10. The road turns into Schlüterberg from where a path on your right, marked with another deer route marker, takes you down to the river Böhme. Follow the gentle flowing river to Templin Brücke. Willow shrubs line the bank of the river. To your right is an orchard, whose trees in summer are laden with large apples.
The Böhme has an overall length of 73 kilometers. It originates in the Pietz Moorland, south east of Schneverdingen, in the Lüneburg heath. It flows south through Soltau, Dorfmark, Bad Fallingbostel, and Walsrode, to join the river Aller between Rethem and Hodenhagen.
River Böhme to Old Mill
Cross Templin bridge over the Böhme and head upwards to join Hermann Löns Straße. A large oak tree bears another red deer route marker. Turn right past this ancient tree, and carry on down Alte Pulvermühle, following the curve of the road. Ignore the path to your right which goes into woodland. A marker high on another oak tree, reminds you that it is another 3 km to Lönsgrab. The road here changes from a paved path to a dirt trek and passes by a pond with bulrushes. Beautiful rowan trees, laden with red berries, give a touch of colour to the hedgerow. The path rises gently uphill, and emerges into a residential area. Keep to your right down Alte Pulvermühle road. This takes you to the edge of a beech forest and meanders down to rejoin the river Böhme. To the left of the wooden bridge is a small metal girdle with the inscription “5/s PiBtl721”.
In 1815, August Wolff and Dr Leschen Urlaub founded the powdermill “Leschen Urlaub and Wolff” on the banks of the Bomlitz river. The mill produced gun cotton, a nitro cellulose based propellant, or smokeless powder. In 1837, August Wolff merged with the gunpowder factory in Fallingbostel and Rönsahler Factory in Westphalia, to form the “German Powder factory AG zu Rönsahl and Walsrode”. In 1876, this became Wolff and Co. During World War II Wolff and Co was an important producer of munitions. In 1974, the company became Wolff Walsrode AG, and in 2001, it moved to the Industrial Park Walsrode in Bomlitz.
Wolff Walsrode AG manufactures cellulose derivatives which are used as thickeners in many different products, such as foodstuffs, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals, and high-grade building materials like ready-to-use plaster, tile adhesives and emulsion paint. Walsrode Nitro cellulose is used worldwide as a binder for printing inks and surface coatings.
Forest walk to Elferdingen
Cross the wooden bridge, and follow the path as it goes gently uphill to the edge of a dark conifer plantation. Enter the forest, and walk to the first crosspath. A sign to your left directs you to Elferdingen (700 m) and to Lönsgrab (2 km).
An abundance of deer route markers guide you out of the forest, and lead you to a paddock on to the main road on the outskirts of Elferdingen. A riding school and farm, with a number of old barns, lie across the road. Veer to the right, down Elferdinger Straße, pass a boulder with yet another sign to the Lönsgrab, and keeping to the pedestrian path on the right hand side of the road, follow this towards Uetzingen. Open fields lie to your right. As you approach the first farm in Uetzingen a deer route marker diverts you across the road to a foot bridge above the Böhme (Böhmesteg). A wooden stave and boulder guard a muddy path, between stables on your left and some farm outbuildings to your right. Go down this path to the old wooden bridge over the Böhme.
Hermann Löns Grave
Go over the bridge, cross an open field heading diagonally to the right to what looks like an oak plantation. A gate and turnstile gain you access to the Natur Schutz Gebiet (NSG) or Nature Protection Zone. The area covering 14 hectacres of heather and junipers with grazing sheep, was donated to the municipality of Soltau Fallingbostel by Wilhelm Asche.
Once past the turnstiles, keep to the right of an information board which has a map of the NSG, and a brief history of the area you are about to enter. The juniper grove is the final resting place of the poet of the Heath Hermann Löns and his friend Wilhelm Asche. Follow the right hand path all the way to a T junction. Turn left, towards a gate, enter the juniper grove, and follow the path on the right, marked IVV 8 WW to Löns' Denkmal.
The memorial to Hermann Löns was erected in 1929 by the writer, poet, and farmer Wilhelm Asche in memory of his friend Hermann Löns. At the time Löns, who had been killed in World War I, had no known resting ground as his remains had not yet been recovered. The memorial carries one of Löns' short poems:
Let your eyes be open
Be silent
And wander quietly,
Then you will become aware of hidden things
From the Denkmal make your way down the steps, turn left, and after about 100 metres approach a single boulder covering the remains of Hermann Löns. Rest on one of the five benches looking across the grave. In summer a carpet of purple flowers from the multitude of heather provides a pleasing and relaxing backdrop. In August, on the anniversary of the poet's birthday, the Löns Federation organises a Löns' Week, which ends with a commemorative speech and the laying of a wreath on his grave.
Hermann Löns rests under a simple boulder in the middle of the Tietlinger Juniper Grove. This boulder is part of the same block which serves as a memorial to the poet Heinrich Eggersglüß in the Bürgerpark Dorfmark. A simple inscription says “Here lies Herman Löns”. A Wolfsangel, (wolf's hook), adorns his grave. In 1910 Löns published “Der Wehr Wolf” set in a farming community during the 30 years War, where the main character, Harm Wolf, adopts the Wolfsangel as a mark against the occupying forces. The Wolfsangel originated as a mason's symbol, and can be seen in stone works of the 13th to 16th century. It was modified by an additional central stroke, and adopted by a number of military units of the Third Reich.
Hermann Löns, 29 August 1866–26 September 1914, was born in Kulm, West Prussia. His parents were from Westphalia. Löns wanted to study natural sciences, but his father insisted that he studied medicine. Löns soon abandoned his studies, and in 1890 immersed himself into journalism. In 1892, during the Cholera epidemic in Hamburg, Löns worked as independent correspondent. He visited Lüneburger Heide for the first time in 1893, and was immediately captivated by the pure air, beauty, and the simplicity of “this wonderful land”, as he often referred to it. While working at the “Hannoverschen Gazette”, Löns wrote prolifically on the plant and animal life that typified the North German Landscape. He often signed his works with the pseudonyms “Fritz von der Leine” and “Ulenspeigel”. His poem “In the Lüneburger Heide” was set to music by Ludwig Rahlfs and became the regional hymn of the heath.
At the age of 48 years, Löns volunteered for war service. In September 1914, he joined the 73 Fusilier Regiment on the Marne Front, which formed part of the German Second Army under General Karl Von Bulow. He was killed four weeks later on 26 September 1914 in Loivre, 10 km north west of Rheims. His body was not recovered. In 1933, a French farmer ploughing a field uncovered a skeleton with identity tags. The remains were buried in the war cemetery in Loivre. When the identity tags were subsequently identified as those of Löns, his remains were removed to Germany 1n 1934, and interred by the Wehrmacht at Tietlinger on 2 August 1935.
From the poet's final resting place, make your way down the left path and follow this under juniper trees. Heide sheep are often seen grazing here in the undergrowth. On the right of the path is a boulder with the inscription:
The grave of the poet Hermann Löns lies in the care of the Stadt Fallingbostel 1936
From here emerge on to an open space and take a path ahead and diagonally to the right. This is Wilhelm Asche Weg which leads to a small hill, the Hilligenberg.
Hilligenberg is the resting place of Wilhelm Asche, 29 June 1882–11 June 1955. A rowan tree and a silver birch mark the grave of this landowner, writer, poet, and friend of Hermann Löons. The memorial boulder on Hilligenberg has an extract from Asche's works. It states:
Oh, Homeland, trusted ancestor's site
How the wind is rushing through the firs,
I wish I had such homeland,
As you fortunate child of the heath
W A T (Wilhelm Ashce Tietlingen)
Wilhelm Asche was born in Fallingbostel on 29 June 1882. He was a writer, farmer, and landowner. He was nicknamed the “Potato Doctor” by his friends for the number of poems he wrote in praise of the humble vegetable. Many of the short stories and anecdotes recorded by Asche were true events that took place in the heath. His attachment with his homeland, in particular with his place of birth, Fallingbostel, is reflected in the following poem, which he set to music himself, and which is played daily at 11:45 by the carillon of the Bad Fallingbostel Town Hall:
Beautiful Fallingbostel sing
Praise your beauty
And into all hearts should go
The glory of the heather paradise.
Asche managed to make a successful living from the sandy heath, and in 1876, established “Asche Farm Management Business” in Kampgarten Straße Fallingbostel. He sold this in 1913, and with the proceeds bought Hof Tietlingen, (Sans Souci), with its surrounding juniper grove.
Ascher was influential in bringing Hermann Löns' remains back from France. He worked energetically to fulfil Elisabeth Erbeck's desire, (Löns' first wife), to establish a room in Walsrode museum as a lasting memorial to Löns. Wilhelm Asche died on 11 June 1955, aged 73 years. He too was laid to rest in his beloved heath in the Tietlinger Juniper Grove.
Hilligenberg leads down to the picnic area outside the enclosed NSG.
Tietlingen to Bad Fallingbostel Car Park Idinger Heide
Leave the NSG, pass the picnic area, and walk down the path lined with rowan, silver birch, and oak through the golf course, until you reach the main road. Turn left, pass a barn with eleven bird boxes hanging high up its wall, and the former Sans Souci Restaurant.
From Tietlingen, walk towards Bad Fallingbostel. Ignore the turning to the left which heads to Elferdingen. Enter the outskirts of Bad Fallingbostel. On the wall of house Number 36 on the Tietlinger Lönsweg, is a patriotic bronze tablet, similar to that on the Untergrünhagen farm in the suburbs of Bad Fallingbostel.
The formation of the Bergen Hohne Military training area led to compulsory purchase of farms by the Wehrmacht and relocation of the farming communities. The farmers did their patriotic duty and were given a certificate personally signed by Hitler, and a metal tablet, which they took with them to their new homes. The inscription says:
We give up the inheritance of our fathers for the protection of the homeland, for the defence of Germany. On this new earth the farmer with renewed strength creates a new legacy 1936.
Proceed down Tietlinger Lönsweg, ignoring the turning on your left to Hermann Löns Straße, and follow the road as it curves round to Walsrode Straße. Turn left here. After about 300 meters turn left down Dr Fricke Weg. Cross Dr Fricke Brücke over the Böhme. This leads on to Schlüterberg. Turn left and retrace your steps into Indinger Heide and the car park.