4 – (GER 4) – Schessel – Soltau

Place of Departure	SCHESSEL
Place of Arrival	SOLTAU
Length – KM	39
Nation of the route	Germany
Region	Lower Saxony
Uphill Gap	0mt.
Downhill Gap	0mt.
CAI (Diff. Escurs.)	E
Praticability
File (.KMZ)	File .kmz
Open Street Map on Outdooractive.com	Open Map part 1 Open Map part 2 Open Map part 3

Scheeßel is a municipality with 12.962 inhabitants. It lies on the friver Wümme, about 10 km NE of Rotenburg, and 45 km East of Bremen. This is a hard stage, although without ups and downs or rough ground. We cross an extensive plain, sparsely inhabited, since in the past it was largely under water, new reclaimed, we are therefore induced to make broad detours to find the few hamlets and villages, and in order to follow water courses, sure reference points on the route which avoids highways or busy motorways. We leave taking the Veerserweg which makes us cross the whole town on a straight line; we cross the railway, we turn right, 300 m along the railway , then to the left, here we follow a lane  for 2,6 km, we pass a crossroad, cross a canal and enter the way across the River Versee park: we are now in the Bartelsdorfer Kirchsteg, a spectacular natural environment. We cross the river and carry on for a further 1,4 km till we arrive at Barteisdorf, which we enter along the Am Munlenweg. Upon reaching the town centre we turn left and back towards the river Veersee 2 km away. We won’t cross the river, but take a lane on the right. We will cross various canals, tributaries of the above said river carrying on for about 3 km until we cross the K211 or Bartelsdorfer Caussee. Having crossed we carry on for 500 m and at a crossroad we take the right hand lane which takes us to walk along a fine woodland for about 500 m; here we turn left and on for 2 km, where we turn right and after 500, we turn left and go on for 1 km  will be again on the right, on the Birkenweg, and after 1,5 km we will be in Brockel: We would have, by now, walked (11,4 km) in order to avoid the 4,5 km which separate Bartelsdorf from Brockel all tarmac and busy with vehicles. At the crossroad we turn left on the Kirchstrasse which we follow for 300 m over the Hauptstrasse and on the Ostende which we follow for 600 m, then we turn right on the Gosser Weideweg, flanked by trees, and follow it for 1,6 km; we now turn left  a bad cross the River Wiedau. Continuing straight on we shall cross three roads all coming from nearby Santgemeinde Bothel. And arrive straight on the Holderweg; we turn left and walk 300 m, then we turn right and follow a lane zigzaging for 4 km, through cultivated land divided into fields by rows of trees till we cross the K210 and coming to a locality called Bellen. We have put in access of 23 km behind us, and we need a halt. Climbing the hill before us we may halt at Ferienhauser Castens Hof. In case we have halted at Bellen we shall return on the K210 and follow it for 500 m, then we turn left and take the Moordorf which leads us across a fine tract of woodland; following the lane/road for 2,5 km we arrive on the K223; we turn right and walk for 350 m we turn left on the Rosebruch or K246 which we walk for 2,6 km, then we turn right, passing by a Hydrocarbons plant and walk across a fine tract of woodland for 800 m to arrive at Hartbohn, and we ford the Torrent Rutenmuhle. Now, turning left we follow the course of the River Hahnenbach which after 1 km we shall cross in the vicinity of a horse riding centre. Over the river, we turn right and carry on for 1 km where we leave the road to continue straight on a footpath  for about 3,5 km, still along the river up to the crossing point as we arrive on the Oehrensweg, then Hauptstrasse and we shall be in  Neuenkirche. At the far end of Hauptstrasse we turn right  and take the Frielinger Strasse following it for 500 m; we then turn left on the Sabstrasse, then right on the Falshorner Strasse which leads us into open countryside. We walk along the road for over 6 km, through a beautiful natural landscape: with plenty of trees, some cultivated fields, and numerous traditional houses, canals and marshlands are frequent. We then arrive near Wiedingen, a tiny village, 1 km to our left, we shall carry on along our road, now called Wiedinger Weg, walking in the same direction through the same kind of landscape, up to the outskirts of Soltau which we enter after having crossed the river of the same name. We enter the town leaving behind the Wiedinger Weg  to walk first on the Sellerstrasse, then the Kirchstrasse and we will be in the town centre.

G.Caselli e Th.Dahms     Via Romea Stade-Mittenwald Pilgerfuher Duetschland  Ostfalia