Vreden between the Berkel, nature and culture
Accommodation in Vreden
Vreden combines a distinctive river landscape with nature experiences and remarkable culture. The Antwerp altarpiece in St. George’s Church, Zwillbrocker Venn and museums covering very different subjects each give a trip a different focus.
The Berkel, the Venn and open countryside
Between Stadtlohn and Vreden, the Berkel has retained its natural course. Steep banks, sandbanks and scour pools shape this stretch. The river flows through Coesfeld, Gescher, Stadtlohn and Vreden before reaching the Netherlands. NatureTour 1 starts and ends in Vreden and is around 30.5 kilometres long. Along the way, it passes through broad meadows and small woods, and by typical farmsteads that shape the region’s landscape.
Zwillbrocker Venn lies to the west of Vreden. You can explore it on a guided walk or on your own. The visitor centre at the Zwillbrock Biological Station complements a nature outing with an interactive exhibition about moorland, heath, woodland and grassland. Nature enthusiasts will find both a landscape to explore and ideas for learning about a range of habitats.
If you would like to include a shorter circular walk in your plans, Berkelsee offers another option: the six-hectare lake lies about two kilometres from Vreden town centre, is surrounded by trees and shrubs, and can be circled on a path. The lakeside path and the approximately 30.5-kilometre-long NatureTour 1 therefore offer concrete but very different scales for planning an outing.
Church art, museums and regional history
The Antwerp altarpiece is considered the main attraction in St. George’s Parish Church. It is about 4.60 metres high and was restored in 1979/89. The collegiate church of St. Felicitas offers a different architectural perspective: its oldest part is a remarkable crypt with pillars and columns decorated in different styles. In Zwillbrock, the original interior furnishings of St. Francis’s Church are among the best preserved in Westphalia.
The Scherenschnittmuseum (Silhouette Museum) is housed in a listed building right on the market square. It is Germany’s first museum dedicated to paper cutting; its permanent exhibition traces the varied history of the art from around 1700 to the present day. If you are interested in a more unusual niche collection, you could also visit the Miniaturschuhmuseum (Miniature Shoe Museum), which houses the world’s largest collection of miniature shoes.
The Museums-Hofanlage, an open-air museum of agricultural buildings, is located in Vreden’s town park. At its heart is the Früchting farmhouse, which came from Ellewick and was moved here in 1969. The Heimathaus Noldes in Vreden-Ammeloe focuses on the history and culture of the house; visitors can also discover historical tools and agricultural equipment there.
The kult WestmĂĽnsterland in Vreden is dedicated to the history and culture of the WestmĂĽnsterland and the neighbouring Dutch region of Achterhoek. Its permanent exhibition explores borders from several perspectives: trade and transport, smuggling and the law, faith and religion, globalisation and regional identity, and the past and present. Together with the churches, the farmstead museum and the specialist museums, it offers a wide range of cultural subjects, without requiring every visit to appeal to the same interests.
Borken as the wider regional setting
The wider destination of Borken may also play a part in planning your trip. The district of Borken is in North Rhine-Westphalia, in the MĂĽnster administrative district, north of the Ruhr area, and is the westernmost district of the MĂĽnsterland. It shares a 108-kilometre border with the Dutch regions of Achterhoek and Twente, making cross-border excursions possible. More than 5,000 kilometres of well-developed cycle paths throughout the district, away from busy roads, invite you to explore.
One distinct historical highlight in the wider destination of Borken is Gemen Castle. Built more than 900 years ago, it stands on two islands in the former marshland of the Bocholter Aa. Since 1946, the Diocese of MĂĽnster has operated it as a youth education centre under the name Jugendburg Gemen.
Choose where to stay based on the subjects you actually want to explore.
Discover more destinations: Südlohn, Isselburg, Velen, Gescher, Borken, Ahaus, Legden, Schöppingen.
Go to the main travel overview: Borken.
