Reinbek: Castle Culture and Green Trails

Reinbek combines castle culture and museum collections with evidence of prehistoric times and trails through woodland and river landscapes. Reinbek Castle makes an architectural statement; the edge of the Sachsenwald reaches into the town centre. When planning your stay, you can choose to focus on culture, walks or cycling. The rail and bus connections are also a practical factor when choosing where to stay.

Castle and Museums

Reinbek Castle was built from 1572 to 1576 in the Dutch Renaissance style. Its restored rooms, with painted wooden ceilings, are used for cultural events, exhibitions, trade fairs and other public programmes. The castle is thus both a historic building and a venue for cultural life.

Opposite the castle, Museum Rade displays more than 1,000 exhibits in a late 19th-century villa. Its main areas include German and international naïve art, as well as African folk art. The museum also houses the collection of writer and ethnologist Rolf Italiaander, including paintings, statues and ceramics from his travels. The different themes offer a museum visit in its own right, alongside the castle’s architectural and cultural history.

Church and Prehistoric Traces

The Church of St Mary Magdalene was built in 1901 in the Neo-Gothic style and given its name in 1969. Prehistoric traces are also present in Reinbek: 47 prehistoric burial mounds are protected as monuments. A walk around the Ohe burial ground reveals almost 20 well-preserved Bronze Age burial mounds and a Stone Age long barrow. Evidence from different periods thus stands side by side, though it does not share the same historical background.

Walks and Cycling

The edge of the Sachsenwald reaches into the centre of Reinbek and can be reached on foot from the S-Bahn station. In Reinbek Castle Park, broad tree canopies, vistas and reflections in the Mühlenteich shape the walk. The old trees include small-leaved and large-leaved lime trees, Hungarian silver lindens, and English, sessile and red oaks.

For a cycling trip, Stormarn Tour 22 is a 31-kilometre route starting at Reinbek S-Bahn station. It offers scenic views in the Bille valley and around Klingeberg. On the return leg, the route follows the Bille; there is a swimming spot at Tonteich in Wohltorf, outside Reinbek. The route is not signposted on site, so check the route description before setting off.

Getting There and Finding Your Way

Reinbek is connected to Hamburg by the Hamburg–Berlin railway line and frequent S-Bahn services; five HVV bus routes supplement local transport. The S-Bahn runs towards Aumühle as the S2/S7. By car, Reinbek can be reached via the B5 and the A24 and A1 motorways. Check connections and routes before you travel. When choosing where to stay, you can also consider whether your plans focus more on culture, green trails or cycling.

Stormarn as a Wider Region

Across the wider Stormarn travel region, extensive woodland and moorland landscapes add to the picture; there are also numerous castles, manor estates and manor houses. Stormarn offers many short and long circular walking trails, including the Stormarnweg and the Way of St James, as well as more than 20 circular cycling routes and rail-trail bike paths on disused railway lines. Hahnheide is Stormarn’s largest nature reserve and offers extensive walking opportunities. These regional options provide a broader context for planning your trip and are not a description of Reinbek.

Discover more destinations: Glinde, Travenbrück, Großhansdorf, Brunsbek, Heilshoop, Lütjensee, Trittau, Oststeinbek.

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