Brunsleberfeld: Circular Hike and Forestry History

Brunsleberfeld reveals itself as a hiking destination through a circular route that brings its spring landscape and forestry history to life. The Elm Circular Hiking Trail 28, “Around Brunsleberfeld,” is a 13 km circular hike with 160 m of ascent.

The circular hiking trail and its landscape

The route information lists around 60 percent gravel, 40 percent paths and 0 percent asphalt. Together with the distance and ascent, this gives you a clear overview of the hike. It follows partly natural paths around the former Brunsleberfeld forester’s house. The route also offers views of the Harz Mountains and the Harz foothills; visibility depends on the weather and time of year.

Schunter spring and picnic stop

As the circular route crosses a pasture, it passes the largest spring pool of the Schunter. At this karst spring, water rises from underground and feeds the river, although the visible volume of water varies seasonally. An information board at the Schunter spring explains how the Schunter formed and how it flows. This lets you discover the spring area not only as a landscape, but also through its origins and the course of the river. Eitzumer Blick is a picnic stop on the route.

The former forester’s house and its history

The former forester’s house gave the hike its name, but is not part of the route: no marked hiking trails lead directly to it. Forester’s houses were designed for self-sufficiency. In addition to the main house, they included stables as well as arable and pasture land. The Brunsleberfeld district also has a history in forestry administration: it once belonged to the district forestry offices of the Schöningen State Forestry Office, which was later reorganized.

Choose transport and accommodation to suit your travel plans

The nearest railway station for the route is Frellstedt, 4.6 km away. Before setting out, check current connections and local access conditions for the hike. Parking is available directly at the Zur Schunterquelle excursion restaurant and in the surrounding area; check availability before your trip.

Culture in the wider Helmstedt travel destination

In the wider Helmstedt travel destination, Juleum Novum in Helmstedt offers an architectural contrast to the hike. The auditorium building of the former university was constructed from 1592 to 1597 as a palatial Renaissance building. At the District and University Museum in the Juleum, you can see a town model from around 1750 and original objects from the university era, including an astronomical disk, a globe and tableware from the university canteen. The climb up the Juleum Tower involves 153 steps and takes place from April to October on the first Saturday of each month, from 11 a.m. to noon. Check the date before your visit.

The Schöningen Adventure Trail offers another way to explore the wider Helmstedt travel destination. It runs for 2.5 km from Burgplatz to the research museum and has eight stations with large information boards. This makes it considerably shorter than the 13 km loop at Brunsleberfeld, but its stations focus on a different theme. At the Schöningen Research Museum, you can see the Schöningen spears close to where they were found. They were left behind around 300,000 years ago and discovered in 1994; excavations are still taking place at the site.

Discover more destinations: Lauingen, Büddenstedt, Räbke, Jerxheim, Groß Twülpstedt, Helmstedt, Söllingen, Süpplingenburg.

Go to the wider travel overview: Helmstedt.