Amt Neuhaus: Discover a village ensemble and border history

Amt Neuhaus combines a protected historic village landscape with border history and nature watching. Historic buildings and exhibitions take center stage in Konau and Popelau; elsewhere, birdwatching and walking trails offer their own points of interest. When planning your trip, you can first decide which topics interest you most before choosing accommodation.

The village ensemble of Konau and Popelau

Konau and neighboring Popelau form a protected marshland row village with Lower Saxon two-post hall houses, stables, barns and carriage houses. The village is considered the only fully preserved village of its kind in the world. It lies directly on the dike in the Lower Saxon Elbe Valley Biosphere Reserve. The ensemble draws attention not only to individual houses, but also to how the different elements of a protected village landscape fit together.

Border history in exhibitions and along trails

In the Elbe village of Konau, an exhibition carriage house and a circular trail on border history, marked with information panels and presented under the theme “Border Crossings – Life on the Elbe in Konau, Popelau and Darchau,” tell the story of people who lived in the former restricted zone. In the carriage house, photographs, exhibits, information panels and authentic interviews with eyewitnesses bring the story to life. The exhibition and trail offer different ways to explore this historical subject.

In Popelau, the exhibition “Forced Resettlements on the Inner German Border” documents the impact of forced resettlement on people in Amt Neuhaus. At listening stations, interviews with eyewitnesses tell the stories of affected families. Those interested in border history will find different perspectives: in Konau, the focus is on life in the former restricted zone; in Popelau, on the effects of forced resettlements. These two themes offer concrete historical points of reference for planning your trip.

Nature watching and regional themes

In Preten, the restored Stork House is a destination for visitors and an information center for the biosphere reserve. The Amt Neuhaus Biosphere Centre presents the permanent exhibition “A Taste for Diversity,” about heritage livestock breeds, crop varieties and nature in the Lower Saxon Elbe Valley Biosphere Reserve. As opening hours may change, check the current times before visiting.

Along the Vogelkieker Tour, bird species can be observed particularly well in the landscape from the Mahnkenwerder observation tower and from Kiek ut in Preten. The tour continues to Neuhaus, home to the Amt Neuhaus Ark Centre, which features many heritage livestock breeds. The Biosphere Centre puts heritage livestock breeds in context with crops and nature, while the Ark Centre focuses on many heritage livestock breeds. For nature lovers, birdwatching and the different exhibition topics can be considered separate interests when planning a trip.

Trails and orientation for planning your trip

The municipality of Amt Neuhaus has ten circular hiking trails, stretching between a dune and the banks of the Elbe. Flooding or other events may temporarily affect their availability; check the latest conditions before setting out on a planned hike. Several border towers also remain along the Elbe Cycle Route in Amt Neuhaus. The trails and towers provide another way to experience the landscape and its history.

These points of interest can help you sort out what matters to you during your stay, without reducing every place to a single day-trip destination.

Discover more destinations

Discover more destinations: Nahrendorf, Soderstorf, Hohnstorf (Elbe), Adendorf, Dahlenburg, Barendorf, Rullstorf, Barnstedt.

Go to the regional travel overview: Lüneburg.