Easy hikes and walks around Brand

I have now discovered the camera!!! I doubt it was already installed during my last visit... 🤔

It's nice to see that the newly erected viewing platform is apparently receiving more attention than it did in the past. This is evident from the extension with information boards and the regular visits by guests arriving on foot, with various types of bikes, and also by car... Speaking of which: The picture of the front of the new platform, which I took at the time without fear of penalty, I would no longer take today, as the meadow is now cordoned off and entering it is strictly forbidden under threat of penalty. There is also said to be a camera...

While the platform, rebuilt after a fire, is no longer quite so hidden, there are still no seats. However, you don't really need them with the great view of birds of prey and water birds in a fantastic landscape with two ponds and associated flora and fauna on two levels... More information about the 'Michelwiese' can be found here: www.gemeinde-nienhagen.de/kultur-freizeit/natur/michelwiese.html

Looking back, the route did catch my eye, but unfortunately it didn't encourage me to stop and/or take photos.

Thanks for the explanation from @Maxe and @Manuuu🌳🚶‍♂️🚲! I think a themed tour should be generated from visiting all the sculptures in one go... 😉

It's nice to see that the newly erected viewing platform apparently receives more attention than was the case in the past. This is evident from the expansion with information boards and the regular influx of visitors arriving on foot, with various types of bikes, and also by car... By the way: The picture of the front of the new platform, which I took at the time without fear of penalty, I would no longer take today, as the meadow is now fenced off and entering it is strictly forbidden under threat of penalty. There is also said to be a camera...

Even though this body of water is probably something artificially created (cf. 'Alte Thöse'), nature has reclaimed a lot here, so a short stop to admire it is worthwhile. To stay in the forest between Wathlingen and Hänigsen, there isn't much else you can do, as @Watho96 correctly mentions in his highlight [www.komoot.com/de-de/highlight/4791781?ref=whd] about the supposedly most direct path past the spoil heap.

In the middle of the forest of the Brand nature reserve [https://www.nlwkn.niedersachsen.de/naturschutzgebiete/naturschutzgebiet-brand-44604.html] , when riding on the well-maintained forest paths, you encounter St. Andrew's crosses and railway tracks. These belong to the remnants of the former potash railway, which ran in a triangle from the former Niedersachsen-Riedel mine near Hänigsen [https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaliwerk_Niedersachsen-Riedel] , via the heap at the former Niedersachsen shaft in Wathlingen [https://www.kpluss.com/de-de/ueber-ks/standorte/europa/wathlingen/#aktuelles] and the decommissioned Elwerath 29 oil drilling site near Nienhagen (ExxonMobil - https://corporate.exxonmobil.de/neuigkeiten/newsroom/presseinformationen/2022/elwerath-29: BEB Erdgas und Erdöl GmbH & Co. KG - https://www.beb.de/About/DE_about.html) to the Ehlershausen train station, where there was a connection to the DB rail network. Although no train has rolled on this route for decades (or centuries?!) especially in the section between Elwerath and Ehlershausen, it was part of the official railway directory for a very long time, which led, for example, to the fact that during the construction of the new B3 near Ehlershausen, sunken railway tracks were visible and audible when driving over them in the asphalt for many years. [http://www.bahnsteiner.de/bergbau/] That this is no longer the case after the application of a new asphalt layer, and that the solidly constructed guardrails also make sense, is due to the fact that the railway lines have now also been removed from the route directory. However, part of the route is still actually used today by the vehicles of Kalibahn Niedersachsen Riedel e.V.. Even though they mention on their homepage that there are also trips on the route from Wathlinen to Elwerath, to which this level crossing belongs, the current condition of the tracks does not look like anything has moved here this year. [http://kalibahn.de/]