Bielefeld offers different ways to experience nature: wildlife, plant diversity and expansive recreational areas sit alongside trails and cultural venues. Around 450 animals live at Heimat-Tierpark Olderdissen, including 35 mammal species, 42 bird species and three fish species. The grounds cover around 16 hectares in the heart of the Teutoburg Forest. The Botanical Garden offers a different focus: more than 3,000 plant species grow across just over four hectares. It was established in 1912, and a traditional Westphalian half-timbered house dating from 1823 stands at its centre. This gives visitors the chance to explore wildlife and woodland on the one hand, and plant diversity and historic architecture on the other, as distinct aspects of nature.
Green Spaces and Trails
The Obersee/Johannisbachtal recreational area, covering around 310 hectares, offers walking and cycling paths, places to eat, mini golf and playgrounds. These provide various ways to enjoy the landscape or combine a visit with leisure activities. The Waldlehrpfad Oberes Luttertal is on a very different scale: it is just under 600 metres long and passes six information boards. They cover the history and individual habitats of this section of the Bielefeld valley. The trail is considered one of the first nature trails of its kind in Germany.
For cycling, the recreational cycle network in and around Bielefeld includes ten routes totalling more than 280 kilometres. By contrast, the forest nature trail covers its topics over a short distance. Hikes through the Teutoburg Forest and along the Hermannsweg are also part of Bielefeld’s tourism offering. The options therefore range from a short local nature trail to an extensive cycling network and hikes in the region.
Industrial History and Cultural Venues
Ravensberger Park brings the history of the Ravensberger Spinnerei to life. The park was created in 1855 as the spinning mill’s grounds and was listed as a historic monument in 1972 thanks to the efforts of local residents. Today, the park is a place for culture, textile industry history, leisure and relaxation. Concerts, trade fairs and cultural festivals are held there regularly. The site’s historic use and its present-day cultural life are part of the same park story.
The Huelsmann Museum is housed in the former director’s villa of the Ravensberger Spinnerei. In addition to its permanent collection display, it hosts up to two special exhibitions a year. To get to the museum, you can take bus route 21, 22 or 29 from Jahnplatz to the “Ravensberger Park” stop; check the current timetable before travelling. The building and collection offer different ways to explore the site: the villa reflects the history of the spinning mill, while the exhibitions complement the permanent display.
Museums to Explore and Take Part In
The other museums each have their own focus. The “Junges Museum” (Young Museum) at the Historical Museum is a participatory space for families, school groups, children and young people. At the namu’s Geo-Stollen, geological processes in the region, plate tectonics and earthquakes around the world are explained interactively. The Wissenswerkstadt offers hands-on exhibitions with partners such as Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences (HSBI), Bielefeld University and Welthaus Bielefeld; visitors can join in without booking in advance.
The Naturkunde-Museum Bielefeld is housed in Spiegelshof, a former manor house dating from 1540. The Bauernhausmuseum Bielefeld presents rural history in a different way: it comprises nine historic buildings and a permanent exhibition on rural life 150 years ago. You can also discover historic crop plants there, including walking onions, pole and bush beans, and flax. Visitors interested in past ways of life can get a close-up look at the buildings, exhibition and cultivated plants; Spiegelshof, by contrast, combines natural history with a historic museum building.
Discover more destinations: Eckardtsheim, Bielefeld, Steinfurt, Lippe, Siegen-Wittgenstein, Bonn, Cologne, Warendorf.
Back to the main travel overview: North Rhine-Westphalia.
