A raised bog in the Kaufunger Wald, trails through a nature reserve and a village museum give Staufenberg a varied character. Other highlights include a 2.5-kilometre barefoot trail, golf at Gut Wissmannshof and summer concerts at the Sichelnstein castle ruins. For planning your trip, you can choose what interests you most: nature, village history or outdoor activities.
HĂĽhnerfeld and MĂĽnden Nature Park
Hühnerfeld is a 51-hectare raised bog on a plateau in the Kaufunger Wald and part of the 332-hectare Bachtäler im Kaufunger Wald nature reserve. The two figures refer to the bog and the nature reserve as a whole. In the wet areas, you can find peat moss, round-leaved sundew, bog rosemary and narrow-leaved cottongrass.
Staufenberg is part of MĂĽnden Nature Park. The park landscape associated with Staufenberg includes the Kaufunger Wald and the Bramwald, as well as forests, meadows, farmland, beech mixed forests, streams and meadow valleys. The wider nature park region has marked hiking and cycling trails, along with numerous nature trails. The nature theme therefore ranges from the distinctive bog landscape to trails through varied forests and meadows.
Trails and Outdoor Activities
Staufenberg hiking trails pass through the HĂĽhnerfeld nature reserve in the Kaufunger Wald. Haferberg, at 580 metres, is considered the second-highest mountain in Lower Saxony; hiking trails in Staufenberg pass by it. This offers different ways to experience nature: a raised bog with its wetlands and a prominent mountain in the hiking area.
The Nienhagen barefoot trail is 2.5 kilometres long and is considered a nature experience for all the senses. Along the way, you’ll encounter surfaces of sand, wood, stone paving, mud, spruce cones, moss, gravel and water. It offers a different way to experience nature than hiking through forests and meadow valleys. Conditions on the trail may vary on site.
Staufenberg also has two footbath facilities. Hikers and cyclists can stop for a picnic at shelters, barbecue areas and children’s playgrounds. These spots make it easy to plan breaks during an outdoor stay.
Golf is another option: a championship golf course is located at Gut Wissmannshof between Lutterberg and Speele. It adds a different activity to the nature and hiking options, without requiring a hiking route.
Village History and Summer Culture
In Nienhagen, the Gollong House is a village museum in a small half-timbered house opposite the village church. The museum offers insights into traditional village crafts. The house is associated with actor Georg Christian Gollong and ballet dancer Erika Gollong, who spent the second half of their lives there. The building, museum and biographies offer different ways to explore local history.
The medieval village of Steinrode was developed as an educational facility on the grounds of the Haus Steinberg forest education centre. In the summer months, an open-air stage at the Sichelnstein castle ruins is used for concerts. As the programme is seasonal, it’s worth checking the dates for specific events before your trip.
In the wider Göttingen destination
Göttingen also offers its own cultural attractions within the wider destination. At the Forum Wissen, visitors can learn about ongoing research and teaching. The permanent exhibition “Räume des Wissens” covers 1,400 square metres and lets visitors explore how knowledge is created. Its twelve rooms contain more than 1,400 objects from the collections of the University of Göttingen.
The Old Botanical Garden of Göttingen was established in 1736 as a “hortus medicus”, or medicinal garden. Visitors can explore its historic greenhouses, tropical vegetation in the rainforest house and the Alpine garden. These attractions are in Göttingen and should be considered separately from the nature and cultural sites in Staufenberg.
Discover more destinations: Landwehrhagen, Duderstadt, Fuhrbach, Gleichen, Seeburg, Gieboldehausen, Ebergötzen, Göttingen
Go to the main travel overview: Göttingen.
