I don’t know about you, but I get all excited when I hear about awesome towns within the Münsterland. This is where you’ll find towns like Steinfurt, Ochtrup, and Horstmar — and today, Metelen, along the Vechte River.
Just so you know, this is way up here in northern NRW. Heck, you’ve almost made it to Lower Saxony!
What’s really great about Metelen is how close it is to some awesome German castles, like the Wasserburg Welbergen (a 13th century medieval one, no less) whose formal gardens belong to the European Garden Heritage Network.
Gardening is big here, by the way, offering 25km guided Garden Bike Tours.
Back to the castles, though. Schloss Burgsteinfurt is nearby, and said to be the oldest within the state. Too bad you can only see the outside — and it doesn’t have any towers or turret, but it is lovely enough to have earned it a stop on the 100-Schlösser-Route. Pretty sure its Gatehouse and moat have something to do with that.
Now that you’ve seen that, time to move on to Metelen’s Stiftskirche Sts. Cornelius & Cyprian (12th century), and the Stiftskirche Schatzkammen, a 16th century built over an older one.
For a night out, the Old Church Welbergen holds Choral Evenings; and Jazz events and outdoor concerts are other cultural activities around town.
Metelen’s Vogelpark (Bird Park) is a treat, with some 75 different species of the flying creatures, as well as having its own zoo.
You’ll even find two museums here: one being the Railway Museum or Bahnhofsmuseum Metelen Land (we Germans love trains for some reason), and the Mühlenmuseum (Mill Museum).
Germans love biking too; and one 40km cycle route leads you around to many 17th/18th century farmsteads.
Isn’t it understandable why I get all excited to tell you about towns within the Münsterland? :-)
