Industrial peat cutting may not be everyone’s cup of tea. However, it is big business in Osterholz-Scharmbeck.
You don’t really notice it at all as a visitor, however. Instead, you can just go out and take advantage of the large, shallow lakes that have been left behind. Swimming, boating, and fishing are all great from early spring until late fall.
In November you can forget about the lakes. Yes, there is ice skating, but nobody is doing it. At least, not when the 100-year old football club VSK Osterholz-Scharmbeck is playing. Dissolved briefly during WWII by those meddlesome French, the team has played in the championship rounds the last few years and loyalty runs deep.
Who cares that the town is on the edge of the Teufelsmoor? All that boggy flatland is great for conditioning runs. Yes, they have regular trails too, for running, hiking, or biking. Just move out of the way fast if a burly team of soccer players is heading down your path! ;-)
When the team is not on, the Osterholz-Scharmbeck locals will be happy to take you to one of the many museums and old structures showcased throughout the towns. The Good Sandbeck Knight’s house is one of the oldest structures, and is conveniently near St. Mary’s church and St. Willihadi’s Cathedral. From there a series of functioning water mills will be on offer, some dating back to the 1600’s. They are good for novelty and pictures.
The real treat will be at the evening meal. The rich Osterholz-Scharmbeck soil provides white and green asparagus, cabbage dishes, Knipp and Pinkel Sausage, and Rote Grütze for dessert. The Rote Grütze is especially sweet and addicting — sliced red fruits mashed with sweet cream — made all the richer by the moist local soil in which the fruit grows.
Even if you are stuffed from the sausages, you HAVE to make room for this dish. ;-)