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Route 9: Stobkepad, Onstwedde

1 hour 55 minutes (8.5 km)

On this route, you’ll walk along paths near Onstwedde that people have been walking on for centuries. This route is 8.5 kilometres long.

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The paths you walk today must have been trodden by people thousands of years ago, as Onstwedde, together with Sellingen, Vlagtwedde and Wedde, is one of the oldest settlements in Westerwolde.

The inhabited area in Westerwolde was originally limited to the banks of the Ruiten Aa, Mussel Aa and a small section of the banks of the Westerwoldse Aa.
All in all, this was a strip 25 km long and approximately 1 km wide, widening at Vlagtwedde and Onstwedde, plus a strip downstream where Blijham Vriescheloo and Bellingwolde are now situated. The surrounding area was mainly marshland.

Near Onstwedde lies the largest sand dune, the Onstwedder Holte, which is about nine metres higher than the Ruiten Aa. This sand-covered landscape probably formed during the last ice age, when the rivers carried much more water.

During the walk…

The paths you walk today must have been trodden by people thousands of years ago, as Onstwedde, together with Sellingen, Vlagtwedde and Wedde, is one of the oldest settlements in Westerwolde.

During the walk, you’ll pass a small area featuring ‘hay riders’. This artwork was created in 1983 by Magda Lagerwerf, modelled on a Scandinavian example, and is part of an art trail.

The earliest traces of settlement in this area date back to the Middle Neolithic period, from 2800 to 2100 BC. The discovery of a possible burial ground on the Veele es and a number of flint axes and pottery shards bear witness to this. This culture is known as the Funnel Beaker Culture, named after the beakers with funnel-shaped necks that were in use at the time. There are also silent witnesses to the Footed Beaker Culture and the Early Bronze Age.

However, many more finds have been made from the late Bronze Age (1000 to 700 BC). Urn fields from that period have been discovered at Höfte and at five other sites in Westerwolde. At the Höfte site, archaeologist Van Giffen was the first to discover circular ditches surrounding the burial sites, revealing a close connection with ancient cultures in Westphalia.

So-called ‘Celtic fields’ have also been found in Westerwolde, for example in the Zuidveld near Sellingen. These are complexes of embanked fields, sometimes covering dozens of hectares. Soil investigations point to sand drift caused by overexploitation, which may have been a reason for the population to migrate to other regions.

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This is a route of the Walking in Westerwolde Foundation sponsored by Bakkerij Meinds Dorpsstraat 41, Onstwedde.