Recently, I made my debut in the Actifit and Worldmappin communities. My girlfriend and I took @werkseber's advice and went for a hike to the Varus Museum, just a 38-minute walk from our campsite. I wrote a blog about it on the same day but got caught up in the vacation vibes and forgot to post it until now. We're currently at the Waldfrieden Wonderland festival, and I'm already working on another post about it. But first, let's talk about our hike to the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest, also known as Varusschlacht.
T h e W a l k
The route took us along a road and occasionally through wild paths in the nearby forest. For some reason, my Google Maps doesn't store walking routes offline—apparently, only car navigation is prioritized. Fortunately, Maps retains the route once you've started navigation. This was a lifesaver since there was no internet in the forest, but we still had GPS signal ^^
On our hike, we enjoyed the beauty of nature and the sunny spots in the woods. I even took some photos with my bigger camera, which I'll share on Hive once I have a chance to export and edit them on a PC. Along the way, we took breaks on benches and even ventured off the official routes to enjoy some nice views:
About three-quarters of the way to the museum, we came across a small graveyard. I captured a photo of the largest stone, though the vibe was a bit spooky, so we quickly continued our walk 👻.
I think the whole route took us around 45 minutes, and it was a good workout, especially if you're not used to walking such distances. I was wearing Vibram barefoot shoes (which I highly recommend) because my other shoes got wet the day before and I didn't want to walk in rain boots. They're amazing for your feet and blood circulation, but probably not ideal for this type of hike ^^
T h e R e s t a u r a n t
A few more steps and we arrived at the museum dedicated to the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest.
In front of the museum, there's a restaurant offering tasty dishes and drinks that appear to be inspired by Roman cuisine. But yeah: Take a look at the menu yourself xD ➡️
We shared a Roman lentil salad, fries, a piece of cake, and two "Fassbrause" (soda mixed with non-alcoholic beer) to recharge. The drinks weren't to our taste, but the meal and cake were delicious, and the pricing was reasonable.
Side fact: The next day, we picked some salad at a supermarket salad bar and, guess what, they had the "Roman" lentil salad, lol.
T h e M u s e u m
Now that we had our energy back, we entered the museum, which was full of interesting facts about the Romans, German tribes, and their historic battle back in year 9 CE.
The interface designers did a fantastic job creating interactive, playful, and diverse ways to explore topics related to Romans, German tribes, ancient military, and the Teutoburg Forest. I bet children have a blast here, as even for us, it was refreshing to use all the displays, move parts, pull drawers filled with details, and explore various methods of presenting information. Traditional museums could definitely take some inspiration from this approach!
In short, the Roman Empire lost a significant portion (1/8) of their troops in this battle, halting their expansion into the Germanic regions. It is one of the most important events in European history.
I don't have time to share all the details here, but one crucial point is that most of the stories we learn about the Germans are based on Roman writings. Since the Romans and Germans were enemies, there's a good chance we get a biased view of the Germans in history books. If you want to learn more about these groups, their lives, the area around the Teutoburg Forest, and much more, I highly recommend visiting this museum!
Above the museum, there's an observation tower offering a wide view of the surrounding forests. From there, we could see the mountain where our next stop is located: the Waldfrieden Wonderland festival. The sight only heightened our anticipation!
The most fun we had at a special exhibition about the Roman stylez:
The temporary exhibition was filled with details about ancient clothing, including what people were allowed to wear and how fabrics and colors were produced. The explanations were also written with a touch of humor. The museum also offered you to try on a wide variety of clothing, but I felt too sweaty to change on the spot, haha.
We were surprised to find that the museum also addressed today's fast fashion and its severe impact on society and the environment.
Since we arrived pretty late, we didn’t have time to explore another large section of the museum. Behind it, there's a vast park with various stations offering more history lessons about the battle, as well as insights into today’s nature, conservation efforts, and wildlife habitats. Our feet were already sore, so it was a wise choice to skip that part and head back to our campsite 🏕
The museum is definitely worth the hike and the entry fee. If you’re traveling by car or bike, it’s a must-visit!
The rest of the day was spent cooking, eating, relaxing, and planning for our departure the next day. With great anticipation for the upcoming festival, we had a restful night and got up early to continue our trip 🚀.
Sneak peek of our next stop:
