The best MTB trails around Hemdingen

5,810 meters of track remain from the Himmelmoor Peat Railway. Built in 1900, it was used to transport peat from the mining area to the peat works on the eastern edge of the moor, operating on constantly changing routes. Small diesel locomotives, some of which were built in-house, pulled the trains carrying the peat floes until mining ended in 2018. Since 2015, the Himmelmoor Peat Railway Association has offered tours on the remaining line. The association maintains the railway and the industrial facilities. Trains are also regularly used for renaturation work.

Peat cutting, i.e., the above-ground extraction of peat, is no longer economically viable today. Peat as a fuel has largely been replaced by other high-energy fossil fuels. Many large-scale peatlands suitable for industrial extraction have now been drained. New peat cutting areas are only permitted under strict conditions. Raised bogs have an important regulatory effect on the water balance due to the large amounts of precipitation they can absorb. The preservation of the original habitats serves landscape conservation and species protection, as most species of peatland flora and fauna are considered threatened or critically endangered. Bogs grow extremely slowly; an intact peat body increases in thickness by only one millimeter per year. It therefore takes a thousand years for a one-meter-high layer of peat to form. Thus, bog areas recover very slowly during restoration attempts.

According to a 1919 contract, peat extraction, which began around 1780, was to continue until the moor had completely disappeared. However, extraction was discontinued in 2018. The gradual renaturation and rewetting of the Himmelmoor had already begun. The "Himmelmoor Friends' Association" was founded in December 2005.

In the middle of the moor - sometimes not even recognizable

Former gravel pit, which receives a second life as an outdoor swimming pool

Quickborn's Evangelical Lutheran St. Mary's Church is located right in the center of town at the intersection of Kieler Straße (Federal Highway 4) and Ellerauer Straße (State Highway 76). It is the oldest of five churches in Schleswig-Holstein built according to plans by Christian Frederik Hansen, one of the most important architects of the Neoclassical period. The first chapel for Quickborn dates back to 1323. At that time, Quickborn was part of the Rellingen parish. In 1589, the parish became independent and received its own church. This half-timbered church, enlarged in 1683, fell victim to a fire in 1759. Apparently only roughly repaired, it served the congregation as a place of worship until 1803. It was demolished in 1804. Construction of the Church The plans for the church were created by Christian Frederik Hansen, who designed it as a hall church with surrounding galleries. A tower was not initially planned; the church was only to have a turret with a single bell. Hansen thus oriented himself toward the preferred basic form for Neoclassical churches. His nephew, Johann Matthias Hansen, who was commissioned to supervise the construction, implemented these plans between 1807 and 1809. The church was consecrated on August 31, 1809. The interior is dominated by a total of 12 Doric columns on either side of the central aisle. These columns lead the viewer's gaze directly to the altar. After the Altona-Kieler Chaussee was completed in 1832, Quickborn experienced a strong economic boom, which improved the community's financial situation and increased the citizens' demands for prestigious buildings. To make the previously rather inconspicuous church more "visible" from the new traffic axis, it was expanded in 1863 with the addition of the present Neo-Romanesque tower. During the construction of the tower, changes were also made to the entrance area, which can still be seen today in the different ages of the brick flooring around the stairs to the gallery. The right side dates from the time of the first construction in 1809, the left side from the time of the tower construction.

Kaltenkirchener Heide, new to us - but really beautiful

The Norderstedt city park is definitely worth seeing - I have to admit that as a Hamburger without envy