Green between the rivers

What a floodplain still does

A floodplain is not a park with a river in it. It is a seasonal machine. In late winter and after heavy rain the Weser spreads into the meadows. Cattle move off; geese move in. Dikes protect the towns, but between the dikes the grass is allowed to go under. That flooding deposits silt, keeps willow and reed in their places, and explains why some tracks are closed in March and perfect in July.

Nienburg is the rail hinge: a compact brick town, a river front, bakeries that feed the Weser cycle path. Petershagen, downstream, is looser, more village than centre, with ferry memories and long pasture. Architecture is secondary. What you come for is the moment the last streetlamp gives way to wet grass and a sky that is suddenly too large for a town.

A working order of the day

1. 1. Arrive by regional train. Nienburg sits on the Hanover–Bremen line. From the station the river is a short, flat walk.
2. 2. Follow the dike, not the shortcut. Inner paths flood. The crown is the reliable line, as on the lake dikes.
3. 3. Watch the high-water marks. Stains on trees and staff gauges tell you whether yesterday’s rain is still in the field.
4. 4. Turn inland for oaks. The Rehburg woods sit west of the lake country and give the only dense shade on a hot Weser afternoon.
5. 5. End in a small square, then leave again. Towns here are punctuation. The sentence is the meadow.