Before you make your way to me, a little tip: make sure you pack your swimsuit in warm weather! Because I'm built close to water. With no fewer than twelve reservoirs and bathing lakes hidden in the dense forests between the Ruhr and Rhineland, I'm the only one in Europe. So if blue and green are also your favourite colours, come and visit me in the Bergisches Land. Just let me know in advance and I'll get everything ready for a Bergisch coffee table. You like brown bread with cake, don't you? But there are also waffles with rice pudding and cinnamon and grey bread with liver sausage ... I also serve freshly brewed coffee from the Dröppelminna. Can you smell the wonderful aroma?
Or are you still letting the wind blow around your nose? You're travelling pretty fast. No wonder. Because contrary to what the name Bergisches Land might suggest, which incidentally comes from the Counts of Berg, there are hardly any climbs on my almost legendary cycle paths. The routes are called the Balkantrasse or Korkenziehertrasse, for example, and run along, you guessed it, disused railway lines alongside rivers and reservoirs. In the past, at the beginning of industrialisation, I was one of the most important business locations in Germany and there were lots of goods trains on the way. Some small cottages and grinding shops are still a reminder of this, and some are still in operation. If you have a bit of time, why not take a look?
