21.9.2025, On the occasion of today’s visit to Oldenburg: Jon Fairburn’s 2009 Reflections on a week in Oldenburg [cycling]

Jon Fairburn (2009, Flyer): Reflections on a week in Oldenburg, Germany – the lessons it provides for increasing cycling in the West Midlands and the UK in general. (Jon Fairburn, Institute for Environment, Sustainability and Regeneration, Staffordshire University, UK) www.yumpu.com/en/document/view/49978551/reflections-on-a-week-in-oldenburg-germany

• Arriving at Oldenburg. As I emerged from Oldenburg train station, the first thing I noticed was a mass of parked bicycles … By the time I arrived at the hotel I had … seen more cyclists in that short trip than I had seen in North Staffordshire so far this year … I asked the hotel receptionist whether there was a cycling festival going on, he just laughed “Oldenburg has 160,000 people and 320,000 bikes.” …
• A different type of bike … In Oldenburg biking is part of everyday life … There is rarely a cross bar (making it easier to get on and off); they have a stand, lights, a covered chain guard, mud guards, and a rack on the back … Cycling starts at an early age in Oldenburg …
• Infrastructure: the key resource. A culture of cycling is encouraged in many ways, but perhaps most im­portant is the provision of a proper cycling infrastructure. Most of the main roads have separate cycle lanes down both sides of the road …
• Cycling as a way of life. There is a general culture that is supportive and appreciative of cycling in Oldenburg, in part this is because many car drivers also cycle, and if they don’t, their children almost certainly do … Cycling in Oldenburg is a way of life, you see people cycling with their dogs, lovers cycling hand in hand, mothers towing their youngest children behind them in trailers, people riding home with shopping … Neighbourhood design, infrastructure provision and soft measures such as cycle training all influence the level of walking and cycling in an area …. Children and adults in Oldenburg are getting lots of exercise just from going to school and work every day by bicycle …
• City of the future. … Having a proper infrastructure and support for cyclists means that Oldenburg is actively reducing carbon emissions and has better air quality and a healthier population compared to many British cities … the city has … started to take significant action to help tackle climate change and our over reliance on fossil fuels …

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Cf. 9-12 May 2025, ♣ Oldenburg: Impressons, readings, flashbacks / Eindrücke, Lektüren, Rückblenden

10.9.2025, Radeltour Unterelbe / Cycling tour Lower Elbe river: Otterndorf – Freiburg – Glückstadt

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Route / Itinerary:

• Bahnfahrt / Train ride: Hamburg-Hbf -> Otterndorf
• Radeln: Otterndorf Bhf. -> Otterndorf-Norderteil -> Medem-Schleuse -> Belum -> Neuhaus -> Oste-Sperrwerk -> Hörner / Baljer / Wechtern- / Stellenfleth- / Schönworth- / Freiburger Außendeich -> Freiburg -> Allwördenerdeich -> Wischhafen-Fähranleger / Cycling: Otterndorf train station -> Otterndorf-Norderteil -> Medem lock -> Belum -> Neuhaus -> Oste river barrier -> Hörne / Balje / Wechtern / Stellenfleth / Schönworth / Freiburg outer dyke -> Freiburg -> Allwörden dyke -> Wischhafen ferry terminal
• Fährfahrt / Ferry trip: Wischhafen-Fähranleger / ferry terminal -> Glückstadt Fähranleger / ferry terminal

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• Radeln: Glückstadt Fähranleger -> Glückstadt Hafen -> Glückstadt Bhf. / Cycling: Glückstadt ferry terminal -> Glückstadt harbour -> Glückstadt train station
• Bahnfahrt / Train ride: Glückstadt -> Hamburg-Dammtor

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(Radelstrecke / Cycling distance ca. 57,2 km)

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Otterndorf: Niedersachsen, Landkreis / county of Cuxhaven, „Land Hadeln“, https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otterndorf: Die erste Lateinschule ist seit dem 15. Jahrhundert nachweisbar. Von 1778 bis 1782 wirkte Johann Heinrich Voß als Rektor der Lateinschule … / The first Latin school can be traced back to the 15th century. From 1778 to 1782, Johann Heinrich Voß served as headmaster of the Latin school …

Freiburg/Elbe, https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freiburg/Elbe: … ein niedersächsischer Flecken im Landkreis Stade … gehört zur Samtgemeinde Nordkehdingen … Plinius der Ältere, der mit einer römischen Flotte unter … Drusus bis zur Elbe gelangte, berichtete über Uferanrainer, die überwiegend vom Fischfang leben … / … a small town in Lower Saxony in the district of Stade … belongs to the municipality of Nordkehdingen … Pliny the Elder, who reached the Elbe with a Roman fleet under Drusus, reported on coastal residents who lived mainly from fishing …

Land Hadeln, Land Wursten, https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geschichte_von_Hadeln_und_Wursten: … im Mittelalter bäuerliche Gemeinwesen mit einem hohen Maß an Autonomie … liegen im Norden des Elbe-Weser-Dreiecks im Landkreis Cuxhaven … / … in the Middle Ages, rural communities with a high degree of autonomy … are located in the north of the Elbe-Weser triangle in the district of Cuxhaven …

Kehdingen, https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kehdingen: … im Landkreis Stade … am Unterlauf der Elbe … beiderseits der unteren Oste … / … in the district of Stade … on the lower reaches of the Elbe … on both sides of the lower Oste …

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Cf.

• 30 Aug 2025, Radtour / Cycling tour Wedel -Glückstadt
• 15 Dec 2023, Orgelexkursion nach Bützfleth und Freiburg (Elbe)
• 6 Dec 2019, Kehdingen: Advent concert / (Orgel- etc.) Adventskonzert
• 6 Mai – 4 Oktober 2006: Segeln inkl. SKS [inkl. Glückstadt, Cuxhaven, Elbe-Ästuar]
• 61203 Elbeästuar