TERRA.vita - Lust auf Natur und Erdgeschichte

Natural Monument Dinosaurs
Tracks – Barkhausen
Sauropod dinosaurs in the “Wiehengebirge” mountains?
These largest animals in Earth’s history actually inhabited
the coastal regions. However their tracks were found
in 1921 in a quarry in Barkhausen near Bad Essen. The
amazingly well preserved tracks discovered in the rock
layers are 150 million years old and are attributed to
Sauropods and another predatory type of dinosaur.
Ripple marks produced by wave action indicate that the
tracks originated at the coast. The footprints left in the
soft mud were probably solidified by the sun and then
covered with sediments. The fact that these footprints
are now in a vertical position is due to the up-folding of
the Wiehengebirge at the end of the Cretaceous period.
This may give visitors the impression that the dinosaurs
climbed either up or down the steep face.
In the year 1982 the quarry was designated as a site for
nature conservation. Since the year 2000 a glass roof
protects the publicly accessible prehistoric artifacts. Two
life-size reproductions of the animals that might have
produced the tracks provide a good impression of the size
of these giant dinosaurs.
You can find the free TERRA.tipp flier about dinosaur
tracks at the Nature- and Geopark, or download it from
www.naturpark-terravita.de.
41 Schloss Ippenburg –
Lockhausen/Bad Essen
Eingebettet in eine Wiesen- und Parklandschaft liegt
verborgen hinter hohen Kastanien das Schloss Ippenburg,
ein neugotischer Bau aus dem 19. Jahrhundert.
Es wurde zwischen 1862 und 1867 aus Ibbenbürener
Sandstein mit mehr als einhundert Räumen errichtet.
Seit 1998 haben sich die Ippenburger Gärten zu einer
der „besten Adressen“ in der Gartenszene entwickelt.
Die jährlichen Ippenburger Events locken zehntausende
Gartenliebhaber und „Pflanzenfreaks“ aus dem In- und
Ausland an. Schlosspark und die Gartenbereiche sind
während dieser Veranstaltungen an den Öffnungstagen
sowie im Juni, Juli und August an Sonntagen für Besucher
geöffnet. www.ippenburg.de, www.gartentraumtour.de
HIGHLIGHTS
40 Ortskern Bad Essen
Sehenswert ist der historische Ortskern von Bad Essen
mit seinen zahlreichen Fachwerkbauten, vor allem der
malerische Kirchplatz mit der St. Nikolaikirche im
Zentrum. www.badessen.de
City centre Bad Essen
The historical city centre of Bad Essen with its numerous
half-timbered houses, in particular the picturesque
church square with “St. Nikolai” Church in the middle,
is truly a sight worth seeing.
Ippenburg Castle –
Lockhausen/Bad Essen
Situated in a picturesque meadow in a park landscape
and hidden behind great chestnut trees, one will find
Ippenburg Castle, a neo-gothic structure from the 19 th
century.
The castle was built between 1862 and 1867 of local
sandstone from Ibbenbüren. It has more than one hundred
rooms. Since 1998 the gardens of Ippenburg Castle
have become a famous venue of the international garden
scene. The annual events in Ippenburg attract tens of
thousands of garden fans and “plant freaks” from home
and abroad. The palace grounds and the gardens can
be visited during the above mentioned exhibitions and
events during normal business hours or on every Sunday
in June, July and August.
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