Kappeln guards the middle of the Schlei, and its bridge is the town's pulse. The Schlei is a long, narrow inlet of the Baltic that winds forty kilometres inland to Schleswig, and the bridge at Kappeln is where the road crosses it. It is a double-leaf bascule bridge, which opens at set times to let sailing boats pass, and when it lifts, traffic stops and everyone gets out to watch. Waiting for it is part of the local rhythm, and you will not be hurried.
Just below the bridge stands the herring fence, a V-shaped trap of stakes and nets driven into the shallow water, one of the last of its kind in Europe. The Schlei herring fishery goes back centuries, and the catch is still smoked and sold in town. Kappeln is a pretty place, with a harbour lined with old merchant houses, boats rocking at their moorings and a smell of tar and smoke. It has nearly ten thousand people, with fuel, supermarkets and places to eat.
The countryside around is called Angeln, a gently rolling peninsula between the Schlei and the Flensburg Fjord, from which the Angles are said to have set out for Britain in the early Middle Ages. It is a quiet area of low hills, hedgerows, thatched farms and red-brick churches, and the roads are made for relaxed riding, with soft curves and long views over fields. Nearby, the village of Arnis, on the opposite bank, has about three hundred inhabitants and claims to be the smallest town in Germany, a fun detour.
At eight metres above sea level, you are never far from the water, and the wind coming up the Schlei can be sharp. Come on a weekday morning to avoid the weekend crowds and the bridge queues, and have a smoked fish roll while you wait. Süderbrarup, ten kilometres away, and Gelting are smaller places with the basics. In late summer, when the light is warm and the water is still, there are few better places to be.