The Wümme is one of the quieter rivers of northern Germany, a dark, slow stream that winds through meadows and moorland east of Bremen, and the roads that follow it near Ottersberg are made of long, soft curves. The land is flat and wet, with reeds, alders and pollard willows along the banks, and on still mornings the mist hangs low over the water and the cattle stand in it to the knees. It is the sort of landscape painters came to find in the late nineteenth century, and many of them stayed.
The most famous colony was at Worpswede, a little way to the north, but a smaller and gentler one grew up at Fischerhude, a village within Ottersberg's municipality, where the Wümme splits into channels and the thatched farmhouses sit among tall trees. The painter Otto Modersohn lived and worked there, and the village is still full of artists' studios, galleries and craft shops, with an old water mill and a number of lovely half-timbered houses. A walk along the river there gives you exactly the view the painters saw: still water, reflected trees and a low sky.
The riding is easy and gentle. The roads are narrow and often straight, with occasional sharp corners where the road crosses a bridge or bends round a farm, and the surface is generally good, though patched in places. Traffic is light on weekdays, but fine weekends bring cyclists and tourists, particularly around Fischerhude, and parking there is limited. Keep an eye out for farm machinery and for deer on the verges. The weather comes off the North Sea, so a sudden shower is always possible, and the light after rain is superb.
Ottersberg has about twelve thousand people in its municipality, so fuel stations, supermarkets and bakeries are on hand, and there are a few cafés in the village centre. For a photograph, the best spots are along the river near Fischerhude and on the meadow roads, particularly in the early morning or late evening, when the low sun picks out the trees and the water. Bring a layer, since the damp air of the moors can chill you quickly. A stop at a café for coffee and a slice of apple cake completes the picture.