Peine is an industrial town between Hanover and Braunschweig, and it does not pretend to be anything else, which is its charm. For more than a century, steel was its business: the Ilseder Hütte steelworks, founded in 1858, shaped the town and the surrounding villages, and the Peiner Träger, steel beams made here, were exported across Europe. The heavy industry has declined, but it left behind a working-class town with a strong sense of identity, brick housing, and honest, unfussy places to eat.
The old centre, rebuilt after wartime damage, has a market square with a town hall and a church, and a few half-timbered buildings survive. The Mittelland Canal, one of Germany's major waterways, passes close by, and barges and cargo ships pass the town day and night. Beyond the canal, the land is flat and open, with farmland and sugar beet fields, and the horizon is dominated by wind turbines and the occasional chimney.
For a rider, Peine is a convenient stop for food and fuel on the way between Hanover and Braunschweig or on the return leg of a day out. The town has a good range of bakeries, cafes, and restaurants, and the prices are reasonable. It is a place to have a plain, filling lunch, such as a schnitzel with fried potatoes or a bowl of soup, and to sit for a while. The roads around are flat and straight, with farm traffic and a few trucks, and the surface is generally decent. It is not scenic, but it is practical.
There are fuel stations around the edges of town and on the main roads, and supermarkets and bakeries in the centre. Meerdorf, a smaller village about six kilometres away, has few services. The best time to stop is late morning or early afternoon, when the lunch places are open, and the weather is usually mild in spring and autumn. In winter, the open farmland can be cold and windy, with fog and ice on the roads. If you are heading back to Hanover at the end of the day, a coffee and a slice of cake here is a good way to prepare for the traffic.