Discover Leer: Old Town, Tea and Harbour
Accommodation in Leer
Leer brings together historic sites and museums with harbour life and green spaces. Whether you are interested in the city’s history, East Frisian tea culture or activities on the water, you will find a range of themes to help you plan your trip. You can also choose your route here according to your mode of transport and starting point.
Kanalbrücke über den Nordgeorgsfehnkanal in Detern
Photo: Frank Vincentz via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Old Town, history and Evenburg Castle
One of the most striking sights in Leer’s Old Town is Haus Samson, an Amsterdam-style gabled house that has adorned the town since 1643. Public guided tours take in, among other places, the old town hall, the historic weigh house and Haus Samson; the tour lasts 1.5 hours. This gives you a clear timeframe if you would like to explore these historic sites as part of a guided tour.
The former Jewish school in Leer is also part of the town’s historical and cultural landscape. It is a memorial and meeting place run by the district of Leer. Evenburg Castle, in turn, is a cultural monument of regional importance. The castle, park and outer bailey form the distinctive trio of the complex. Since May 2014, the castle has been open with a permanent exhibition on the life and household management of an aristocratic family in the 19th century, and also serves as a centre for garden culture. Leer thus offers different ways to explore history and culture: a gabled house in the Old Town, a memorial site and a castle complex with an exhibition and garden culture.
Tea culture and museums
Spread across two floors, the Bünting Tea Museum explores the cultivation, production and preparation of tea, as well as the history of East Frisia’s favourite drink. The regional tradition goes back further: from the second half of the 17th century, East Frisia developed its own tea culture, with particular blends, porcelain and various rituals. When planning your trip, you can combine a specific museum visit with a subject that represents East Frisia as a whole, not just the town.
The Leer Local History Museum and the Telecommunications Museum offer further points of interest. The local history museum focuses on East Frisian domestic culture and local seafaring. At the Telecommunications Museum, visitors can explore 150 years of communications history through rare exhibits and working equipment. The themes range from domestic life and seafaring to communications—offering a varied selection if you would like to look beyond the Old Town during your time in Leer.
Harbour and countryside outdoors
The museum harbour is freely accessible year-round and is run and maintained by the Schipperklottje. The “Koralle” canal boat offers a different perspective on the water: visitors can take a harbour cruise through Leer’s harbour. This makes the harbour a destination in its own right, with a freely accessible waterfront location and a boat tour.
The Westerhammrich recreation area in the northwest of Leer covers about 1 km², with a lake of about 15 hectares at its centre. Walking and cycling paths, places to stop and observation points are among the area’s attractions. If you prefer to get around by bike, a well-signposted network of cycle routes makes it easy to ride in and around Leer. The guided cycling tour “Around the City by Bike” shares interesting facts about Leer and explains why the town looks the way it does today. Please note when choosing a tour: it does not always follow well-known and official cycle routes.
In the surrounding area, “Paddel und Pedal” lets you explore the East Frisian rivers and canals independently. You can choose from several types of activity: cycling in and around Leer, a guided tour focused on the town’s development, or an independent exploration of the rivers and canals. Which option you plan for may influence what you prioritise when choosing your holiday apartment.
Getting here and regional contrasts
By car, Leer can be reached via the A 28 from Bremen and Hamburg, the A 31 from the Ruhr area, and the Dutch A 7 from the Netherlands. By train, services to Leer run from Oldenburg and Bremen, as well as from the Ruhr area. These routes provide a practical guide when planning your journey by car or train and looking for a suitable holiday apartment.
The district of Leer also includes the island of Borkum. It has been a seaside resort since 1850, is located in the UNESCO World Heritage Wadden Sea and offers dune landscapes, diverse flora and fauna, and miles of sandy beaches. This is a distinctive natural feature of the district, in contrast to Leer’s urban focus on the Old Town, museums and harbour.
Discover more destinations: Rhauderfehn, Jemgum, Holtland, Leer, Neukamperfehn, Brinkum, Bunde, Hesel, Nortmoor, Weener, Westoverledingen, Detern, Filsum, Firrel, Ostrhauderfehn, Bingum, Moormerland, Uplengen.
To the general travel overview: Lower Saxony.
