The river Garte is a small, approximately 23-kilometre-long tributary of the Leine in Südniedersachsen. Its name gives the Gartetal – literally the Garte valley – its identity, and the river is one of the defining features of the landscape around Gleichen, east and south-east of Göttingen. It rises near Weißenborn, close to the Thüringen border, and flows westwards before reaching the Leine south of Göttingen, near the area east of Rosdorf.
On its journey, the Garte passes or runs close to Beienrode, Kerstlingerode, Rittmarshausen, Wöllmarshausen, Benniehausen, Klein Lengden and Diemarden. These villages give the valley a particularly attractive rural character, with wooded slopes, open fields and quiet stretches of water. Klein Lengden lies in the Gartetal beside the Lengder Bach, which joins the Garte nearby, while Benniehausen is situated further upstream.
The Gartetal is also well suited to cycling. Routes lead from Göttingen through Diemarden, Klein Lengden and Benniehausen towards Wöllmarshausen and Rittmarshausen, combining quiet country lanes with sections along the former railway route. For a leisurely ride, the valley offers a pleasant mixture of natural scenery, village history and manageable distances rather than demanding mountain terrain.
The old Gartetalbahn once ran alongside the valley and connected Göttingen with Rittmarshausen, later continuing towards Duderstadt. The narrow-gauge railway opened in 1897 and served local residents, farmers and day-trippers before its remaining operations were eventually discontinued. The Garte has a special meaning to me because my parents were raised in villages beside it: one in Benniehausen and the other in Klein Lengden.
Garte
Gleichen
Germany
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