Computers and sheep in East Westphalia – from Paderborn via Löhne to Minden

We actually wanted to stop for a hike at the Externsteine. But since it was pouring with rain, we spontaneously changed our minds and looked for an activity that offered a little more protection from the rain.

In the travel guide we came across the “Heinz Nixdorf Museumsforum”, which is located in Paderborn. Since our route took us past there anyway, we decided to explore the largest computer museum in Germany.

A very extensive exhibition on two floors provides information about the development of writing, mathematics and data processing.

The exhibition began with the early days and the creation of the first written characters and invoices for accounting purposes.

From antiquity and the Middle Ages, we moved on to typewriters and calculating machines, which were already invented by Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz and later further developed.

After many impressions about history and important inventors, there was an exhibition on the development of computers on another floor.

The first examples were room-filling computers. The computer center from the Sachsenwerk in Dresden is part of a facility that was only shut down in 1993.

In the evening we spent the night with Landvergnügen at the “Schäferei Stücke” in Löhne.

We were given a very friendly welcome and were allowed to look around the farm and farm shop.

There is an old wool combing machine on the farm that is still in operation. This is where the wool is prepared for further processing after shearing.

The next morning, after feeding, we were allowed into the sheep pen, where some of the sheep initially eyed us critically or welcomed us with joy.

However, once it became clear that we posed neither a threat nor a source of food, we were ignored.

Some of the little lambs were only three days old and were still lying with their mothers in separate boxes.

Our journey continued to Minden, where we took a short tour of the city center.

On the banks of the Weser, some trees were still under water. However, in January there was a flood here that even made the surrounding meadows, parking lots and walking paths disappear.

In the city center we of course also looked at the impressive cathedral before we fortified ourselves at the Italian restaurant on the market square.