Lake Erika, the idyll in Leherheide-West

Around 86,000 square meters of recreational space between housing project and highway.

Even if the sugar-white sandy beach might give a different impression, swimming is not permitted at Lake Erika in Leherheide. Otherwise, however, the approximately 8.6-hectare natural habitat, which was extensively renovated in 2012 with EU funding, offers just about everything that a small, urban recreation area can offer to enable its residents to relax. A public barbecue area included.

Admittedly, you can't really escape the constant hum of the neighboring highway at Lake Erika. Nevertheless, the recreation park, which is located at the southern end of Jakob-Kaiser-Strasse, offers a little vacation feeling on the outskirts of the city. Swinging fun, XXL benches, hammocks, a moor adventure trail, plenty of space for picnics and a nice barbecue area. There is also always something great to discover and experience at Lake Erika. For example, one of the many sensory islands or motor activity stations located to the left and right of the trail. Children will find a sand playground, nature lovers can observe the flora and fauna in the water, forest and moor. At some point, the hum of the highway is automatically forgotten.

The entire area covers 8.6 hectares, 2.5 of which can be used directly by people. The rest belongs to nature. The lake belonging to the area has an area of a good 3600 square meters. It provides habitat for water birds and numerous insects. Above all, there are many dragonflies here. This is also indicated by two oversized statues standing on an island in the middle of the lake. You can constantly see the speedy fliers buzzing around near the shore. Lake Erika was created in the 1970s in the course of highway construction and the development of the Leherheide-West district. Even then, it was intended to serve as a recreational area for the people here. Over the years, however, the small habitat gradually fell into oblivion and lost its attractiveness. In the summer of 2012, the lake was awakened from its slumber and restored with EU funds. This also resulted in the creation of the moor experience trail, which was laid out as a circular path around the lake. It imparts knowledge about the moor and combines the whole thing with exercise and relaxation.

Today, Lake Erika forms a great opportunity for relaxation, rest and recreation in the immediate vicinity of a residential area. It is frequently used by schools and daycare centers, but also frequented by many residents from Leherheide. The barbecue area offers the possibility for joint barbecue fun. The water quality of the lake was extensively improved as part of the redevelopment. In order to maintain this, it is also not allowed to feed the numerous ducks living there. A strong metabolism of the water birds could have a very negative impact on the water quality of the lake and thus damage the whole area. 

What: Lake Erika recreation area
Where: Leherheide-West
Access: parking lot Jakob-Kaiser-Straße
Offers: Barbecue area, moor experience path, sand playground, relaxation islands.

Marker Icon SchattenMarker Icon
city plan cutout
city plan cutout

You can find us here

Jakob-Kaiser-Str. 16
27578 Bremerhaven
Go to city map
Plan your route
Timetable information VBN

The following keywords were given for this article