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Start: Dierdorf, Protestant church.
(S) The Cologne Trail passes the clock tower and owl tower in Dierdorf. It runs along the Holzbach stream to the Hotel Babylon.
(1) There it branches off to the right into Burgstraße, crosses the Holzbach stream, passes under a railway line and runs along Schützweg towards Poststraße. The trail continues along Brauereistraße and later Rheinstraße and leaves the town. We continue our hike between meadows and fields and walk downhill.
(2) We cross the Schlimmbach stream and enjoy the magnificent view as we climb uphill. The K trail leads us through fields and meadows. We pass a raised hide and take a last look back at Dierdorf from a shelter.
(3) We then enter the Märkerwald, which has a beautiful stand of beech trees and old oak trees that are protected by nature conservation laws.
(4) After a slight incline, we reach a crossroads and turn right. Before we reach the B413, a path branches off to the right, which leads to the Waldhotel. Finally, we reach and cross the B413 and soon come to a wide farm track, which we turn left onto.
(5) We stay on this path for a while until the forest opens up and Dernbach spreads out before us. Behind it rises the Dernbacher Kopf (427 metres).
(6) We now turn left and walk along the edge of the forest, always with a view of Dernbach. Later, the path turns right. On the left side of the path, we come across the Max and Moritz oak trees. Dernbach is now on the right and we continue until we cross a stream. A beautiful forest path follows.
(7) The first houses of Dernbach appear and we reach the Waldstraße. If we turn right there into Schönblickstraße, we reach the Country Hotel after about 300 metres.
However, Kölner Weg continues straight ahead into a wooded area and crosses the K121. We pass a football pitch, walk along a tree-lined path and arrive at the small road Im Trümpchen.
(8) At the end of the street, we turn right onto Am Hahn and after about 150 metres left onto An den Buchen. Soon after, we cross Mittelstraße. We continue straight ahead through a small wood and then through meadows along an industrial area on the left until we reach Hochstraße.
(9) We turn right and after 20 metres left. Ahead of us in the valley, we see Urbach. We walk a short distance on an asphalt road, then on a grassy path that winds its way towards Urbach.
(10) The K sign first leads us through the Urbach district of Überdorf to a pond, which we walk along for a while. Then we turn left, soon after right, and head for the main road.
(11) The Kölner Weg turns left into the main street of Urbach. Here, on Kölner Weg, is the Brinker guesthouse, where you can also stay overnight. On a small hill opposite, the Protestant church towers over the village. Several beautiful old half-timbered houses surround the white church building.
Urbach is one of the oldest places in the western Westerwald. The Counts of Wied established the first high court here in 1323. The Protestant church is a particular eye-catcher. The church was first mentioned in documents in 1204. An octagon was added to the late Romanesque church tower between 1825 and 1827, reminiscent of the Palatine Chapel in Aachen Cathedral. Two bronze bells from 1444 hang in the tower.
Our route takes us along the main road to the left and out of the village.
(12) At the last house before the sawmill, we turn left onto a path. We cross the two headwaters of the Urbach stream at their confluence and shortly afterwards walk along a grassy path through a beech forest, which we eventually leave to continue on a small asphalt road until we come to a small crossroads. There we turn left.
(13) Later, we cross the L265 and see the winding tower of the disused Georg mine in the distance on the left. We walk a short distance on the K123, turn right at a fork, turn left at the next fork and reach Linkenbach.
Linkenbach, first mentioned in 1347, is the only place along the entire length of the Kölner Weg where the most important street in the village is named after the road that runs through it: Kölner Weg.
(14) We leave the village via Muscheider Weg and the small road Zum Wiesental and enter the forest again. The Linkenbach stream accompanies us on the left, while beech trees climb up the slope on the right. Unexpectedly, steps lead up the slope to the former healing spring near Linkenbach.
The spring apparently provided much sought-after healing water, as it was dispensed under the supervision of soldiers from the County of Wied, who also collected fees for the water. Each Maaß (1¼ litres) cost 2 stüber.
(15) A little later, we reach the Grenzbach, which formed the border between the electorates of Trier and Cologne and still separates the districts of Neuwied (to the right of the stream) and Altenkirchen (to the left) today.
(16) We finally cross the stream and change districts via a small footbridge.
As part of the Grenzbachtal project and a compensatory measure for the new railway line, visitors are informed about the various economic uses of the area in previous centuries. Today, the Grenzbachtal valley is once again home to a variety of habitats. These include spring brooks, ponds, wet depressions, meadows, pastures, hedges and bushes, as well as rocks.
(E) The hike is coming to an end. Passing fish ponds, we reach the Hotel Grenzbach-Mühle.
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