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Start: St. Margareta Church
Politically, Neustadt belonged to the Electorate of Cologne until 1803 and became part of Prussia after the Congress of Vienna in 1815. The first parish church, dating from 1229, was located on what is now Hauptstraße and was replaced in 1873 by a new neo-Gothic building, St. Margareta Church, on Wiedbachstraße. It houses a 14th-century baptismal font.
(S) We begin our hike at St. Margareta Church. We turn right and after 200 metres we come to the Kölner Weg on the Wied, cross the river on the L255 and continue on the left-hand side of the L255. Shortly afterwards, we pass a company premises on the left and turn left onto a path that quickly leads us to the route of the former Linz-Neustadt (Wied) railway line.
The railway line was built between 1909 and 1912. The construction costs amounted to 7.5 million Reichsmarks, a large part of which had to be raised by the municipalities along the route. Between Kasbach and Kalenborn, the line climbs about 300 metres. This originally required rack and pinion operation on this section. In 1931, rack and pinion operation was discontinued when locomotives with counterpressure brakes were introduced.
Due to the events of the war, train services were suspended in March 1945, but were soon resumed to Neustadt and, from October 1945, to Neustadt-Mettelshahn after repair work. In May 1950, services on the Neustadt-Mettelshahn section were discontinued, followed by passenger services between Linz and Neustadt (Wied) at the end of May 1960.
(1) A little later, the K turns left, passes under the old railway line through a small underpass and rejoins the Wied. We turn right and walk slowly uphill on a wonderful path above the Wied. The former railway line runs through a tunnel on the right. The narrow path climbs higher and higher and joins a road on the left next to a crossroads.
(2) We are in Krummenau, turn left onto the road, but leave it again after a few metres to the right. We continue along a high hedge on the left on a tranquil grass path. The path leads to a cross asphalt path, which we turn right onto.
(3) Finally, the path climbs a little and meets the former railway line again, which now serves as a hiking trail. If we now turn sharply to the right, we reach the entrance to the Neustadt Tunnel. The tunnel is accessible along its entire length.
However, we continue along Kölner Weg and turn left. The Wied river approaches the old railway line again. We continue slowly through the beautiful deciduous forest until we finally reach an inconspicuous fork.
(4) The K is clearly marked, forcing us to leave the hiking trail to the right. A little later, the path curves uphill to the right in the forest and soon meets a cross path, where we turn right onto a meadow. About 50 metres further on, we turn left and, continuing slightly uphill, we reach another cross path, where we turn left. We are now heading for the first house in Rüddel.
(5) From here, we have a beautiful view of the meadow we have just half circled and the Wied Valley. Behind the first house in Rüddel, we turn sharply right onto an ascending grass path. On the right, deciduous forest climbs up the slope, while meadows and pastures spread out on the left. In the distance, we can see the Bertenauer Kopf.
Finally, the deciduous forest envelops us completely. We cross it, walk towards a meadow hilltop, go about 20 metres to the left and turn right at the end of a fenced pasture. Now we march directly towards Etscheid, which we only touch upon.
(6) A little later, we cross the road from Etscheid to Wiedmühle. Once again, the beautiful hiking trail leads through meadows with good panoramic views until we reach another forest. Then we follow a shady path steeply downhill. The Hammerbach valley spreads out to the right. We are now approaching the valley floor, where the Hammerbach joins us. At a crossroads, we keep to the right, cross the Hammerbach and arrive at the tiny hamlet of Hammerhof.
(7) Centuries ago, there was a hammer mill in this hamlet. The Kölner Weg trail curves to the right, climbs a short hill and leaves Hammerhof. To the left of the trail, the Pfaffenbach stream flows through a wide meadow.
Until the municipal reorganisation in 1970, the Pfaffenbach formed the border between the districts of Asbach and Neustadt (Wied), the municipalities of Windhagen and Bühlingen. Even today, it is still the border between the Archdiocese of Cologne and the Diocese of Trier. The stream takes its name from the monks, the Pfaffen. For almost 600 years – until secularisation in 1803 – the monks of Heisterbach Abbey in the Siebengebirge mountains held the patronage rights and parish and pastoral duties in the parish of Neustadt. In order to carry out their duties, the monks had to walk along the Pfaffenbach.
We continue strolling along the tranquil hiking trail in the Pfaffenbach Valley for quite some time. To the left, we have an unobstructed view of the stream meadow and the hills beyond the stream.
(8) Finally, we cross the stream, which now runs to the right. Later, we come to a fork with a sign for "Jugendlager" (youth camp) and keep to the right.
(9) At the next fork, we leave the Pfaffenbach valley, turn left and continue along the Stockhauserbach valley. Once again, we continue on a wide forest path.
(10) At a fork, we turn left, cross the Windhagenerbach stream and pass a shelter. The stream now flows on the left. After about 200 metres, we turn left at a fork and, after another 100 metres, turn right onto a cross path in front of a slope. From now on, the trail climbs steadily uphill through the forest. We cross the stream several times, which has carved a deep channel and formed impact walls.
(11) Behind a former sewage treatment plant, we turn right onto a wide cross path. In a narrow valley, we now head towards Windhagen.
(12) Finally, the path leads into the village. In front of the Raiffeisenbank, we turn right onto the main road and arrive at the Hotel Zur Post.
(13) The Church of St. Bartholomew rises up in front of us.
Windhagen was first mentioned in 893. A church is said to have stood in Windhagen as early as the 8th century. Until 1803, the priests in Windhagen were appointed by the Archdiocese of Mariengraden in Cologne, which was founded in 1058. Until 1803, Windhagen belonged to the Electorate of Cologne and from 1815 to Prussia. Construction of a new church began in 1869. An earthquake in 1871 caused the west tower of the former church to collapse. The present parish church was added to the old tower as a new Gothic-style building and extended by half a bay in 1908.
Behind the Hotel Zur Post, we turn left into Vierwindenerstraße. At the next fork, Schulstraße branches off to the right. There you will find the Hotel Garni 4 Winden.
(14) We stay on Vierwindenerstraße, which from here is only a small paved path.
(15) Shortly afterwards, we reach the K28, which runs across. We turn left and immediately leave the K28 again, turning right into the street towards Hallerbach. Now we walk towards the motorway, pass under it and then cross the Deutsche Bahn railway line.
(16) A little later, we turn into the second street on the right and follow the signs to the left after 200 metres. Through meadows and past the edge of the forest, we reach the Hallerbach stream. In front of a golf course, we turn right and follow the stream to a crossroads.
(17) There, we turn left and pass the Köhlershohn fishing park. Shortly afterwards, we turn right onto a forest path.
A small stream accompanies us on the left in the forest. This is the border stream between Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia. A few metres further on, we cross the border into North Rhine-Westphalia and walk along the forest path to a fenced-off pumping station.
(18) Here, the Kölner Weg branches off to the left towards the Rederscheid-Rottbitze road. If you wish, you can walk along the Kölner Weg for about 500 metres to Rederscheider Straße and end the hike there.
As our destination is Rottbitze, we continue straight ahead on the wide forest path towards the L247, Rottbitzer Straße, to reach the Hotel Domblick. We turn right onto the L247, follow it past the next roundabout until just before the Honnef/Linz junction and reach the Hotel Domblick (E)
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