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Start: Corner of Siegtalstraße and the Protestant church
(S) An exceptionally varied section of the Cologne Trail lies ahead of us. We begin our hike at the corner of Siegtalstraße and In der Raubach, which branches off to the right in Herchen. We first follow the ascending road until the Cologne Trail branches off to the left into the mountainside, together with the local Höhenweg trail.
(1) The narrow path leads steeply uphill to the Thingplatz Herchen.
In 1935, the municipality of Herchen erected a memorial above the village for those who fell in the First World War. A rotunda built of quarry stone originally stood on a semicircular foundation. It also contained the plaques with the names of the fallen. The rotunda opens onto a large, stepped assembly area, which was named Thingplatz after the Germanic model. A large terrace completes the complex.
Below the Thingplatz stand the "Cologne Cannons". They got their name from their original location on Cologne's Heumarkt. The cannons date from the Franco-Prussian War of 1870/1871 and were moved from Cologne to Herchen during the First World War.
(2) We then continue steeply uphill and come to a fork, where we take the left path uphill. The trail continues along narrow paths that wind through the forest and along the slope. Sure-footedness is essential. The path descends several times into a ravine before leading uphill again in a hairpin bend. We cross gorges via wooden footbridges and tiny streams and hike through unspoilt forest. We should take our time for this picturesque section.
(3) At times, the path swings back up to the same height and we stroll past meadows and fields for a short time, reaching vantage points from which we can see the Sieg and the Leuscheid rising beyond it. Finally, the path descends into the valley.
(4) We pass the Windeck comprehensive school, walk downhill on an asphalt road and come to the L333.
(5) The Kölner Weg crosses the L333 and turns immediately left onto the L312, passing under the railway bridge and onto the road bridge over the Sieg. Ahead of us, the wooded slopes of the Leuscheid rise above the Sieg. The Kölner Weg has reached the northern Westerwald region.
(6) Behind the Sieg bridge, we immediately turn right onto the ascending road Zum Werferstein towards Werfen.
The well-known cabaret artist, writer, children's book author and actor Hanns Dieter Hüsch (1925-2005) spent the last years of his life in Windeck-Werfen.
(7) The Cologne Trail soon leaves Werfen again, sending us right onto Hohnsiefen street and leading us towards a forest. The wide hiking trail runs about 100 metres above the Sieg river.
We are in the Leuscheid area, a wooded ridge that forms the border between North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate and stretches between Hennef and Weyerbusch. At 388 metres, the Hohe Schaden is the highest point. The Höhensteine, the Eitorfer Schweiz and the Mönchskopf are also part of the Leuscheid. In 2004, 1,380 hectares of the forest area were placed under nature conservation. In earlier centuries, the alder was felled in Leuscheid at the beginning of May. Its bark was knocked off with a wooden hammer and the bark was dried. Powder mills that had settled in the area bought the bundles and processed them into black powder.
The path winds its way high above the Sieg river downstream.
(8) From here, we have a beautiful view of the small village of Stromberg with its oak grove on the other side of the Sieg and the Nutscheid. Our forest trail continues to climb steadily uphill. We walk through a beech forest and, a little later, a newly reforested coniferous forest until we reach Schneppe.
(9) At house number 43, we turn right and continue hiking through the forest, coming out into open terrain below the 335-metre-high Hüngenhardt and enjoying the wonderful view. Finally, we approach another forest.
(10) We come to a crossroads, where we turn left, and the K sign directs us to the left and then to the right onto the L147.
(11) We cross the country road and continue straight ahead towards Kuchhausen.
(12) But soon the Kölner Weg turns left, leading us back into a wooded area. Once again, a magnificent view of the Irsenertal valley and the distant Beulskopf with the Raiffeisenturm tower opens up.
Here, it is advisable to leave the Kölner Weg for a short time and make a detour to the Blauer Stein basalt crater. We follow the sign for Blauer Stein, walk straight ahead for a short distance on the road towards Kuchhausen, but are soon directed to the right into a small wood by the sign for Basaltkrater. Passing Kuchhausen on the left, the path finally runs along the edge of the forest.
August Sander (1876-1964), one of the most important German photographers of the 20th century, lived in Kuchhausen from 1944 to 1963. Born in Herdorf in the Altenkirchen district, August Sander began as an apprentice in the "San Fernando" iron ore mine and first came into contact with photography at the age of 16 when an industrial photographer from Siegen took pictures on the mine site. Soon afterwards, Sander's family pooled 100 talers to buy him his first camera. He completed an apprenticeship and developed into an important photographer over the decades. During the Nazi era, Sander was subjected to a restricted professional ban. In 1943, he moved the most artistically valuable pictures from his Cologne studio to Kuchhausen. In 1953, the city of Cologne acquired his collection "Cologne as it was".
(14) Soon we reach a shelter. A sign for Blauer Stein (Blue Stone) directs us to the right into the forest. We walk along a narrow path towards the basalt crater.
Mighty basalt columns rise vertically from a crater. Above the basalt columns, the treetops form a natural dome. The basalt was quarried by Linzer-Basalt AG. It was last quarried during the period of high unemployment around 1900 and used for road construction and dyke building.
From the impressive basalt crater, we walk back to the point where the Kölner Weg branches off towards Leuscheid. Coming from the direction of the basalt crater, we turn right onto the Kölner Weg.
One last time, we have a wide view to the right towards Kuchhausen, then the forest takes us back in.
(14) Finally, we reach Kuchhausener Kirchweg and approach the first houses of Leuscheid. Kuchhausener Kirchweg leads to the cross street Am Kurheim, where we turn left. A few metres further on, we come to Weyerbuscher Straße, the L147, and see Pesos Landhaus on the other side of the road, which invites us to stop for refreshments or an overnight stay. If we turn right onto Weyerbuscher Straße, we reach the centre of Leuscheid and the church (E).
The Catholic church in Leuscheid was first mentioned in 1131 as the property of the Cassius Foundation in Bonn. The Cassius Foundation later transferred ownership of the bailiwick of Leuscheid to the Count of Sayn, who had to cede it to the Duke of Jülich in 1477 after lengthy border disputes. From 1607, Leuscheid fell to the Dukes of Berg and, from 1808, under French rule, became part of the canton of Eitorf. Finally, in 1808, Herchen and Leuscheid were merged to form the municipality of Herchen. Leuscheid belonged to Herchen until 1969.
During the Thirty Years' War, the town was occupied by the Swedes (1632/1633 and 1645-1648), even though the inhabitants of Leuscheid had converted to Protestantism in 1565. At that time, the Protestant church served as a cowshed for the Swedes. Even today, the white church with its slate-grey towers dominates the village of Leuscheid. It is a three-nave basilica from the 12th century with a transept, choir and sacristy from the 13th/14th century. The Cologne-style altar of St. Mary dates from the 15th century. The church has two towers of different heights, with the beginnings of a third tower visible. According to legend, three siblings made a vow to have three towers built. As one of the three siblings died prematurely, only two towers were built.
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