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Start: Marienthal stop
(S) If you are travelling by public transport, start the hike at the Marienthal stop. An ascending forest path leads us to the K51, where we turn left and walk downhill for a few hundred metres to the entrance to the village. In a left-hand bend, we come across the Kölner Weg. Drivers can join the route here.
Walk along Am Kloster, past the monastery church, until you reach Klosterpforte, where you turn right. You will soon come to the monastery wall and walk uphill on a forest path.
(1) After a while, we reach a road, which we cross and immediately follow the K sign to the left into a forest path.
(2) Finally, we reach a meadow, pass Nassen and later cross the K41. The hiking trail now winds its way through a landscape with wide views.
(3) Soon after, we reach the K42, which we follow briefly to the right before turning left into a coniferous forest a little later. We quickly pass through the forest and enjoy a beautiful view of the Sieg heights and the Wissener Land.
(4) In the valley to the left, we see Isert. Finally, we pass a folding sundial, then a telecommunications tower on the left, and arrive at the B256.
(5) The village of Eichelhardt lies on the right. The hiking trail leads straight ahead across the B256 into a forest and heads towards a refuge hut. In a hairpin bend, we turn left, walk along the edge of the forest on the left, then turn sharply right and soon enter a dense deciduous forest.
(6) After about 200 metres in the forest, you should definitely make a detour and take the first path on the left for a short distance. From here, you have a wonderful view of the Nister Valley and Alhausen.
We return to the Kölner Weg, which winds its way down into the valley. Finally, we come to a stream where the path turns left in a hairpin bend. We walk along the stream through deciduous forest. Then the forest thins out and we see the Nister for the first time. We are in Kroppacher Schweiz.
One of the most beautiful sections of the Nister is Kroppacher Schweiz. This charming landscape on the lower reaches of the Nister between Helmeroth and Marienstatt Abbey is named after the old parish of Kroppach. The Nister winds its way between steep rocky ridges, creating a sometimes bizarre landscape over millions of years. Along the hiking trails, you can see the sedimentary layers of a Devonian sea: greywacke, sandstone and clay slate interspersed with quartzite and iron ore veins.
The trail now descends into the river valley and turns left. We walk on the left side of the river and approach Alhausen. Shortly before a footbridge over the Nister, we pass an old boundary stone on the right. This is where the Kingdom of Prussia (KP) and the Duchy of Nassau (HN) once bordered each other.
(7) Then we cross the Nister via a footbridge and walk towards a picturesque group of half-timbered houses in Alhausen.
(8) For hikers interested in prehistoric excavations, a detour to Burghardt is worthwhile. We therefore leave the Kölner Weg, follow the K17, which climbs steeply uphill, and after about 400 metres we come to a section of reconstructed ramparts on the right-hand side. Here are the remains of a once extensive Celtic refuge fort.
It is a hilltop settlement from the Late Iron Age (3rd to 1st century BC). At its narrowest point in the north-east of the complex, the settlement was secured by a high sectional rampart with a rampart in front and a ditch in between. To the west, security was ensured by sectional ramparts. To the north and south, steep slopes protected the complex. The inner area of the settlement is about 350 metres long and 100 to 130 metres wide. A section of the rampart approximately four metres long has been reconstructed according to Julius Caesar's account in "The Gallic War". It is a rubble wall reinforced with heavy iron beams. Palisades have been erected on top of it. The posts in the reconstructed rampart are set in the original post holes. The further course of the lower rampart is clearly visible for over 200 metres.
We return to the Kölner Weg and walk along the Nister. The path, which initially runs flat through the forest, gradually climbs and narrows noticeably. The wooded slope to the left of the path rises steeply. We are now below the former refuge fort. Between the rocks on the left and the slope and river on the right, we continue on an enchanting path that winds higher and higher. The path becomes very narrow and is partially secured with wire ropes. We encounter bizarre rock formations and fascinating views in constant succession. This is one of the most beautiful sections of the hike along the Nister.
(9) Finally, the forest ends and the small half-timbered village of Stein-Wingert can be seen on the right in the valley. The Kölner Weg meets the K16 and turns left before entering Stein-Wingert. However, it is worth turning right and making a short detour to the village and the Steiner Mühle.
At the beginning of the 13th century, Stein-Wingert belonged to the Sayn dynasty, then changed hands several times and became part of the Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau in 1866. In 1801, there was only a footbridge over the Nister. A new bridge was built in 1864, which was blown up in 1945 and rebuilt in 1956/57. The Steiner Mill can be visited in the village. It can be reached via Mühlenweg. It was built in 1744 and was in operation until 1965. After that, the mill fell into disrepair. It has been undergoing restoration since 1993. The overshot water wheel is powered by water that is fed through a 200-metre-long tunnel through a mountain.
We walk back to Kölner Weg and continue straight ahead on the K16 for a short distance before turning right off the K16 after 50 metres. The K takes us back into a forest landscape and eventually runs along a kind of ridge.
(10) At a point where we bypass a deep depression on the right and reach a shelter, we can walk a few steps to the Spitzen Ley, a peculiar rock formation. From here, you can enjoy a wonderful view of the Nister valley and Wingert. Further on, our path remains mainly in coniferous forest.
(11) We come to a raised hide, turn right and walk to a fork, where we turn left. After a while, we pass a retirement home and shortly afterwards cross the L265, walk a few metres to the right and, before a bridge over the Nister, turn left onto an asphalt path.
(12) After a short while, a small footpath branches off to the right to the Zum Nisterstrand inn and guesthouse in Ehrlich. A few metres further on, we turn right and cross the Nister on a footbridge. After a short climb through a wooded area, we walk across a meadow and towards a group of trees on the left, where we turn left and walk past the trees. The K sign leads us through meadows, across the K19 and across a car park.
(13) At the end of the car park, the K leads us to the right towards the Nister. We pass a spot where the Heidemühlchen mill used to stand on the right. Remains of the mill trench are still visible today.
The mill building was dismantled in the 18th century and rebuilt in Heimborn. There, the mill had to make way for road construction in 1964.
There were numerous water mills in Kroppacher Schweiz. These were ban mills. This meant that the villages belonging to the ban district were only allowed to grind grain in the mills assigned to them. Emperor Frederick Barbarossa had the ban enforced as a milling rule of the empire in 1158. After that, only the landlord was allowed to build mills. The mill ban secured the existence of millers for centuries. With the introduction of freedom of trade, Prussia abolished the ban in 1810. In 1955, the construction of new mills was prohibited by law and a mill closure law was passed in 1957. This led to the rapid decline of the 54 mills that originally existed in the Upper Westerwald.
Now we walk along the Nister, pass the Heimborn gauge and approach Heimborn.
(14) Here we have to cross the Nister via the Nistersteg. Steel girders were placed on the three remaining pillars of a former navigable bridge, onto which the current wooden footbridge was mounted. From the bridge, there is a wonderful view to the right of the Kleine Nister flowing into the Nister.
On the other side of the river, we turn right, leave Kölner Weg at a shelter and follow the sign for Malepartus to the left onto a path. A little later, at a barrier, a steeply ascending path branches off to the left towards Heimborn and we reach Nisterstraße, which soon joins the K19. There we turn right and after 50 metres we reach Wilhelmstraße (E)
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