Lahntal: Hiking Trails and Local History

Hiking trails, rock formations and local history give a trip to Lahntal a variety of focuses. In Caldern, you can choose from circular hiking trails of different lengths and with different features; forest and circular trails shape the landscape around Wollenberg. Goßfelden offers an art trail through the old village, while church and monastery history provide further cultural points of interest in the districts. The destinations below can help you plan your stay around these themes.

Hiking between Caldern and Wollenberg

The L1 circular trail runs from Caldern via Dilschhausen and back to Caldern. The 12.9-kilometre route features two churches, the “Paradies” and the historic summit of Rimberg Tower. The family-friendly L3 circular trail in Caldern is shorter, at 6.7 kilometres. It follows paved paths through fields and forest and offers views of Caldern. The two trails therefore differ both in length and in their stated features: for L3, the path surface, landscape and views are described; the longer L1 features several churches and other historic and local points of interest.

The fully forested Wollenberg lies north of Lahntal. It is directly accessible from almost all of Lahntal’s districts and also offers numerous circular hiking trails. The more than 20-metre-high Schenk Oak stands on Wollenberg. It is named after the gamekeeper Johannes Schenk, who looked after the forest on Wollenberg until 1928. The forest thus has a connection to a specific piece of local history, preserved in the tree’s name.

Rocks and views near Brungershausen

A signposted hiking trail from Brungershausen leads to the “Wichtelhäuser,” an imposing group of rocks. The Wichtelhäuser stones lie a little way off the forest path, invite you to climb, and offer views across the Lahntal, of Kernbach and of the opposite Rimberg. The destination combines a striking rock formation with named viewpoints. The route is also clearly described for planning your trip: the signposted trail leads from Brungershausen to the stones, which themselves lie a little way off the forest path.

Art and local history in Goßfelden

Opened in June 2010, the circular trail “In the Footsteps of Otto Ubbelohde through Goßfelden” starts at the museum in the Lahn meadows. Covering around 1.5 kilometres, it passes through 16 stops, mostly in old Goßfelden. Ubbelohde’s drawings, illustrations and paintings are presented at the village locations where their subjects—including illustrations for fairy tales—can still be recognized, or appear to be recognizable today. At around 1.5 kilometres, this art and village trail is considerably shorter than the two circular hiking trails mentioned in Caldern; its focus is on Ubbelohde’s works and their subjects in the village.

The old bridge in Goßfelden is a local landmark. On its eastern side, the year 1802 can be seen in Roman numerals. You can cross the bridge only on foot or by bicycle. Keep this restriction in mind if you want to include the bridge itself in your route.

Churches and monastery history

In Sterzhausen, the church’s present-day nave is a Neoclassical hall dating from 1936, with distinctive semicircular windows. Part of the former monastery wall remains beside Caldern’s Nikolaikirche, and the wall ruins have been restored. Caldern’s monastery mill has been mentioned as a mill since 1389 and originally belonged to the Cistercian monastery. Together, these examples show different traces of Lahntal’s architectural and monastic history: a nave with a clearly specified architectural style, preserved and restored wall ruins, and the historical mention of a mill.

Discover more destinations

Discover more destinations: Sarnau, Ebsdorfergrund, Angelburg, Rauischholzhausen, Weimar / Lahn, Marburg An Der Lahn, Dautphetal, Caldern.

Back to the regional travel overview: Marburg-Biedenkopf.