Maxsain: Half-timbered houses, stream landscape and Hammer Mill

Maxsain combines historic buildings with a stream landscape that invites visitors to enjoy walks, cycling and relaxation among the Westerwald hills. The Saynbach and Steinchesbach streams meet in the town center. Hiking and cycling routes also pass through the town, placing architectural history and tours through the landscape side by side as distinct points of interest.

Half-timbered houses and architectural history

The “Sahm” half-timbered house is one of the main sights and is considered a surviving example of regional architecture. The Protestant parish church on Kirchweg combines a Romanesque tower with a hall built in 1786. These buildings reveal different features: regional half-timbered architecture and a church whose components combine different architectural forms.

Other houses also offer insight into the town’s architectural history. The half-timbered house at Alleestraße 7, partly built of solid masonry, dates from the second half of the 18th century. A half-timbered house at Kirchweg 13 bears the year 1688. The rectory at Alleestraße 8 marks a later period: it has a half-hipped roof and rusticated ashlar masonry and is dated to around 1910 to 1920.

When it comes to public buildings, former and current uses should be distinguished. The community bakehouse at Hauptstraße 32 now serves as the municipal office; it is an ashlar building from the late 19th century. The former school at Kirchweg 1 is a rubble-stone building from the same period. A fountain on Alleestraße also dates from the late 19th century, more precisely from its second half.

Northeast of the settlement, in the direction of Zürbach, lies the Jewish cemetery. The protected historic area includes around 35 gravestones, including stones with dates from around 1810 onward. The cemetery and fountain thus add further historic places and details to the town’s architectural history.

Hammer Mill and the history of ironworking

The Hammer Mill at Hüttenweg 17 is a half-timbered building partly constructed of solid masonry and is believed to date from 1727. In 1861, the dilapidated ironworks was converted into today’s Hammer Mill. The Schneider family later installed a power station there, which supplied electricity for the first time in 1902.

Another date in the history of local ironworking is 1729: that year, a new ironworks with an iron hammer was completed below the Maxsain pond. Together with the information about the Hammer Mill, these details trace several stages in the town’s history—from the ironworks to the mill’s conversion and the early supply of electricity.

Stream landscape, hiking and cycling

The two streams meet in the town center and shape an area suited to walks, cycling and relaxation among the Westerwald hills. The Kölner Weg also offers a way to take in the surrounding landscape: the route reaches Maxsain with views of the Saynbach valley, passes a half-timbered house and continues to Selters. Sights along the Maxsain section also include the parish church and the former mayor’s house.

For planning stages of the Kölner Weg, the trail surface and elevation profile are also relevant: the route mostly follows wide forest paths, with a substantial climb before Maxsain. A cycling tour from Selters reaches the town via a 1.5-kilometer cycle path section. Within Maxsain, the route follows the Steinchesbach along Alleestraße to Kirchweg and leaves the town via Schönstraße. The route information therefore differs in its specific planning details: the climb before town is a notable feature of the Kölner Weg, while the cycling tour is characterized by its cycle path section and route through Maxsain. If you are planning a particular stage, check the current route before setting out.

Discover more destinations: Ebernhahn, Ransbach-Baumbach, Hachenburg, Lautzenbrücken, Oberahr, Selters, Caan, Gehlert.

To the main travel overview: Westerwald.