Bergischer Weg

The Bergische Weg is a long-distance hiking trail from Essen through the Bergisches Land to Königswinter .

The trail was created in 1935 by the Sauerland Mountain Association (SGV) and was the first to be continuously marked with signposts over a length of 137 kilometers . In 2012, the sponsorship changed to the Bergisches Land natural arena , which modified the route and concept and decided to fundamentally revise the old route in order to achieve greater tourist use. The SGV is still the marking officer for the route.

Old route

The old route led from Essen-Rüttenscheid via Velbert , Neviges , Varresbeck , Hohkeppel and Marialinden to Uckerath . The hiking trail stretched through the middle of the Bergisches Land from the Ruhr to the Siebengebirge and touched the Müngsten Bridge , Burg Castle and Ehreshoven Castle . The hiking trail fell into the category of the main hiking trails of the SGV and, like all other main hiking trails, had the white St. Andrew's cross as a signpost , extended by the number 29 at intersections.

New routing

The Bergischer Weg was reopened in September 2013. In addition to a largely detailed and significantly longer route of around 260 km, the end point has now been moved to Königswinter and a new waymark has been defined in the form of a logo . The GPS hiking atlas recommends a division into twelve daily stages:

• Stage 1 from Baldeneysee to Hardenberg Castle

  Destinations on the way: Neue Isenburg - Schellenberg Hunting Lodge - Korte-Klippe - Baldeneysee - Carl Funke colliery tower - Heisinger Bogen nature reserve and bird sanctuary - Langenhorster Forest - Hardenberg Castle

• Stage 2 from Hardenberg Castle to Haan-Gruiten

  Destinations along the way: Hardenberg Castle in Neviges - Oberdüssel - House Düssel - Catholic parish church St. Maximin (12th century) - Rittergut Schöller - Protestant parish church Schöller (12th century) - Osterholz forest area - Grube 7 nature reserve - old church tower in Gruiten (11th century) Century)

• Stage 3 from Haan-Gruiten to Wuppertal-Cronenberg

  Destinations on the way: Haus am Quall (14th century) - corkscrew route - Graefrath market square - Catholic parish church of St. Mary of the Assumption (12th century) - German Blade Museum - Fauna zoo - Graefrath light tower - Klosterbusch - Cronenberg

• Stage 4 from Wuppertal-Cronenberg to the Diepentalsperre

  Destinations on the way: Friedrichshammer - Morsbach (Wupper) - Müngstener Brücke - Wiesenkotten - Burg Castle - Sengbach dam - Rüdenstein - Diepent dam

• Stage 5 from the Diepentalsperre to Odenthal-Scheuren

  Goals along the way: Diepentalsperre - Lambertsmühle - House Landscheid - Eifgenbachtal - German fairytale forest - Altenberg Cathedral (13th century with the famous west window) - Pfengstbachtal - Scheuren

• Stage 6 from Scheuren to Moitzfeld (Bergisch Gladbach)

  Destinations on the way: Scherfbachtal - Strundetal - Malteser Komturei - Zweiffel Castle - Hardt Forest - Lerbach Castle - Grube Cox Nature Reserve - Bensberg Castle - Milchborntalweiher - Moitzfeld

• Stage 7 from Moitzfeld to Rösrath-Hoffnungsthal

  Destinations on the way: Moitzfeld - Königsforst nature reserve (the green lung of Cologne ) - Kettners Weiher - Monte Troodelöh (118 m) - Hoffnungsthaler Hammer - Villa Reusch

Etappenstein Overath from Bergischer Weg

• Stage 8 from Rösrath-Hoffnungsthal to Overath-Falkemich

  Destinations on the way: mining area at Lüderich (260 m) - Honrath Castle - Honrath Evangelical Church (12th / 13th century) - Auel Castle - Naafbachtal - Falkemich

• Stage 9 from Overath-Falkemich to Neunkirchen

  Destinations on the way: Fatima chapel Much - Catholic parish church St. Martinus (12th century) - Herrenteich - St. Johann Baptist chapel (12th century) - Wahnbachtal - Neunkirchen

• Stage 10 from Neunkirchen to the Wahnbachtalsperre

  Goals on the way: Neunkirchen - Münchenberg (172 m) - Steimelskopf (198 m) - Happerschoss - Wahnbachtalsperre

• Stage 11 from the Wahnbachtalsperre to Hennef-Uckerath

  Destinations on the way: Wahnbach dam - Seligenthal monastery (first Franciscan monastery north of the Alps) - Rochus chapel - Muschmühle - Stachelberg (210 m) - Siegschleife near Auel - medieval town of Blankenberg - Blankenberg castle - Ahrenbachtal - Uckerath

• Stage 12 from Uckerath to the Drachenfels

  Destinations along the way: Catholic parish church of St. John the Baptist - Oberhau - Siebengebirge - Löwenburg (455 m) with castle ruins - Rhöndorf forest cemetery (grave of Konrad Adenauer ) - Drachenfels (321 m) with castle ruins and Drachenburg Castle

Connection routes

In the Altenberg and Much areas there is a connection path to the Bergischer Panoramasteig, which is also new .

Between Velbert-Neviges and Haan, the Bergische Weg runs parallel to the Neanderlandsteig, which is also new .

In the Hennef area, the path runs parallel to the Natursteig Sieg and in the Bad Honnef area with the Rheinsteig .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Map, GPS track and tour description in the GPS hiking atlas

Web links

• Official website