WesterwaldSteig 11th stage Marienthal Monastery - Weyerbusch (East-West)

Description

WHERE THE GOOD SHEPHERD LIVED, A LOOKOUT TOWER TAKES YOUR BREATH AWAY, AND AN IDEA CONQUERED THE WORLD

Your hike starts in Marienthal with its famous monastery. Past some beautiful half-timbered houses, your route leads up to the heights where the WesterwaldSteig was launched in 2007. The Beulskopf dominates the landscape and like an antenna the Raiffeisen Tower rises another 34 meters into the sky. What a view! In the distance, you can even spot the Bergisches Land and the Siebengebirge on the Rhine. Much closer is the Raiffeisenland that spreads out at your feet. The famous social reformer Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen recognized the people's need here early on and founded the worldwide known cooperative idea. You continue the stage towards Weyerbusch. Here too, Raiffeisen left his mark with the founding of the Bread Association.

Approach

From Hachenburg: via the B414 to Ingelbach station, then via L290 and B256 towards Hamm (Sieg) to exit K51

From Altenkirchen: via L267 (direction Heupelzen, Kettenhausen, Marienthal/Hilgenroth) and follow the signs to Marienthal

Public transport

Arrival by public transport

Hessian State Railway Au-Limburg to the Kloster Marienthal stop (request stop)

Return to the stage start

Return from Weyerbusch to Kloster Marienthal: by bus line 250 to Altenkirchen (WW) (travel time: approx. 26 min.) and from there by Hessian State Railway Au-Limburg (Oberwesterwald line) to Kloster Marienthal stop (request stop; travel time approx. 8 min.)

Weyerbusch bus stop: Weyerbusch Sonnenhof (approx. 100 m from WesterwaldSteig towards the town exit)
Marienthal stop: Kloster Marienthal (request stop; a marked approx. 500 m-long access path leads from the station to the main trail)

www.vrminfo.de

Here you can find more hiking route tips with bus and train connections.

A detailed overview of all bus and train connections around Altenkirchen can be found at the following link: https://www.vg-altenkirchen-flammersfeld.de/bus-und-bahn-ww-steig.

Taxi recommendations:

Passenger transport Schütz, Windeck, Tel. 02682/966588

Taxi Jung, Hamm/Sieg, Tel. 02682/8555

Taxi Uwe Bischoff, Altenkirchen, Tel. 02681/2222

Taxi Uwe Bischoff, Weyerbusch, Tel. 02686/1799

Parking

Marienthal Monastery: 57577 Seelbach near Hamm (Sieg), Am Kloster 13

Weyerbusch: Hotel Sonnenhof (Kölner Str. 33) or at the Raiffeisen Meeting Center (Raiffeisenstr. 2)

Directions

A shepherd is said to have carved the Virgin Mary from wood in the Middle Ages and placed her under an oak tree. For his piety, he was rewarded with miraculous answered prayers. The Madonna figure and its location in the valley soon became revered and well known by many people. A chapel followed and later a monastery, which is still known today as Marienthal. Marienthal Monastery and its church with a baroque high altar, brought in 1968 from Windorf near Passau to the Westerwald, is today the seat of the education center of the Archdiocese of Cologne in the Rhineland-Palatinate region. On the way from Marienthal to Weyerbusch, the WesterwaldSteig leads over the 389-meter-high Beulskopf with the Raiffeisen Tower and offers excellent long-distance views to the Siebengebirge, the Bergisches Land, and the Rothaargebirge. Weyerbusch gained early importance shortly before the Thirty Years' War, when the Thurn and Taxis postal service set up a station (post inn with horse change). As a result of the Congress of Vienna in 1815, the Sayn lands, to which Weyerbusch had belonged until then, fell to the Rhine Province and thus to Prussia. In 1817, the town became the seat of the Amtbürgermeisterei Weyerbusch within the newly formed Altenkirchen district. From that point on, the town experienced steady growth. Weyerbusch gained special significance through Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen, who was appointed Amtbürgermeister here in 1845. During the famine winter of 1846/47, he founded the "Weyerbusch Bread Association", thereby establishing the cooperative movement.

Access paths (Marking: green W on yellow background):

• from Marienthal Monastery to the train station (approx. 0.5 km)
• from Erbach to Obererbach train station (approx. 1.4 km)

Safety instructions

If you consider certain sections of the paths to be impassable, you should bypass them. Especially in adverse weather conditions, natural paths may have muddy and slippery sections.

Particularly in autumn, be aware that fallen leaves on the ground can cover unevenness, roots, stones, or holes in the path. You should expect path impairments of this kind when hiking.

Although the path is well marked throughout, for safety reasons you should always carry a suitable hiking map or download the free "Discover Rhineland-Palatinate" app.

Equipment

Wear sturdy footwear and weather-appropriate, functional clothing that protects against cold and wet or heat and sun.

Take enough fluids with you. Refreshment options are not available everywhere. We recommend backpack catering on this stage!

Please wear hiking boots suitable for the trail, which provide sufficient support even on slippery and steep or rocky and uneven paths.

Tips

Enjoy spectacular views from the Raiffeisen Tower in Heupelzen over the autumnal Westerwald as far as the Bergisches Land and the Siebengebirge!

Literature

WesterwaldSteig fold-out hiking map at a scale of 1:25,000

Order at www.westerwald-shop.info.

Destination

Weyerbusch (Kölner Straße 33)

Starting Point

Marienthal Monastery (Am Kloster 13)