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Today, the Alte Poststraße is largely a forest road/farm track, which is why only agricultural and forestry traffic or residents are permitted to drive on it from the closure signs onwards.
Access points (please only park in designated car parks):
Am Zollhaus, 57537 WissenAlte Poststraße, 57537 WissenOberhövels, 57537 HövelsAlte Poststraße, 57581 Katzwinkel (Sieg)Car park:
Hikers' car park directly on the Alte Poststraße, 57581 Katzwinkel (Sieg)P+R car park at the train station, 57537 Hövels (from there walk to Oberhövels, the Alte Poststraße runs above)Siegstraße/Marktstraße/Bogenstraße/Walzwerkstraße, 57537 Wissen (from there, walk over the Siegbrücke bridge, then turn right into the street Am Zollhaus, then uphill to Alte Poststraße)
The Old Post Road has, as the name suggests, a long and interesting history. Today, the economic path, which leads along scenic ridges above the Sieg River, is used by many hikers and cyclists. The Old Post Road remains one of the most popular routes in the Wisserland.
As early as 1615, a postal line ran from Frankfurt via Limburg, Gieleroth, Weyerbusch, and Siegburg to Cologne. A “access road” from Siegen via Wissen existed to there, specifically to Weyerbusch. Initially, it was postal couriers who traveled this route on foot. Later, postal riders with so-called “Felleisen,” a sealable and weather-resistant mailbag on horseback, were used.
An overview of postage from the “Imperial Majesty's Postal Office in Cologne” from 1714 provides evidence of the existence of mail delivery to Schönstein near Wissen. At that time, the Sieg Valley was still impassable, and the postal line passed through the Wissener district of Brückhöfe, up Kucksberg, over the old “Church and Funeral Way” to Kirchen — the term “Post Road” was now born for this route. From Kirchen, it continued over Katzenbach to Siegen.
In 1735, the Imperial Count of Thurn and Taxis established post offices in Siegen and Wissen, and simultaneously set up the mail coach line from Weyerbusch via Wissen to Siegen. This postal line then led through five (!) independent territories of the old empire: Coming from Weyerbusch, it first traveled east through the County of Sayn-Hachenburg to Nister. At Nisterbrück, it reached the Electorate of Cologne area of the Lordship of Schönstein. From Wissen, after crossing the Sieg, it entered the Lordship of Wildenburg and reached the Lordship of Sayn-Altenkirchen at Kirchen. Coming from Katzenbach, it reached the Principality of Nassau-Siegen at Niederschelden, which was also the last toll barrier before Siegen. Today, when walking or cycling along the idyllic Old Post Road, it is hard to imagine such conditions.
The travel time for the mail coach from Siegen to Wissen was about 6 hours, and from there to Weyerbusch another 4 hours. According to a visitation report from 1755, “the roads to Wissen were said to be in very good and usable condition.” The route was feared, for – listen and be amazed: Even around 1830, wolves threatened riders and mail coaches and often had to be scared off by gunfire from the postilion and his companion. There were also occasional attacks and looting, as well as, unfortunately, accidents in the area from Kirchen to Siegen in the form of coaches plunging off the steep banks of the Sieg with several fatalities.
For a long time, ore was also transported along the high road by horse-drawn carts, for example, from the Wingertshardt mine over the Seifen farm up to the Old Post Road and on to Wissen. In Seifen (mentioned as early as 1623), there was a so-called “Stippwirtschaft” where the teamsters could stop for a break. The centuries of ore transport with one-axle carts have left their traces in the hard slate to this day.
In 1835, the construction of the Koblenz-Olper Road reached Wissen. It was not until 1843/44 that the state road through the Sieg Valley was completed. From 1876, it was called the Provincial Road, now known as Federal Road B 62. Thus, the Old Post Road lost its traffic importance after 1842 — but to this day, it is a walking and hiking route with beautiful views over the Sieg Valley. The Botanical Path, with its information panels, and the Natural Path Sieg run over parts of this route.
Is one of the most popular routes in the Wisserland.
Contact and directions
Alte Poststraße57537 Wissen
