Wäller Tour Mining Hiking Trail Brachbach

Description

Embark on a 10 km long discovery tour through the traditional mining history of the municipality of Brachbach. Numerous relics from past days, especially tunnel portals to old mines where slate and ore were once extracted, await you. The local heritage association "Glück-Auf" Brachbach has created this trail with great dedication, and it has now been upgraded to an official Wäller Tour. Along the route, information boards at 30 significant mining-related points offer many exciting insights into the underground world.

The highlight of the tour is the visitor mine slate tunnel "Josefsglück" (GeoPoint), which can be visited on request. Immerse yourself in the fascinating history of mining and enjoy a hike that uniquely combines nature, culture, and history. Visit our region, Druiden.Hexen.SiegerLand, and let yourself be inspired by the impressive mining history of Brachbach!

Approach

Access by car from Kirchen-Katzenbach via K97 towards Brachbach. Immediately before the Sieg bridge, turn right to the hiking parking lot at fountain "Old Friendship".

From Mudersbach/Siegen via B 62, first turn left into Büdenholzer Straße, then right into Austraße and follow the road until the town exit, over the Sieg bridge and immediately after that turn left to the mentioned hiking parking lot.

Public transport

By train (RE 9 – Rhein-Sieg-Express) to Brachbach station. From here, walk 5 to 10 minutes via Industriestraße towards Bahnhofstraße (Brachbach), cross the Sieg bridge and reach an ore wagon (lore) and the orientation board for the Wäller Tour "Grubenwanderweg Brachbach", your start and endpoint.

Parking

Free hiking parking lot at fountain "Old Friendship" (Austraße), 57555 Brachbach

Directions

1st section: Old Friendship You start your hike at the fountain facility "Old Friendship", which is fed by the mine water of the tunnel of the same name. Slightly higher up, accessible via the stairs, are the rest area with the mushroom and the Mary Grotto as well as the natural tunnel portal of the Old Friendship tunnel. Now you're off and you start on the route of the Wäller Tour "Grubenwanderweg Brachbach" following the green-white logo of this GeoRoute. Over the Sieg bridge and Austraße, you reach the district of Hütte and see a small rest area on the left side with the trunk of the former Wernsberg fir tree. Straight ahead on the left, you see the fire station. At exactly this spot stood the Old Brachbach Hut more than 100 years ago. Nearby are the Windhorst mine and the Old Mill.

2nd section: Auf dem Ort and Zechenwaldplatz You cross the Sieg bridge a second time, immediately turn right and reach the oldest part of the village Brachbach "Auf dem Ort" with the miner's monument. The local artist Josef Christ created this statue of the miners in memory of the long and ancient tradition of the mining village Brachbach. From the miner's monument, you now go left and then right up Mittelstraße and reach Zechenwaldplatz. In the center of Zechenwaldplatz you see a loaded ore train in front of the newly built oven from 2003.

3rd section: Zechenwaldstraße You turn east and enter Zechenwaldstraße. To the right of the forest path, a small trail leads to the brook and the tunnel entrance of the Zecher Tiefer Stollen, also called Waldstollen. The water flowing from the approximately 2000 m long tunnel deposits red and black minerals on the surrounding rock, a sign of high iron and manganese content.

4th section: Aligsweg After 50 m, you go right across the meadow area to Aligsweg. In front of you lies the restored tunnel portal of the Kleesalig mine. You go down Aligsweg, back to Zechenwaldplatz and cross it. At the end to the right, you see the tunnel portal of a former air raid shelter tunnel. Now you go northwest downhill through Erzweg, then a bit uphill the Bergstraße towards the train station and through the "Bähnchen". The name of this small street recalls that, during the times of ore mining, ore was transported by rail with a small train from Zechenwaldplatz to the train station.

5th section: Gartenstraße and Wiesenstraße You pass by the parish church St. Josef, built from local rubble stones, go briefly up Gartenstraße and immediately left into Wiesenstraße, passing the local history museum. Before the right curve of Feldstraße, follow the footpath on the left downhill to the Sieg bridge. Here stands an ore wagon (lore) at the entrance to Brachbach.

6th section: Bullenkamp tunnel and Mudersbach waterworks This time you do not cross the Sieg bridge, but walk the forest path along the Sieg. After only 100 m, you stand in front of the tunnel portal rebuilt in 2009 of the Bullenkamp tunnel. Inside the tunnel you see the structure with German door frames. You follow the path along the Sieg to a larger square (Mudersbach waterworks). The waterworks was previously fed by mine water from the Ecker Grundstollen. Here you turn right and reach the foot of the valley to the Ecker Grundstollen.

7th section: Findling fountain and Findling tunnel The hiking trail leads you uphill through a beech forest to the district Karpaten. Just before the first houses, you see the facility of the Findling fountain built in 2008, fed with mine water of the Findling tunnel. You cross the road and stand in front of the Findling tunnel, which was reopened in 2008 and built with a tunnel portal made of clay slate. You now follow the forest path east towards Schützenhaus and after about 100 m see on the left side the former mining house of the Ecker shaft. Behind this house are the remains of the Ecke mine.

8th section: Ecker shaft and "Apfelbaum" You pass the tennis courts to the square at Schützenhaus. Here is the fenced-in Ecker shaft. Past Schützenhaus, turn right steeply up to a forest path crossing, the "Pastorsweg". Follow the forest path on the right and reach the district "Apfelbaum". Here, until the seventies, stood the old shaft building of the Apfelbaumerzug mine. Today a concrete slab covers the 393 m deep shaft.

9th section: Main path and Alig meadows You follow the main path that leads you from the "Apfelbaumerzug" past residential houses above the Alig meadows towards southwest. At the fork, you follow the hiking symbol and go right downhill on the forest path. Below the Brachbach waterworks, turn sharp left twice and go uphill towards southeast. On the right, opposite the waterworks (Langgrube reservoir), you see the Untere Girnbach tunnel, which serves the waterworks as a drinking water reservoir.

10th section: Quarry and Josefsglück mine You now leave the driveway and follow the steeply ascending forest path south. On the right of the path, you see the old abandoned quarry where stones for the construction of the Josefskirche in Brachbach were quarried 130 years ago. Further up a bit, you see on the left the slate waste heap of the Josefsglück mine with the mining house built in 2011. A short distance ahead on the right, you see the tunnel portal of the slate mine Josefsglück, which was in operation until June 1948. The visitor mine "Schieferstollen Josefsglück" can be visited by groups up to 15 people. Guided tours can be booked.

11th section: Steep ascent You should strengthen yourself because now follow the most strenuous 200 m of the entire hiking trail. The path continues steeply uphill towards south. This path was formerly the fastest connection over the mountain to Dermbach, a district of Herdorf. Many people used this way from Dermbach to Brachbach to the train station.

12th section: Heinrichshoffnung tunnel Below the spoil area of the Obere Girnbach tunnel, turn left onto an old mining path to the Lucas mining field with the Heinrichshoffnung tunnel. A "German door frame" shows you the direction of the blocked tunnel. Over a natural path uphill, you reach the next higher forest path and the blocked entrance of the Wasserquelle mine. Guarded by a mighty beech tree, the tunnel portal can only be guessed. Old, dilapidated dry stone walls line the "Fahrt" into the mountain. A "German door frame" marks the entrance into the mountain.

13th section: Bruderschaft mine You follow the broad path southwest and see a large ore and slate waste heap of the Bruderschaft mine on the right. Here, too, a "German door frame" marks the blocked entrance into the mountain. Passing the hollow path on the right (coming up from Josefsglück), you see on the right the upper Girnbach mining field with its tunnel and lined adit. The few steps down to the ore and slate waste heap are worth it. Here you have the opportunity to rest at the stone seating group and look at the restored tunnel portal with adit from 2013.

14th section: Schlirrerweg and Speckberg You climb up again and just before the previously flat path descends into the valley, you turn sharply left and go uphill again. After only 100 m, you turn left in the large right curve into the hollow path (Schlirrerweg). Ore was transported downhill on these hollow paths with carts in earlier times. Over the centuries, traces of iron shoes pressed into the rock while braking on the steep downhill ride have been ground into the ground. This "Schlirrerweg", as it is still called today, soon leads you to the junction of the Speckberg, the highest point of this main path. A few benches invite you to rest after the steep ascent. A replica of an ore cart is weather-protected here. Five routes converge in a star shape at the open area of Speckberg.

15th section: Lombigswald and Wernsbergtal Coming out of the hollow path, you keep direction and height and take the path through a beautiful beech high forest, past the Abendsonne and Abendstern mines to Lombigswald in the large Venus mining area. You are now in the steeply ascending Wernsbergtal towards Windhahn. In this valley basin, you still see many remnants of former mining activities: tunnels, heaps, and an ore washing plant. You follow the timber haul road and go downhill into Wernsbergtal. After about 250 m, you hike left down the steep forest path to the Morgenroth slate mine. Here you find one of the last preserved slate waste heaps in Brachbach. From the spoil area of the Morgenroth mine, you go downhill about 150 m to Moritzstollen. This portal was also uncovered and skillfully rebuilt in 2001. Nearby is a rest area framed by old dry stone walls. 80 m uphill above Moritzstollen lies the Weide mine. Here you still find well-preserved dry stone walls of the former mining area.

16th section: Venus-Charlotten tunnel Downhill you discover a nice place to rest, namely the area of the Venus-Charlotten tunnel. You still see remnants of the heap, the slate splitting area, and in the background the wall of the former splitting hut with the tunnel portal of the Venus-Charlotten tunnel. From the nicely designed fountain you can drink original mine water from the tunnel. From the fountain, a detour to the 700 m distant viewpoint high above Brachbach is worthwhile, offering a view over the northeast Sieg valley. On the way to the viewpoint, you cross the Upper Reff mining area. On the left of the road, halfway, you discover the heap of the Upper Reff tunnel. Back at the fountain of the Venus-Charlotten tunnel, you walk the path between tunnel and fountain towards Adolf tunnel. Passing the second fully preserved slate waste heap of the Wernsberg mine, called Mittlerer Stollen or colloquially Himmelswonne, you go lightly uphill and reach Adolf tunnel. In this narrow side valley of Wernsberg, the "Wahlerts Wiesen", Adolf tunnel was reopened in 2007 and the portal was built with clay slate stones. A small pond in the spoil area, fed by mine water, makes this old mining area a magical place.

17th section: Wernsberg mine and coat of arms of Brachbach Now you go further downhill past fish ponds to the transverse, widely built farm road. You turn left and reach after about 200 m a historic place, the Wernsberg mine, which gives the whole valley its name. Until 1961 ore and slate were still mined here. The closure of this mine ended a centuries-old mining tradition. In the coat of arms of Brachbach, you see a large spruce that once stood mighty above the tunnel portal of the Wernsberg tunnel. It was felled in 1990. The Wernsberg tunnel serves the Brachbach water association as a water reservoir.

The mining hiking trail continues downhill and you reach your starting point again, the hiking parking lot at the fountain "Old Friendship".

Safety instructions

If you think that certain sections of the route are impassable for you, you should bypass them. Especially in adverse weather conditions, natural paths can have muddy and slippery passages.

Particularly in autumn, be aware that fallen leaves can cover unevenness, roots, stones or holes in the path. Such path impairments must be expected when hiking.

Although the route is very well marked throughout, you should always carry a suitable hiking map for safety reasons.

Equipment

Sturdy footwear, weather-appropriate, practical clothing

Tips

Don't miss the "highlight" of the mining trail and register for a guided tour of the "Josefsglück" visitor mine with the local history society!

Literature

www.westerwald.info

Destination

Hiking parking lot at fountain "Old Friendship" (Austraße), 57555 Brachbach

Starting Point

Hiking parking lot at fountain "Old Friendship" (Austraße), 57555 Brachbach