Bunkerweg

The hike starts at the St. Matthias church in Strauch. Built in 1850 by the villagers as a small chapel, the church quickly became too small due to the growing population in Strauch, so that the foundation for the current, significantly larger building was laid in 1922.

We leave Strauch heading north and after a few kilometers encounter the lively Tiefenbach, one of the many typical middle mountain streams of the Eifel. Due to the presence of numerous, partly rare animal and plant species, the entire valley is a nature reserve and therefore offers a great nature experience. We follow the valley for about a kilometer, accompanied by the cheerful splashing of the small stream. After crossing the stream, the path leaves the Tiefenbach valley heading west and leads us into the foothills of the Buhlert, a wooded ridge 508 meters above sea level. The trees get denser and after a few hundred meters we come across various bunker facilities from the Second World War. They are among the few still almost completely preserved bunkers of the Westwall. This 630 km long defense line was intended to protect Germany in the Nazi era from military attacks from the west. With over 18,000 bunkers, tunnels, countless trenches and tank barriers, it was praised as the largest fortification ever and considered impregnable, which later proved to be a misjudgment. Of the original 16 installations at this site, most were destroyed or filled in after the war. However, four bunkers are well preserved and freely accessible. Where terrible battles once raged, bats now have a protected winter quarter.

The route now leads us out of the forest again, towards the Michelshof wind farm, which covers a large share of the Simmerath community's demand for renewable energy. It was the first citizen wind farm in the community and went into operation in July 2004. It covers the annual electricity needs of about 7,000 households. From here, the path leads us through an open field and meadow landscape back to the St. Matthias church, the starting point of our hike, where the beautiful route ends.