Dream Loop The Gisinger

From the hiking parking lot and Gisingen fairground, follow a short section of the "Viezstraße" (L352) towards the sports field, then turn right and reach lush meadows and wetlands along the Weinbach. After passing through a small forest area, you reach two fishing ponds. In the adjacent young forest stands the oldest Gisingen wayside cross from 1807. Below today's ponds are still visible the remains of an old mill pond dam from the 18th century.

Now, ascend past trees and varied shrubbery to the heights of Gallenberg, the highest point in the Gisingen area, where layers of Upper Muschelkalk emerge. Hardly recognizable today, limestone quarries and lime kilns were operated here until the 19th century. From here you can see over the gentle Saargau hill landscapes across the border to France, and along the bordering path between Rammelfangen and Gisingen, magnificent panoramas open up both over the lowlands towards the Moselle and towards Gisingen on the Scheidberg or down into the Saar valley. Behind the model airfield, descend past near-natural calcareous dry grasslands and their stages of bush encroachment as well as orchards of "Husterheck" over layers of Middle Muschelkalk to the "Dachslöcher" and "Gräten" in the Buntsandstein of the Gisingen forest. Special sights there are three geological natural monuments. First, climb along a tufa staircase, a product of the calcareous water of the Leitersteiner Bach. In the streambed, stones, leaves, and twigs covered by a lime crust can be discovered. Through the process of lime sintering, lime sinter or tufa has formed here. Passing by the forest edge, you reach the Leitersteiner spring at Leitersteiner Born, which served as both a livestock trough and a drinking and washing fountain for Gisingen.

From there, the path continues to the natural monument "Pastorsgrät," a gorge deeply incised into sandstone, created by a small brook tumbling down in a waterfall. This deep incision gives insight into the earth’s development history, showing the upper part of the Middle Buntsandstein and a profile of the Upper Buntsandstein. A monumental result of lime sintering is found further along the route with the "Grott." Under this mighty rock, until the 1930s, there was a dripstone cave, now collapsed. From there, you reach the lowest point of the Gisingen area, where remains of a former Kneipp facility and a former festival site can be found. Along the Itzbach, follow through the Itzbacher deciduous forest in an idyllic forest-meadow landscape, then through mixed and coniferous forests to a shelter at the northernmost Gisingen point with wonderful views of Siersburg. Along the golf course, head towards Oberlimberg. At the "Landgraben," the boundary to Oberlimberg area, the remains of a Celtic fortification are still detectable; at the cemetery, cross the street there.

At the edge of the "Mookenloch," walk along the Gisingen area border, which at this point from 1697 to 1718 was also the state border to the French exclave Saarlouis. In the area of a former quarry, an old log bridge over a ravine was replaced by a new log bridge. Here in the forest on the border to the Villeroy Forest, there is also a memorial stone remembering a gamekeeper who died here. Through orchards, you reach open Saargau fields again with views of the Saar valley.

The path then passes a hollow way with old oak stands, across a large open meadow back over Oberlimberger Weg into the village onto Gaustraße. From there, it is only a few meters to the hiking parking lot. Alternatively, in Gaustraße you can also find several places to eat. In the street leading to Scheidberg, you can additionally discover some renovated Lorraine farmhouses, restored to recall the early village appearance of Gisingen. One of these Lorraine farmhouses is "Haus Saargau"; besides a rural museum, there is an information center of the Saar-Hunsrück Nature Park as well as an office of the Saarlouis district tourist information. Old Lorraine furniture from the collection of Pastor Louis Pinck (1873–1940), furnishings and everyday objects from the 19th/20th century, as well as a collection of old fireplace, stove, and oven plates give an impression of the life of our ancestors. A special jewel is the farmhouse garden designed according to an old model, integrated into the series of "gardens without borders." The nearby "St. Andreas" church offers the possibility of quiet rest both in the parish garden and inside. In the parish garden, beside a historical cross base of the former Gisingen chapel, a modern crucifix by Saarland sculptor Leo Kornbrust can also be admired. Inside the church, besides statues of saints, a stations of the cross by sculptor Heinz Oliberius and stained-glass windows by Benedictine father Bernhard (Robert Köck) invite to a contemplative final rest.