Kusel - Preußensteig

The path starts at the first highlight: just visiting Burg Lichtenberg is already worth a trip. In the castle you will find the Musikantenland Museum, the Palatinate Museum of Natural History (branch Burg Lichtenberg) and the Prehistoric Museum Geoskop. Also a state-of-the-art youth hostel as well as the castle restaurant.

You can get married civilly and churchwise and also celebrate at the castle. There is a research workshop, special exhibitions, music events and much more...

But - we want to hike. From the castle the path leads first a short stretch together with the Veldenz hiking trail through the Veldenz gate towards Kusel. If you want to get a quick information: at the Veldenz gate there is an information board with the route course and lots of interesting information about the path.

Already on the first section there are always great views - the view back to Burg Lichtenberg and ahead to the district town Kusel and the "hilly land behind it." We descend to Kusel-Diedelkopf. Note for later: in Kusel itself there is the City and Local History Museum with the Fritz Wunderlich room and a brewery room, a hotel, many inns and restaurants, as well as the tourist information Palatinate Bergland “hin und weg”.

In Diedelkopf, you walk past the Kusel bathing and leisure park into the Holzbachtal protected landscape area. The path marks the former border and is lined by a large number of border stones. The engraved initials “KB” and “KP” show where you would currently be located, in the Kingdom of Bavaria or in the Kingdom of Prussia. For kilometers you are accompanied by the old massive stone blocks.

Behind the Holzbachtal it goes uphill for the first time, past meadows and pastures, sometimes through more open landscapes, sometimes through a small forest. On the Ehweiler height, the first wide view. We continue hiking, climbing further and enjoying the natural silence and the great views.

Following the border, we descend a bit and pass under the motorway. Those paying attention will notice that the border stones here have completely different inscriptions: "A" and "P" and other years. This path additionally marks the border between the local municipalities Albessen and Pfeffelbach.

Through little woods and past former quarries it goes up and down towards Reichweiler and Pfeffelbach.

Not on the official hiking route, but worth a small detour is the Steinberg nature reserve, which extends very idyllically around an old quarry with a small pond.

Soon after, the path leaves the forest and the view opens on Reichweiler and the silhouette of the Prussian mountains behind it. The hiking direction and thus the perspective on the Palatinate mountain range change repeatedly.

Thus, even before the crossing with the Fritz-Wunderlich hiking trail near Pfeffelbach, Burg Lichtenberg can be discovered on the horizon. For the rest of the way, the castle will repeatedly be seen as you step by step approach it again.

At Pfeffelbach, the Prussian Trail crosses the state road and the ascent into the Prussian mountains begins. From below you can already see the weather vane at the dragon ramp on the Herzerberg. That’s where we want to go! Because there is not only the highest point of the path but the Herzerberg is also the highest mountain in the Kusel district. Here a gigantic view makes the effort of the climb worthwhile. A great place for a rest, enough benches are available and under the right weather conditions paragliders are also on the move there.

From there it goes steeply downhill through the forest. In the next kilometers about 20 small panels provide information about the local animal and plant species. Burg Lichtenberg gets closer, but we make another loop around Thallichtenberg and climb again the last kilometers always along the border between Körborn and Thallichtenberg .