Traces of war in nature

Itinerary

• From the bus stop, head west on the Main Street following the K mark.
• From the deep road, make a detour on the K▲ mark leading to the Ház-hegy lookout.
• Turn left onto Brennbergi asphalt road (an unmarked section).
• After 700 m on asphalt, reach the right-turning K▲ sign at a roadside parking lot.
• Traverse along the Köves-hát ridge, then switch to the K mark at a bend.
• After 200 m, leave the road leftward on an unmarked trail (previously the K mark was here). Easy to miss!
• About 800 m later, at a junction with a hunting tower, turn right onto the Z mark.
• Cut across the former Muck-house clearing beside the Erdő Háza Ecotourism Visitor Center, then after the Ferenc spring take the second hunting tower, turning left on the K mark.
• At the Seven Beech Tree, walk along the S mark, passing the Salamander Lake.
• Turn right on the Brennbergi (unmarked) road; after a few hundred meters, reach the K mark and wind back to the starting point.

Detailed description of the hike

Battles for Hungarianness

Ágfalva was first mentioned in writing in 1194 under the name Dag. In the 13th century, it belonged to the Borsmonostor abbey; even then, it had a significant German-speaking population. The village, which was struck by cholera epidemics in 1832 and 1873, became a serf village of the city of Sopron after numerous internal conflicts until 1848. Its population has hovered around 2,000 since the early 20th century.

Ágfalva played an important historical role in the early 20th century, with its name linked to two battles. In the Saint-Germain peace treaty of September 10, 1919, closing World War I, the victorious great powers approved Austrian territorial claims on Western Hungary, which was confirmed by the Trianon peace treaty signed on June 4, 1920. Since the Hungarian state protested in vain, a resistance force of volunteers was formed, who repelled the Austrian gendarmerie entering the area in Ágfalva on August 28, 1921. The battle of Ágfalva marked the beginning of a month-and-a-half-long armed uprising in Western Hungary.

The second Ágfalva battle took place on September 8, where the Hungarian insurgents called the Rongyos Gárda, under the command of reserve captain Viktor Maderspach, captain Pál Gebhardt, and reserve lieutenant colonel Elemér Székely, again pushed back the fourfold superior Austrians, who were unable to enter Sopron this time as well.

Negotiation was mediated by the Italians among the parties, leading to the Venice Conference between October 11 and 13, where Hungary succeeded in arranging a referendum on the disputed area's affiliation in Sopron and eight surrounding municipalities, including Ágfalva. This was finally held in mid-December 1921 under the supervision of the Allied peacekeeping contingent. The result was announced on December 17 at the Zrínyi Ilona Officer and Girls' Training Institute, with Sopron newspapers reporting in extraordinary editions that "We remained Hungarians by a majority of 7,107." A total of 15,334 votes went to Hungary, and 8,227 to Austria. Although most small border settlements voted for Austria, Sopron and the strong Hungarian majority there decided the issue, earning the city the title of "the most loyal city" and adding the inscription CIVITAS FIDELISSIMA to its coat of arms.

From Ágfalva to the Peace Lookout

From the bus stop, head west along the Main Street on the K mark, then turn left onto Dózsa Street, reaching a narrow asphalt sidewalk at the end of which an atmospheric staircase leads across to Hegy Street. After the last house, climb gradually on a deep path running under a beech and pine mix until reaching the K▲ sign leading to the Házhegy Lookout.

The 6-meter-high lookout tower, resembling a hunting tower, stands at 332 meters altitude; it was built in 1998 by village residents through community work and renovated in 2013 by TAEG Zrt. From its top, there is a beautiful view of the village, the Sopron Hills, neighboring Austrian settlements, and the Somfalvi Plain.

Return to the K mark, continue through mixed forest on Új-hegy. After the S mark joins, pass beautiful white-barked trunks of birch trees from the right, then see a young planted sessile oak forest. Upon reaching the asphalt Brennbergi road, turn left. To the right along the road flows the Rák stream, over whose meanders a lovely alder forest grows. After about 700 meters on asphalt, reach the right-turning K▲ sign, where you can take a pleasant rest.

Shortly, our mark turns right from the forestry exploration road, and after crossing a small wooden bridge over the Köves stream, begin a strenuous climb. With a right turn, reach the ridge and then continue leftward to the Peace Lookout, standing on the 467-meter-high Poloskás-bérc peak.

After logging in the early 1970s, a beautiful panorama opened up over Görbehalom, the Brennbergi valley, and Austria. In 1972, a six-story, 22-meter-high structure named Mátyás Lookout, dedicated to foresters Mátyás Bánfalvi and Mátyás Tschurl, was built, but had to be demolished in 1993 due to poor condition. On the remaining concrete foundation, the current 13-meter-high new Peace Lookout was built the following year based on designs by László Hadas.

Descent to the Seven Beech Tree

Descending along the Köves-hát ridge, reach the K mark at a bend, continue straight, then turn left at the large intersection. About 200 meters later, leave the wide gravel road left (be careful, easy to miss!). The K mark used to run here, so worn, grayish signs can be seen on this now unmarked trail.

The wide grassy road starting in the larch forest reaches a hunting tower intersection after about 800 meters; turn right here onto the Z mark. On the long straight, pass marsh cudweed plants bordering the forest, reaching the Récényi road. A short detour a few steps to the right will show the site of the Cold War Muck border guard station, which operated here for decades and where the Erdő Háza Ecotourism Visitor Center opened in 2021. It is worth spending time on this short detour to get acquainted with the secrets of the forest and its inhabitants through the interactive, modern exhibition. Nearby is also the Muck tourist house, offering accommodation by prior arrangement. From here, the route continues along the former technical border line straight ahead; then at the far end of the game fence the Z mark turns left.

After the mixed forest, enter a dense pine plantation and reach the Ferenc spring. This spring, rising in the upper section of the Füzes-ditch, feeds the Kecske stream. It is one of the oldest water sources in the Sopron Hills, marked on a map made in 1787 by town engineer András Sárközi as "Hunter Spring." It has been known as Ferenc spring since 1907 when Ferenc Jány, fashion boutique owner, renovated it at his own expense. The now ruined pumping house supplied drinking water to the Muck border guards for decades. The spring water flows onto the surface via an underground pool overflow.

Leaving the forest next to a hunting tower, reach the harvested area, walk along its edge, and then turn left at the next hunting tower to the gravel road marked K. Head north, cross the Kecske stream at the Kati Imre bench barrier, then after a few bends reach the Récényi road again, which was crossed earlier. Crossing this road leads soon to an intersection; turn left to reach the Seven Beech Tree.

The once standing seven-trunk ancient beech inspired Sándor Mészáros, secretary of the Frankenburg Literary Circle. His poem entitled Seven Beech Tree was the only poem inspired by the spirit of the place on the literary plaques placed in Sopron Forests in the 1930s by the Sopron City Beautification Association. The last trunk of the beech fell during World War II in a storm, so today only a plaque and benches remind of the once majestic tree. Members of the Sopron Postal Nature Walkers Section planted eight beech seedlings here in the 1970s, six of which still live today.

On the S mark, begin descending on the eroded road below the spruce in the Tacsi ditch branch, in the upper part of which the Textiles spring rises. A short S● mark on a rotten wooden bridge leads to a shelter built between 1969-70, near which there were benches and hearths, but these have become dilapidated and unusable now.

Continuing descending on the S mark, emerge from the forest at the power line clearing, then turn right to reach the 6,500 m3 sediment trap of the artificially created Salamander Lake in 1977. The lake holds 10,000 cubic meters of water and has been used as a fishing lake since 1978. Its water level is nearly constant, with an average depth of 3 meters — twice that near the dam, but only about 1 meter in the upper third. In 2013, the Study Forest Management made the area more comfortable with a shelter, hearths, and landscaping around the spring. Another attraction is that from here to the Fáber meadow lies the largest sweet chestnut grove of the Sopron Hills.

A large shelter stands between the two parts of the lake, suitable as a bivouac site. At the lake's corner flows the beautifully developed Nature Friend spring, one of the largest output springs in the hills. It was called Medical Spring in the first half of the last century because during the 1931-32 cholera epidemic, part of the population obtained clean water from here. In 1950, the Sopron Nature Friends Hiking Association renovated the old water intake. Its current appearance was achieved in 2003 through the Castanea Environmental Protection Association, supported by the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Behind the water outflow in the forest, find the memorial stones shaped like flowers by Pál Kő commemorating workers' movements.

Back to Ágfalva via the Forest Mill

Continue on the wide gravel road, then through a beech-oak forest reach the Brennbergi road and turn right. After a few hundred meters, reach the K mark on Erdemalom road, turn left on it to the Forest or Kárpáti mill.

The building's history goes back to the early 17th century. Its Baroque exterior dates from the 18th century and it was rebuilt in the Classicist style. From the start of operation till cessation in 1949, it functioned as a two-stone water mill. Its uniqueness is that it is the only Sopron water mill with its building and equipment preserved to this day. A particular episode of its later history is that in the 1950s, one owner, Dr. László Kárpáti, a high school teacher, unable to bear the renovation costs of the now ruinous building, sold the mill. The new owner, István Taródi, intended to use the building materials to build his own "medieval knight's castle" in Felsőlövér. Fortunately, the mill complex was declared a monument by then, so the new owner left the building and equipment untouched, saving it from destruction.

After the mill, continue past the houses reaching a panoramic section. On the left, the few surviving old trees of the former sweet chestnut grove on Hosszú hill accompany the route; on the right, the Somfalvi Plain is visible below the sparse vineyards. At Valéta, turn right at the corner of a fenced goat farm, then ascend slightly passing the Valéta high point in the beech-oak forest. From here descend to the Új-hegy saddle up to the intersection with the S mark, then continue right following the K mark. Exit left from the spruce forest to Váczi Mihály Street. This section can become very slippery in wet weather!

Soon reach the Ágfalva bus stop, closing this circular route.