Themed hiking trail "On old paths into a past time" Reichenbach

The path begins with the former village of Ausweiler and presents the 14 former villages one after another.
In the route description below, the lost villages of the military training area are written in bold parentheses.

Reichenbach parking lot - (Ausweiler) - (Erzweiler) - main street - (Grünbach) - Auf dem Schoss - (Mambächel) - K 11 - (Kefersheim) - fountain - (Aulenbach) - sports field - (Ehlenbach) - (Ilgesheim) - (Oberjeckenbach) - Salzlecke - (Wieselbach) - Reilsbach - L 172 - (Zaubach) - Betschied - (Frohnhausen) - (Breungenborn) - (Ronnenberg) - Reichenbach parking lot

The starting point of the hike is reached at the outskirts of Reichenbach in the direction of Nohen. Before the war memorial, we turn left and go to the transformer house. On the green area to the right of the path, there are plenty of parking spaces available.

The path is marked with red paint. Changes in direction are indicated by a red isosceles triangle whose point shows the new direction.

Looking over Reichenbach, we see the western part of the military training area with the Winterhauch as the horizon. The Sauberg at 600 meters above sea level is the highest point of this ridge. At the upper end of the parking lot, in front of a blackthorn bush, there is an information board with the hiking route. The base is made of sandstone blocks.

Continuing to walk, we reach a bench after about 400 m flanked by an old gatepost. The sandstone material comes from the cemetery wall and its gate of the village of Ronnenberg. We continue walking on this old path towards Heimbach and reach a fork after about 500 m. A rest area invites you to take the first break.

We continue to the next fork and follow the field path turning right. After 200 m, there is a seating area made of sandstone on the right side of the path. Originally, it was once a window jamb from Frohnhausen.

Passing fields and meadows, the path continues until we reach a covered seating area after 500 m. The dry stone wall and stairs surrounding it are materials from the former village of Zaubach.

After a short steep section in beech rod wood, we cross the state road to Nohen and turn left onto a meadow path. Following the path, we enter the gorge-like Landsgraben, cross the Reilsbach and continue uphill to the right. After 500 m, we turn left onto a forest path that leads us along the middle slope of the Hochfels to the Goldgrube. Shortly before leaving the forest, there is a rock nose on the left side of the path offering a view into the Nahe valley.

About 250 m further on the right side of the path, we can look into the shaft of an old ore mine. Copper was mined there until the 1930s. Passing a small meadow, we reach a very old linden tree after a short ascent. In its shade, hikers can rest on a bench whose parts are remnants of a house from the lost village of Wieselbach, as is the dry stone wall at its feet.

Turning left, we continue downhill on the path until we reach the old district road to Kronweiler in a hairpin bend. Then uphill towards Reichenbach until the next hairpin bend. Now following the signs, a little downhill then uphill along the cliff edge of the Nahe valley, through deciduous and coniferous forest and finally past fields, we reach the Salzleck.

In view of the old district road, a rest point awaits us. The former district road now leads us towards the Reichenbach sports field. At the crossing to the external firing point 205 at the foot of Harzbuch, we can take a short rest on a bench built from sandstone parts originating from Ilgesheim. A short ascent leads to Harzbuch.

A rest point invites you to linger. The magnificent panoramic view compensates for the efforts of the route so far. In a straight line embedded in the Hochwald, the highest village in Rhineland-Palatinate, Hattgenstein, the Nahe valley at our feet, the horizon is dominated by the Soonwald, Idarwald and Hochwald with the Erbeskopf, the highest mountain in Rhineland-Palatinate, and the Freisen Heights are within reach.

Past the sports field, casting a glance at Reichenbach with its beautiful church, we reach a junction on an even path. In front of it on a green area to the left of the path is a seating group. The sandstone stones carrying the table and bench are remains of the village of Aulenbach. After a few meters, we turn right, follow the field path to the infrastructure road, then turn right towards the military training area.

A barrier at the boundary of the area prevents further access. We turn right towards Reichenbach to the cemetery and enter it through the back entrance. Opposite the mortuary, we see a neo-Gothic cemetery cross. Originally, it stood in the cemetery of Kefersheim. Leaving the cemetery, we continue on today's village street, thus setting our feet again on part of the old Roman road. Today's village street was probably part of the Roman road on which we started our hike.

Following the course of the village street, we come to the junction of the two ancient long-distance routes described at the beginning. The village name for this district is still Kreuzweg today. Crossing the intersection in a straight line, we see on the right on a small square a millstone that has been converted into a sundial, also a work of the stonemason Pfestorf, and three sandstone troughs. They symbolize the three mills in the Steinalb, of which the Schmidtenmühle and the Germannsmühle belonged to the municipality of Grünbach. The last station of the hike is reached at the Reichenbach war memorial. In the lawn area, we see a replica of a tree trunk made of sandstone. It is the gravestone of the royal forest warden Ludwig Roeder, born July 20, 1861, and died September 23, 1884. It stood in the cemetery of Erzweiler. The gravestone as well as the cemetery cross are listed in the list of cultural monuments of Rhineland-Palatinate. Now the end point of our hike is reached. Following the road, after a few hundred meters we reach the starting point and can take one last look back at the very different landscape of the military training area. Text: Fritz Kunz, Reichenbach.