Hiking Trail
Route profile
Notice
In the tour planner we inform you under the tab "Current info" about temporary route changes, closures and detours.
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Go on a 10 km journey of discovery through the traditional mining history of the local community of Brachbach. Numerous relics from days gone by, especially mouths to old mines in which slate and ore were once mined, await you. The local association "Glück-Auf" Brachbach has created this path with a lot of passion, and it has now been upgraded to an official Wäller tour. Along the route, information boards on 30 prominent, mining-related points offer many exciting insights into the world underground.
The highlight of the tour is the visitor mine slate tunnel "Josefsglück" (GeoPunkt), which can be visited on request. Immerse yourself in the fascinating history of mining and enjoy a hike that combines nature, culture and history in a unique way. Visit our region, the Druids.Witches.SiegerLand and be inspired by Brachbach's impressive mining history!
If you are coming by car from Kirchen-Katzenbach, take the K97 towards Brachbach. Immediately before the Sieg bridge, turn right into the hiking car park at the “Alte Freundschaft” fountain.
Coming from Mudersbach/Siegen on the B 62, first turn left into Büdenholzer Straße and then right into Austraße and follow the road to the end of the town, over the Sieg bridge and immediately after this turn left into the aforementioned hiking car park.
By train (RE 9 - Rhein-Sieg-Express) to Brachbach station. From here, walk for 5 to 10 minutes along Industriestrasse in the direction of Bahnhofstrasse (Brachbach), cross the Sieg bridge and reach an ore wagon (lorry) and the adjacent orientation board for the WällerTour "Grubenwanderweg Brachbach", your start and finish point.
Free hiking parking lot fountain "Alte Freundschaft" (Austraße), 57555 Brachbach
1st section: Alte Freundschaft You start your hike at the “Alte Freundschaft” fountain, which is fed by the mountain water from the tunnel of the same name. A little higher up, accessible via the stairs, you will also find the rest area with the mushroom and the Mary’s Grotto as well as the natural mouth of the Alte Freundschaft tunnel. Now you’re off and you start on the Wällertour “Grubenwanderweg Brachbach” route, following the green and white logo of this GeoRoute. Over the Siegbrücke and Austraße you reach the Hütte district and on the left you will see a small rest area with the trunk of the former Wernsberg fir tree. Straight on you will see the fire station on the left. The Alte Brachbacher Hütte stood exactly on this spot more than 100 years ago. The Windhorst mine and the Alte Mühle are also very close by.
2nd section: Auf dem Ort and Zechenwaldplatz You cross the Sieg bridge for the second time, turn right and arrive in the oldest part of the village of Brachbach, "Auf dem Ort" with the miners' monument. The local artist Josef Christ created this statue of the miners in memory of the long and ancient tradition of the mining village of Brachbach. From the miners' monument, go left and then right up Mittelstrasse and come to Zechenwaldplatz. In the center of Zechenwaldplatz you will see a loaded ore train in front of the bakery that was newly built in 2003.
3rd section: Zechenwaldstrasse You turn east and go into Zechenwaldstrasse. To the right of the forest path, a small path leads to the stream and to the entrance to the Zecher Tiefer Stollen, also known as the Waldstollen. The water flowing from the approximately 2000 m long tunnel deposits red and black minerals on the surrounding rock, a sign of high iron and manganese content.
4th section: Aligsweg After 50 m, turn right across the meadow to Aligsweg. In front of you is the restored tunnel entrance of the Kleesalig mine. You go down Aligsweg, back to Zechenwaldplatz and cross it. At the end on the right hand side you will see the tunnel entrance of a former air raid shelter. Now head northwest downhill through Erzweg, then a bit up Bergstrasse towards the train station and through the "Bähnchen". The name of this little street is a reminder that in the days of ore mining, the ore was transported from Zechenwaldplatz to the train station on rails with a little train.
5th section: Gartenstrasse and Wiesenstrasse You walk past the parish church of St. Josef, which is made of local quarry stone, briefly up Gartenstrasse and immediately left into Wiesenstrasse, past the local history museum. Before the right-hand bend in Feldstrasse, follow the footpath left downhill to the Siegbrücke. There is an ore wagon (lorry) at the entrance to Brachbach.
6th section: Bullenkamp tunnel and Mudersbach waterworks This time you don't cross the Sieg bridge, but walk along the forest path along the Sieg. After just 100 m you are standing in front of the Bullenkamp tunnel entrance, which was rebuilt in 2009. Inside the tunnel you can see the extension with German door frames. You follow the path along the Sieg to a larger square (Mudersbach waterworks). The waterworks used to be fed by the mountain water from the Ecker Grundstollen. Here you turn right and reach the Ecker Grundstollen at the foot of the valley.
7th section: Boulder fountain and boulder tunnel The hiking trail takes you up the valley through a beech forest to the Karpaten district. Before you reach the first houses, you will see the boulder well, which was built in 2008 and fed with mountain water from the boulder tunnel. You cross the street and stand in front of the boulder tunnel, which was re-excavated in 2008 and bricked with a tunnel entrance made of clay slate. You now follow the forest path eastwards to the Schützenhaus and after about 100 m you will see the former colliery house of the Ecker Schacht on the left. Behind this house you can see the remains of the Ecke mine.
Section 8: Ecker Schacht and "Apfelbaum" You pass the tennis courts and reach the square at the Schützenhaus. Here you will find the fenced Ecker Schacht. Past the Schützenhaus, it goes steeply up to the right to a forest path across the street, the "Pastorsweg". Follow the forest path to the right and you will reach the "Apfelbaum" district. The old shaft building of the Apfelbaumerzug mine stood here until the 1970s. Today, a concrete slab covers the 393 m deep shaft.
9th section: Main path and Aligswiesen You follow the main path that leads you from the "Apfelbaumerzug" past the houses above the Aligswiesen towards the southwest. At the fork in the road, follow the hiking symbol and go down the forest path on the right. Below the Brachbach waterworks, turn sharply left twice and go uphill towards the southeast. On the right, opposite the waterworks (Langgrube raised tank), you see the Untere Girnbach tunnel, which serves as a drinking water reservoir for the waterworks.
10th section: Quarry and Josefsglück mine You now leave the road and follow the steeply ascending forest path towards the south. On the right of the path you see the old, abandoned quarry in which the stones for the construction of the St. Joseph's Church in Brachbach were quarried 130 years ago. A little way uphill you see the slate dump of the Josefsglück mine on the left with the pit house built in 2011. A short way further you will see the entrance to the Josefsglück slate mine on the right, which was in operation until June 1948. The visitor mine "Josefsglück slate mine" can be visited by groups of up to 15 people. Guided tours can be booked.
11th section: Steep climb You should fortify yourself, because now the most arduous 200 m of the entire hiking trail follow. The path continues steeply uphill towards the south. This path used to be the quickest connection over the mountain to Dermbach, a district of Herdorf. Many people used to take this path from Dermbach to Brachbach to the train station.
12th section: Heinrichshoffnung tunnel Below the dump area of the Obere Girnbach tunnel, turn left onto an old mine path to the Lucas mining area with the Heinrichshoffnung tunnel. A "German doorpost" shows you the direction of the buried tunnel. A natural path uphill takes you to the next higher forest path and you reach the buried entrance to the Wasserquelle mine. Guarded by a mighty beech tree, the tunnel entrance can only be guessed at. Old, dilapidated dry stone walls line the "journey" into the mountain. A "German doorpost" marks the entrance to the mountain.
Section 13: Brüderschaft mine You follow the wide path towards the southwest and on your right you see a large ore and slate heap from the Brüderschaft mine. Here, too, a "German doorpost" marks the buried entrance to the mountain. Past the sunken path on the right (coming up from Josefsglück), you see the Oberen Girnbach mine field with its tunnel and the bricked-up Rösche on your right. The few steps down the mountain to the ore and slate heap are worth it. Here you have the opportunity to rest at the stone seating area and look at the tunnel entrance with the rosette, which was restored in 2013.
14th section: Schlirrerweg and Speckberg You climb back up and just before the path, which has been flat until then, descends into the valley, you turn sharply to the left and go uphill again. After just 100 m, you turn left in the large right-hand bend into the sunken path (Schlirrerweg). In the past, ore was transported down the valley on these sunken paths in carts. Over the centuries, the tracks of iron shoes have been ground into the rock on the ground, which were clamped under the blocked rear wheels of the carts to brake on the steep descent. Through this "Schlirrerweg", as it is still called today, you soon reach the path spider of the Speckberg, the highest point of this main path. A few benches invite you to rest after the steep climb. The replica of an ore cart is set up here, protected from the weather. Five paths converge in a star shape on the open space of the Speckberg.
Section 15: Lombigswald and Wernsbergtal Coming out of the hollow road, you keep the same direction and height and take the path through a beautiful beech forest, past the Abendsonne and Abendstern mines to the Lombigswald in the large Venus mine area. You are now in the Wernsbergtal, which rises steeply to the Windhahn. In this valley basin you can still see many remains of the former mining activities, tunnels, dumps and an ore washing plant. You follow the timber transport road and go downhill into the Wernsbergtal. After about 250 m, you walk left down the steep forest path to the Morgenroth slate mine. Here you will find one of the last remaining slate dumps in Brachbach. From the dump area of the Morgenroth mine, you will reach the Moritzstollen after about 150 m. This mouth of the mine was also uncovered in 2001 and expertly rebuilt. Nearby you will find a rest area, surrounded by old dry stone walls. 80 m uphill, above the Moritzstollen, is the Weide mine. Here you will find well-preserved dry stone walls from the former mine site.
16th section: Venus-Charlotten-Stollen Down the valley you will discover a lovely place to linger, namely the area of the Venus-Charlotten-Stollen. You can still see the remains of the spoil heap, the slate splitting area and in the background the wall of the former splitter's house with the entrance to the Venus-Charlotten-Stollen. You can drink original mine water from the tunnel from the beautifully designed fountain. From the fountain it is worth taking a detour to the lookout point 700 m away high above Brachbach, with a view over the north-eastern Sieg valley. On the way to the lookout point you will cross the Oberes Reff mining area. Halfway along the road to the left you will discover the spoil heap of the Oberes Reff-Stollen. Back at the fountain of the Venus-Charlotten-Stollen you take the path between the tunnel and the fountain towards the Adolf-Stollen. Past the second completely preserved slate dump of the Wernsberg mine, popularly known as the Mittlerer Stollen (middle tunnel), you walk slightly uphill and come to the Adolfstollen. In this narrow side valley of the Wernsberg, the “Wahlerts Wiesen”, the Adolfstollen was reopened in 2007 and the tunnel entrance was walled with clay slate stones. A small pond on the dump site, fed by the mountain water from the tunnel, makes this old mining area an enchanted place.
17th section: Wernsberg mine and Brachbach coat of arms Now you continue down the valley, past fish ponds, to the wide farm track lying across. You turn left and after about 200 m you reach a place steeped in history, the Wernsberg mine, which gives the whole valley its name. Ore and slate were mined here until 1961. The closure of this mine marked the end of a centuries-long mining tradition. The Brachbach coat of arms shows a large spruce tree that once stood majestically above the mouth of the Wernsberg tunnel. It was felled in 1990. The Wernsberg tunnel serves as a water reservoir for the Brachbach water association.
The mine hiking trail continues downhill and you reach your starting point again, the hiking car park at the “Alte Freundschaft” fountain.
If you think that certain sections of the trail are not suitable for you, you should avoid them. In adverse weather conditions, natural trails can become muddy and slippery.
In autumn in particular, you should be aware that leaves lying on the ground can cover bumps, roots, stones or holes in the trail. You must expect this type of disruption to the trail when you go hiking.
Although the trail is very well marked throughout, you should always have a suitable hiking map with you for safety reasons.
Sturdy shoes, weather-appropriate, practical clothing
Don’t miss the “highlight” of the mine hiking trail and sign up for a guided tour of the “Josefsglück” visitor mine at the local history association!
Hiking car park fountain "Alte Freundschaft" (Austraße), 57555 Brachbach
Hiking car park fountain "Alte Freundschaft" (Austraße), 57555 Brachbach
More information & GPX download
Notice
In the tour planner we inform you under the tab "Current info" about temporary route changes, closures and detours.
To the Tour Planer