Challenging route with beautiful rest stopsPulse driver and quiet zone
This trail through the woods around Hagen is something for the heart in two senses: on the one hand, its ups and downs ensure that your heart beats faster time and time again. On the other hand, its twelve-kilometre loop takes you to places and encounters that make your heart beat faster: Silke and Hannah tell you about wild boars and butterflies, viewpoints and picnic spots, special birdhouses and restaurants that serve guests even when they are actually closed.
Fourth specimen sightedFrom tower to tower
The three eponymous buildings, which were all erected at the beginning of the 20th century in honour of various personalities, are themselves beautiful photo motifs and also offer beautiful views of the surrounding area - provided their viewing platforms are open. While the Bismarck Tower and Eugen Richter Tower are usually closed during the coronavirus period, the Kaiser Friedrich Tower is usually open and invites visitors to climb the tower for a donation of 50 cents. In good weather, visitors can enjoy a wonderful panoramic view of Ennepetal and the Ruhr Valley as far as Bochum from the top. At the foot of the tower, a restaurant with a beer garden offers another nice opportunity for a break, except on Thursdays, when it is closed.
Incidentally, we discovered another (telecommunications) tower along the way, but as a functional building without a viewing platform, it is probably not counted. To give it the feeling of belonging, we photographed it anyway ;)
Wild boar home and bird villaA flying visit to forest dwellers
On our way through the forest, we also came across some locals: In the Saupark, which is located a few hundred metres from the actual route in a hollow in the valley, lives a family of wild boar from several generations: At first we only smelled the animals, but eventually saw them too, and one grey boar in particular was kind enough to stop for a photo. Later, we also came across an enclosure for fallow deer, but the inhabitants were nowhere to be found. Instead, we made another discovery: colourful birdhouses in various places, such as a "Villa Osthaus" designed in different shades of blue or a "Villa van de Velde" in orange and red, provide a splash of colour in the forest and point to the connection between the city of Hagen and the Bauhaus movement. Even today, buildings throughout the city bear witness to the fact that this was once a centre for the artistic reform movement.
Rest in the forest and in the clearingOases of peace on the outskirts
Time and again, we get out of breath on the way, with around 250 metres of altitude to climb and then descend again. Fortunately, there are many different places along the way where you can take a break - and catch your breath. Whether it's a sunny slope by the Bismarck Tower, benches in the middle of the forest or at the edge of a clearing, an orchard meadow or the many beautiful vantage points that we discover as we cross an allotment garden: There are many opportunities for relaxing stops along the way that are well worth seeing. What amazes us: although the path is conveniently located - we travelled by train and walked a good kilometre from the main station to the starting point - we don't hear any traffic or other city noises, just the wind in the trees.
Highlights on the tour and stopovers that are worth a short detour: Keep your eyes peeled, you shouldn't miss these places.
Top tips for the route
- Restaurant Waldlust: The Hotel and Restaurant Waldlust is located near the start and finish in a pretty half-timbered building in an idyllic setting on the edge of the forest. When we pass by and have a look around, both buildings are closed, but we are allowed to take a seat in the sun and are served delicious coffee and cake.
- Osthaus Museum Hagen: Hagen is well known to art connoisseurs and is also worth a visit for active holidaymakers: the interior of today's Osthaus Museum Hagen, opened in 1902 as the Museum Folkwang, was designed by Henry van de Velde. The collection focuses on early classical modernism, Expressionism and New Objectivity. Other architecturally special buildings are still visible today as traces of the upheaval of this period.
- Stadtgarten: This beautiful park on a slope is the starting and finishing point of the circular walk and is worth a longer stay with its large, old trees, a pond with a fountain, a restaurant and many beautiful benches in the sun.
