Walking the Weinsteig Rheinland Pfalz, Germany Stage 4: Deidesheim to Neustadt an der Weinstraße

Walking the Weinsteig: Deidesheim to Neustadt an der Weinstraße Stage 4: 15.5 km; 5 hours; 650 m climb 
February 28, 2016 Weather, dry, cool (9°C), overcast
This stage is fairly strenuous with plenty of scenic variety, including good views over the vineyards south of Deidesheim. The little town has attracted artists and as we walked towards the old Town Hall with its tremendous steps we noticed amusing and atractive sculptures adorning several buildings. Of course if you are with a group or children the figures around the fountain near the station require a stop. We dragged ourselves away from the beguiling menu boards and angled left then into the narrow streets lined with stone cottages. Soon the houses petered out, the road climbed gently between high stone walls on the edge of vineyards and became a rough track. Shortly we left the shelter of the vines, climbing into meadows, and up a wide grassy slope. A glance back revealed that we were already high above Deidesheim and approaching the Pfalzblick restaurant 200m ahead. a popular lunch stop, especially at weekends. Soon we are back in the familiar mix of pines and chestnuts climbing easily, then back down to a small white chapel, the Klausenkapelle, where there are occasionally services. Up again above the village of Königsbach, with its notable church tower. Maddeningly there is a steep descent down steps, with fragile wooden handrails right into the churchyard. We contoured along a series of alleys to an open view of vines, with Gimmeldingen village ahead below. This is a pleasant snack stop with a few picnic bench, especially if the magnificent rose bushes are in flower to attract bees (to fertilise the vines). Though a cold Spring this year, almond trees were flowering around Gimmeldingen. The festival in celebration, with stalls, vino tasting and local foods was postponed until later in March (still very chilly). Our trail headed steeply uphill partly up irregular stone steps. We were feeling quite perky until we reached the steps and climbed to Meerspinnblick, where there is a wooden shelter. Hunger suddenly struck both of us so we perched on a convenient bench where various walkers wished us "Guten Appetit" as we ate our lunch.
We had forgotten the rather demoralising drop into and along the valley deeply into the woods. From  Forsthaus Benejental the real work of the day began, up, along, up into the Scots pine and heather clad hills towards Weinbiethaus. Fortunately we were encouraged by various signposts and indeed  distances and the additional climbing needed did get smaller. En route great blocks of stone and weathered outcrops, clumps of heather and chestnut trees gave way to eerie looking Scots pines and even traces of snow. Eventually the low welcoming restaurant building of Weinbiethaus appeared with the stone tower behind.
Maybe it was the anticyclonic gloominess of the day but both of us were glad to reach Weinbiethaus at 554m, our highest point yet reached on this Weinsteig trip. This is a restaurant run by the Pfalzerwald Verein (Club), not to be missed with excellent hearty meals, drinks, plus homemade cakes, teas or coffees. It was reopened only recently after extensions and rebuilding. As usual we chatted to our neighbours at the long table before tucking into large mugs of milky coffee and sustaining portions of cheesecake (German style).
The determined walker can continue at high level along the marked Weinsteig trail for 7.7km, to the rocky outcrop of the Bergstein, with great views over Neustadt, then a steep descent into the town. The less determined walker can take the shorter (4km), but still interesting route more directly into Neustadt. That February day we had decided to be less determined walkers, despite the calorific input of coffee and cake so we hoisted our packs and followed blue and white striped symbols on the southern side of the Meisental valley. Parts of the trail and several thousand trees had been laid waste but the 'harvesters' and their machines were gone. With a little extra care we reached the outskirts of Neustadt where many sets of steps further tested our knees. Neustadt an der Weinstraße is a real town of some 30 000 souls, one of the many Neustadts in Germany dating back to the 12th century. It is well worth a visit, but that February day we legged it through the town, past the large church and over to the station, catching a train to Mannheim 10 minutes later.

Insert head in figure as appropriate, Deidesheim fountain

Imposing steps to the old Town Hall, Deidesheim

Steps into the vinyards too

Klausenkapelle

 J struggles down the steps

 Almonds bloom despite cool temperatures

Roses attract pollinating bees in sumer

The way of the steps

Neustadt, so near and so far down

Walking the Weinsteig, Rheinland Pfalz, Germany Stage 1 Bockenheim to Neuleinigen

For several years now we have played with the idea of walking the Palatinate Weinsteig along the edge of the hills above the Rhine Valley on the left bank.  The way marked Weinsteig walking route is 171 kilometre long - just over a hundred miles. It has recently been extended and the route now starts in Bockenheim an der Weinstraße, runs through Hambach, Neuleinigen and Wachenheim with their castles; two spa towns: Bad Dürkheim with its giant wine barrel and Bad Bergzabern; Deidesheim where former federal Chancellor Kohl has enjoyed many a Saumagen with Sauerkraut; Neustadt an der Weinstraße to Schweigen-Rechtenbach with its Weintor and across to Wissembourg in northern Alsace.
We live just north of Mannheim and the whole Weinsteig region lies within our local transport area. We have pensioners' tickets, that we pay for, but give us free transport everywhere in the area. This enable us to reach the start of the walks and return home in the evenings. Bus, tram and local train connections are only a mouse-click away, though weekday frequencies are best. This is no problem as we are retired.

Stage 1: Bockenheim  to Neuleingingen January 2016
17.7 km, 250 m of climbing, weather cool, (7°C), sunny, moderate wind, good visibility.
The name Weinsteig means Wine Route, with -steig indicating narrow, steep, climbing rather than wide or gentle. Today's route led us from well-kept, tiny Bockenheim through the surrounding vineyards up towards the crest of the Palatinate Hills. We passed a set of fine gates across the entrance to a vintners before reaching the Haus der Deutschen Weinstrasse, which makes a modern arch over the B 271 at the edge of the town.

We followed red and white signs up into the vineyards, still naked and heavily pruned, gradually rising above the Rhine Plain. Gravel tracks, tarred roads, pausing to take in the landscape or watching the hawks wheel overhead. Small holes and runways suggested large populations of field hamsters or mice and despite the numerous lazily turning wind turbines, there seemed to be plenty of large birds of prey ready to eat them. We walked through open country, with copses of trees or bushes covering piles of limestone, along rows of vines and past occasional ancient signs of settlement. There was the blackened chunk of stone, perhaps the site of Celtic rituals, close by an early Christian chapel. For some time we met no one, then a family by a picnic table where we, too, stopped for a snack, and at the end of the day reckoned we had encountered nine people, including a woman on a horse.

We continued to climb and then descend into minor valleys, open fields much too green for January and then a steep descent into Mertesheim, once a centre of mining for ores. The road along the valley was the first we had seen or heard in the last couple of hours. From here onwards we were walking over sandstones, that produce infertile soils and are mostly left as woodland which covers nearly all the main uplands of the Palatinate Forest. Both of us were beginning to feel the effects of distance and height climbed, so we both needed cups of lemon and ginger tea and a power bar as we reached the top of the hill above Grünstadt. After walking through a small park we found ourselves leaving the woods again and realised that in the distance to the NE we could see the Donnersberg at 686m, the highest in the Pfalz. Onwards and around the next hilltop our view changed, back to vines, the horse and rider and below the line and drone of the A6 Autobahn. The road itself is well-known to us, one of our routes back to the UK, but it also meant that we were now very close to Neuleiningen. All day we had been buffeted by a chilly wind in our faces and now the low sun reminded us of the shortness of the daylight in January. We marched the next few kilometres, past farm and restaurant, to the road tunnel beneath the A6 and into Neuleiningen at a good pace.

We made it to the bus stop near the castle with about 10 minutes to spare, then into Grünstadt where the railway station still has the original Ludwig's Railway wrought iron stanchions holding up the wooden canopy. The Palatinate was ruled by Bavaria when the railway was built. A good day's walk in bright winter sunshine, where we had never been before.

Walking in Winter I

We live in the Rhine Valley bounded on the west by the Pfälzerwald hills and on the east by the Odenwald hills, both good areas for walking, even in winter. Leaving the small town of Bad Dürkheim last week the air was crisp so we enjoyed the walk up to the Flag Tower, above, a folly erected basically to improve the view. Here the vines had been pruned leaving one shoot which later would be tied to the wires and bear this summers grapes. Now we had warmed up after our longish tram ride and set off along the marked Weinsteig (Wine way). Winter trees displayed their trunk and branch structures like this birch and even the roadside bushes revealed their inner secrets.

What a difference blue skies make, especially as we found hazel catkins round the corner (see below). Soon we reached one of the more exacting stages of the walk. The trail narrows and the land falls steeply away through the stands of mostly Scots Pines. Last year people started to pile small cairns precariously on wayside stones and some of these have survived the winter frosts and gales. Smaller birds twittered encouragingly in the undergrowth, whilst later large hawks circled over the woods

We found a convenient bench to have our picnic, overlooking a boule pitch as our route descended to cross the road to Wachenheim and then continued up to the castle nearby. The days were still short so we pressed on, mostly in the woods, up and down, following the red and white markers towards the prosperous wine-making town of Deidesheim. On the last hilltop above the town lies the curious ancient remains of the Heidenlöcher, where a drystone wall of Celtic origin encloses roughly rectangular holes where people lived when their villages were threatened. They date from around 800 AD, possibly from when Viking invasions along the Rhine were frequent.

The Flag Tower built as a folly to give the wellness guests in Bad Dürkheim somewhere to walk to.

Wintry trees 

Hazel Catkins

Cairn building is popular in Germany

Upgrade of the Palatinate Weinsteig, Germany

One of our favourite long distance walks is the Weinsteig that runs along the edge of the hills bordering the Rhine Valley for 170km from near Grünstadt almost to the French border in Wissembourg. This has recently been upgraded by installing picnic tables at a number of viewpoints into the valley.
If you decide to walk in this area however there is some bad news, in that the Pfalzer Wald Verein, the regional walking club, is closing or reducing the hours of opening of its manned huts, where one can obtain refreshment. The problem is due to introduction of a minimum wage in Germany. This will push the costs of paying the volunteers who man the counters and kitchens up by several hundred percent. More information is available in German on: http://www.pwv.de/index.php/aktuelles/232-mindestlohn-wka-smartphone If you decide to walk the route and intend to eat at a PWV hut, then check the opening hours of the club's huts before setting off.

Walking with luggage transfer along the Weinstraße, Rhineland Palatinate, Germany

We have walked and enjoyed several stages of the Weinsteig a slightly tougher version of the German Weinstraße route. The 165km long route starts just over the border from the French town of Wissembourg and proceeds along the edge of the hills bordering the Rhine to Neuleiningen through Neustadt an der Weinstraße and Bad Dürkheim. The excellent Kleins Wanderreisen offer a 14 day trip for just over €800 pp for two people sharing a room with bed and breakfast in hotels and vintners accommodation, with luggage transfer starting each Sunday. If you want to book your own accommodation Gepäckservice Pfalz will arrange luggage transfer for €20 for one or two persons.

Bad Bergzabern to Wissembourg

The "I don't know much about art, but I know what I like" fountain in Bad Bergzabern

On an earlier attempt the weather was much clearer.

Meanwhile we haven't got too far with our winter walking aim of doing the Weinsteig Trail along the W edge of the Rhine Valley 10 to 14 km sections at a time - the weather has mostly just been too nasty and unsettled. However yesterday buoyed falsely by the weather forecast - cloudy, cold but mostly dry - we headed out by local train to Bad Bergzabern, a wine growing centre and spa towards the southern end of the Weinstraße. 

The stylised bunch of green grapes waymarks the trail.

As one does we've promised to lead a group from our cycling club on 17th March, along this section. As the time does go faster apparently or more slowly somehow we were beginning to run out of days when we could take another dry run at this - looming up are dentist visits, museum trips, other walks, retirement parties, visiting friends recovering from hospital and all the other activities that take time, and that is even before one of us has laid a foot in the garden apart from taking the compost out. Clearly the weather gods over in Rheinland Pfalz had not received yesterday's SW Germany's weather forecast since it was snowing almost the whole day with a wind direct from the Urals, but calling on the spirits of Shackleton and Shipton we marched on, meeting just one youth and a rather roly poly sausage dog underway. We ate our sandwiches rather quickly, sheltering behind a log pile and then hastening through some blasted vines (surely these withered sprouts will never produce Riesling, as the notices proclaimed) and then into the shelter of the woods where great fallen trees rubbed against other branches with unearthly squeaks. A buzzard flew silently past and later a kestrel hovered yards away and then swooped on a tiny mouse, enough for a few minutes of tearing apart on the fence post across the fields.
We had climbed through vineyards and forest to Dörrenbach,  dropped through Oberrotterbach and climbed to a ridge before we had a our first view of the the Weintor. It was probably one of the coldest walks I've ever done, though neither of us was ever cold for more than a few minutes, well protected by high tech layers as we were. We reached Wissembourg, just over the French border, following the wine route to its close on the German side via the Weintor, a totally pointless and brutalist style gateway, built in the time of the late, unlamented NS.
Rather than walk down the footpath by the side of the main road from Schweigen into Wissembourg, we turned off right by the large restaurant by the roundabout south of the Weintor. There we discovered a whole set of small vintners and interesting looking family style hotels and eateries - mostly closed for the winter.   Five minutes later we crossed the French border on foot, reached the outer suburbs of Wissembourg after two kilometres, climbed over the remains of the earth ramparts into town past the protestant church. We wandered into town past a house where Charles de Foucauld, a French mystic and missionary amongst the Touregs in Algeria had spent his early years and also past a house formerly belonging to the Bartholdi family. One member of this family was Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi who designed the Statue of Liberty. Interestingly enough there are plaques on various houses with information about them in French, German and English. The French appear to receive the most information, the Germans somewhat less and the British very little. Maybe the city fathers of Wissembourg think  English speakers are less than interested in European history.
In Wissembourg too some of our favourite watering holes were closed but promising to reopen before March 17th, when we may indulge in cafe au lait and mille feuilles after we have guided the walking cyclists to this paradise for pastry freaks (These delights are not available in Viernheim, fortunately).  We had time to nip into a supermarket to buy some cheese and then we took the train home. A good day.

Why fly to New England?

We have enjoyed a superb autumn/fall this year and if you wish to enjoy walking through golden woods with good food and wine, then it is worth thinking about southwest Germany in October. The photographs below were taken over the last month or so in the vineyards of Rhineland Palatinate, in the Löwensteiner Hills near Heilbronn, in the Odenwald and in the Viernheim forests.

Die Weinstraße

The Pfälzer Weinsteig (Palatinate Wine Trail runs for about 160 km (100 miles) from Neuleiningen to the Weintor at Schweigen-Rettenbach, just north of Wissembourg in Alsace. The route traverses the foothills of the Pfalzerwald (Palatine Forest) through vineyards, past castles and Ludwigshöhe, a Royal Bavarian summer residence. The climate is warm here in the summer with almond, fig and edible chestnut trees. This is a major German wine growing area. It is especially fine in October when the leaves on the grape vines change colour from deep green to yellow, orange and deep red. It is a bit late for this year, but next year maybe? You will need some time to sample the wine and the local food which is rural, robust and simple, but not to be missed - Saumagen (pigs' stomach stuffed with hotpot and then sliced and grilled or  fried. This is the favourite food of Helmut Kohl, the former German Chancellor.), liver dumplings, Bratwurst, sauerkraut… The trail can be easily walked in either direction in 10 days - about 16 km and 700 m, just 2000' a day. You can expect to pay about €80 a night for a double room with B&B. Practically every village has a wine festival in the autumn, so booking head has a lot to recommend it. The organisations whose websites follow will help you find rooms: www.deutsche-weinstrasse.de, www.suedlicheweinstrasse.de or www.pfaelzer-wanderwege.de for details of pre-booked holidays with luggage transport, allowing you to just carry a day sack with a picnic and a waterproof.