The Eckbach Mill Path (german: Eckbach-Mühlenwanderweg) is a

footpath A footpath (also pedestrian way, walking trail, nature trail) is a type of thoroughfare that is intended for use only by pedestrians and not other forms of traffic such as motorized vehicles, bicycles and horses. They can be found in a wide ...

in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. It is 23 kilometres long and runs gently downhill along the

Eckbach The Eckbach (locally known as the Eck and in the lower reaches also as Neugraben or Leiniger Graben) is a small river in the northeastern Palatinate and the southeastern Rhenish Hesse. It is slightly over long. Name Linguistic Research into ...

river through the

Leiningerland The Leiningerland is an historic landscape in the Palatinate region in the German federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate. It is named after an aristocratic family that used to be the most important in the region, the House of Leiningen. Geograph ...

in the northeast of the Palatinate region.

Course

The trail runs from west to east/northeast through the collective municipalities of

Hettenleidelheim Hettenleidelheim ( Palatine German: ''Hettrum'') is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Until 2018, it was ...

and

Grünstadt-Land Grünstadt-Land is a former ''Verbandsgemeinde'' ("collective municipality") in the district of Bad Dürkheim, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It was situated on the north-eastern edge of the Palatinate forest, around the town Grünstadt, which ...

. It links nine villages and 23 of the original 35 water mills, running from the Palatinate Forest through the vineyards along the

German Wine Road The German Wine RouteScheunemann J., Stewart J., Walker N. and Williams C. (2011), ''Back Roads Germany'', Dorling Kindersley, London. . or Wine Road (german: Deutsche Weinstraße) is the oldest of Germany's tourist wine routes. Located in the ...

to the edge of the Upper Rhine Plain. The height difference between the start and end points ( Hertlingshausen 308 metres,

Dirmstein Dirmstein ( pfl, Dermschdää) is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. With its roughly 3,000 inhabitants, ...

108 metres) is 200 metres, the cumulative gain and loss over the generally gently descending route is only 250 metres, hence its difficulty is assessed as easy. The route, which is accessible all year round, is marked by wooden signposts, made and maintained by voluntary workers. They bear the mill logo and the name ''Eckbach-Mühlenwanderweg''. The logo depicts a house and waterwheel above a wavy line and was designed by Cosmas Kösters from Kirchheim in a school competition. The wavy line symbolizes the Eckbach, the stylized house with a water wheel represents a mill.

History

The path was created as a tourist attraction initiative of mill researcher, Wolfgang Niederhöfer, from

Kleinkarlbach Kleinkarlbach is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Geography Location The municipality is a winegr ...

. On 12 October 1997 it was inaugurated by the minister president of Rhineland-Palatinate,

Kurt Beck Kurt Beck (born 5 February 1949) is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), who served as the 7th Minister President of Rhineland-Palatinate from 1994 to 2013 and as the 55th President of the Bundesrat in 2000/01. In May 2006, ...

, in Großkarlbach, the village with the most surviving mills (six of seven). The suggestion made at the time to make the Großkarlbacher village mills a

cultural monument A national heritage site is a heritage site having a value that has been registered by a governmental agency as being of national importance to the cultural heritage or history of that country. Usually such sites are listed in a heritage regist ...

and create the Leiningerland Mill Museum (''Mühlenmuseum Leiningerland'') was achieved in 2007. Originally the route began by the

Eckbachweiher The Eckbachweiher in the Palatine Leiningerland in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate is a ''woog'' on the Eckbach stream. A ''woog'' is the name given to still bodies of water, especially man-made reservoirs, in southwest Germany. Geog ...

pond and was only 19 kilometres long, but in 2000 it was extended by 4 kilometres upstream to the source of the Eckbach in Hertlingshausen. File:Felsenmühle.JPG, Rock mill in Neuleiningen-Tal File:2007.0601.03 Dorfmuehle Grosskarlbach.jpg, Village mills in Großkarlbach File:2006 Dirmstein-Spormuehle.jpg, Eastern end of the route: The '' Spormühle'' in Dirmstein

Places and mills

# HertlingshausenPoint of interest: the source of the Eckbach in the parish of ''Kleinfrankreich'' #

Altleiningen Altleiningen is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Geography Location The municipality lies at an e ...

Point of interest: the

20-Pipe Well The 20 Pipe WellNeuleiningen-TalPoint of interest: the

pond ## Obermühle ("Upper Mill") ## Felsenmühle''Felsenmühle'' guest house and tourist inn ("Rock Mill") #

Walkmühle ("Waulk Mill") ## Wiesenmühle ("Pastureland Mill") ## Bann- and Backmühle ## Strohmühle ("Straw Mill") ## Schleifmühle ("Grinding Mill") ## Langmühle ("Long Mill") #

Kirchheim an der Weinstraße Kirchheim an der Weinstraße (or Kirchheim an der Weinstrasse) is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Ge ...

Kandelmühle or Oligmühle ## Eselsmühle ("Donkey Mill") ## Kochsche Mühle (locally known as the ''Gräfliche Leininger Mühle'', "Leiningen Comital Mill") #

Bissersheim Bissersheim is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Geography Location Bissersheim lies in the northw ...

Bruchmühle ## Haldmühle ("Mill in the Hollow") ## Bergmühle ("Hill Mill") # Großkarlbach ##

Mühle am Weiher ("Mill by the Pond") ## Schlossmühle''Frank’s Bodega'' disco since 2009 ## Rheinmühle ("Rhine Mill") ## Village millsLeiningerland Mill Museum (''Mühlenmuseum Leiningerland'') since 2007 ## Pappelmühle ("Poplar Mill") ## Heckmühle #

Laumersheim Laumersheim is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality in the Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It lies in the northwest part of the Rhine-Neckar urban agglomeration. Geography Location This municipality lies in the his ...

Weidenmühle ("Meadow Mill") ## Hornungsmühle #

The former Lower Mill was converted in the 19th century into a farmstead (''Hofgut'') which is now protected. ##

Spormühle''Spormühle'' art gallery and country hotel :Footnotes to the list:

References

Literature

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External links

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Description

Map
(pdf; 306 kB)

Hiking trails in Rhineland-Palatinate Buildings and structures in Bad Dürkheim (district) Watermills in Germany Palatinate (region) Culture of the Palatinate (region)