The Hermannsweg is a long hiking trail which follows the ridge of the

Teutoburg Forest The Teutoburg Forest ( ; german: Teutoburger Wald ) is a range of low, forested hills in the German states of Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia. Until the 17th century, the official name of the hill ridge was Osning. It was first renamed th ...

, running from

Rheine Rheine () is a city in the district of Steinfurt in Westphalia, Germany. It is the largest city in the district and the location of Rheine Air Base. Geography Rheine is on the river Ems, approx. north of Münster, approx. west of Osnabrück a ...

Velmerstot The Velmerstot is the northernmost and highest hill in the Eggegebirge ridge in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has two summits, the Prussian Velmerstot (''Preußische Velmerstot'') (468 m), which lies on the territory of Stei ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. It is marked by signposts showing a white H on a black background. The Hermannsweg has been named for

Arminius Arminius ( 18/17 BC – 21 AD) was a chieftain of the Germanic Cherusci tribe who is best known for commanding an alliance of Germanic tribes at the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest in 9 AD, in which three Roman legions under the command of ge ...

(German name: ''Hermann''), a

Cherusci The Cherusci were a Germanic tribe that inhabited parts of the plains and forests of northwestern Germany in the area of the Weser River and present-day Hanover during the first centuries BC and AD. Roman sources reported they considered themsel ...

chief who defeated the Romans in the

Battle of the Teutoburg Forest The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest, described as the Varian Disaster () by Ancient Rome, Roman historians, took place at modern Kalkriese in AD 9, when an alliance of Germanic peoples ambushed Roman legions and their auxiliaries, led by Publius ...

in 9 AD. Together with the long Eggeweg, this long-distance hiking trail forms the Hermannshöhen. It is maintained by the ''Teutoburger-Wald-Verein e.V.'' located in Bielefeld.

History

As shown by findings of flint tools, parts of the way on the ridge of the Teutoburg Forest have been used by hunter-gatherers and traders since the

Mesolithic The Mesolithic (Greek: μέσος, ''mesos'' 'middle' + λίθος, ''lithos'' 'stone') or Middle Stone Age is the Old World archaeological period between the Upper Paleolithic and the Neolithic. The term Epipaleolithic is often used synonymous ...

period. In the Middle Ages, the Hermannsweg connected the surrounding areas to travelling and trading routes of interegional importance like the Westphalian ''Hellweg'' and the ''Frankfurter Weg''. The hiking trail has officially been established in 1902, 25 years after the construction of the

Hermannsdenkmal The ''Hermannsdenkmal'' (German for "Hermann Monument") is a monument located southwest of Detmold in the district of Lippe (North Rhine-Westphalia), in Germany. It stands on the densely forested ', sometimes also called the ''Teutberg'' or ''Te ...

near Detmold, which commemorates the Cheruscan victory over the Romans in 9 AD.

The Route

The Hermannsweg starts at a low altitude of less than in

, in the North-West of

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a States of Germany, state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more tha ...

, and runs to the South-East through the towns of

Ibbenbüren Ibbenbüren ( Westphalian: ''Ippenbürn'') is a medium-sized town in the district of Steinfurt, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography Ibbenbüren is situated on the Ibbenbürener Aa river, at the northwest end of the Teutoburger forest ...

Tecklenburg Tecklenburg () is a town in the district of Steinfurt, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Its name comes from the ruined castle around which it was built. The town is situated on the Hermannsweg hiking trail. The coat of arms shows an anchor a ...

Bad Iburg Bad Iburg (; Westphalian: ''Bad Ibig'') is a spa town in the district of Osnabrück, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated in the Teutoburg Forest, 16 km south of Osnabrück. Bad Iburg is also the name of a municipality which includes ...

Borgholzhausen Borgholzhausen is a town in the district of Gütersloh in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the Teutoburg Forest, approx. 20 km north-west of Bielefeld. Borgholzhausen is a sister city to New Haven, Missouri in ...

Halle (Westfalen) Halle, officially Halle (Westf.) or Halle Westfalen (i.e. Westphalia) to distinguish it from the larger Halle (Saale), is a town in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, 15 km west of Bielefeld. It belongs to the district of Gütersloh ...

, straight through the city of

Bielefeld Bielefeld () is a city in the Ostwestfalen-Lippe Region in the north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population of 341,755, it is also the most populous city in the administrative region (''Regierungsbezirk'') of Detmold and the ...

, and the towns of Lage,

Detmold Detmold () is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, with a population of . It was the capital of the small Principality of Lippe from 1468 until 1918 and then of the Free State of Lippe until 1947. Today it is the administrative center of ...

before it ends at an altitude of in

Horn-Bad Meinberg Horn-Bad Meinberg (; Low German: '' Häoern-Möomag '') is a German city in the Lippe district in the north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia on the edge of the Teutoburg forest. The district Bad Meinberg is a spa resort. It has 17,263 inhabitant ...

. The trail leads mostly through forest, but along the way there are also many sights and landmarks of cultural, historical or geological importance like the Naturzoo Rheine, the Water Castle Surenburg, the high sandstone formations Dörenther Klippen, the former limestone quarry Lengericher Canyon, the Baumwipfelpad Bad Iburg, the Castle Bad Iburg, the Lookout Luisenturm in Borgholzhausen, the Castle Ravensberg, the Sparrenberg Castle in Bielefeld, Detmold Castle, Adlerwarte Berlebeck, the bird-park Heiligenkirchen, and a variety of museums.

References

External links

{{Commons category-inline Hiking trails in Germany