The Lahnwanderweg (Stage 5)

On October 24, 2021 we hiked Stage 5 of the Lahnwanderweg, from Buchenau to Caldern. It is 13.5 km (about 8.4 miles) with roughly 435 meters (1,430 feet) of climbing. Here is the AllTrails link for Stage 5.

It was cold and it was foggy. Nebel is the German word for fog, and we had plenty of it. Everybody complained at the start, even Ellie, who never complains. But once we got going, everyone loved it. The fog gave the whole hike a sense of mystery and adventure.

Buchenau

Buchenau is part of Dautphetal, and the whole old town is a listed monument. Some of its half-timbered houses date to the 17th century and have carved plasterwork and "Wilde Männer" (wild men), a special style of timber-framing. The old town hall from 1905 is now the local heritage museum, and the Martinskirche is an early medieval fortified church whose choir tower may go back to the 11th century.

Into the Fog

From Buchenau the trail climbs into the forest. In the fog the light came through the trees in long beams, and the path seemed to disappear ahead of us.

Burg Hohenfels

The first big stop is the Burgruine Hohenfels (castle ruin). Hohenfels means "high rock," and this was a Doppelburg, a "double castle," built in several phases, with the western half the older part. The lords of Hohenfels are first mentioned in 1174, when Ludwig von Hohenfels witnessed a document for Landgrave Heinrich Raspe. The family sided with the Archbishopric of Mainz, and in 1293 Landgrave Heinrich I had the castle razed. Today there are only a few wall remains and parts of the cellar vaults, and nature has taken most of it back. Since 1997 the Burgverein Hohenfels (the castle association) has researched and looked after the site together with the University of Marburg, and there are information boards along the path.

Above the Fog

Farther along the trail we climbed out of the fog into bright sun. A horse was resting in a meadow, and the fog was still lying in the valleys below.

The Rimberg

The highlight of the stage is the Rimberg and its Aussichtsturm (viewing tower; Aussicht means "view"). The official stage page promises a 360° view across the Lahn valley, as far as the Vogelsberg, the Taunus and the Rothaar Mountains. It also has a good story. The hill sits exactly on the boundary between the villages of Dautphetal and Caldern, and for a long time it caused boundary disputes between the two. Today it symbolizes the opposite: on May 1 and October 3, residents of both places meet on the Rimberg to celebrate together.

Coming Down

The walk down from the Rimberg goes through the autumn woods.

The official page for this stage is here. This was one of the best of the early stages, and I would have missed it if we had let the fog and the cold talk us out of it.