recommended route
Ganerbenweg interactive - premium hiking with audio and video stations
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Der Leininger Grenzstein am Wegesrand des Ganerbenweges.Photo: Lutz Fütterling, Archiv Urlaubsregion Freinsheim
A black axe on a yellow background marks the tour through parts of the Ganerben forest district, which gives the trail its name, and which has been certified as a premium circular hiking trail by the German Hiking Institute since August 2019.
At a total of 15 points along the trail, we have provided you with information on the natural monuments and interesting facts about the Palatinate Forest as video and audio sequences. You can walk the route using the route description (here the links to the information on youtube are marked as "station") or you can use the official and free tour planner app of the state of Rhineland-Palatinate.
And this is how it works on site: Start or install the tour planner app, activate the GPS function of your smartphone, select the tour, click on "open in app" and select the map view. Now you can start the tour and always play the audio and video files at one of the symbols visible on the map. So you don't need to look at your smartphone all the time and can consciously experience the Ganerbenweg with your head held high.
To get you in the mood, we show you here in the video what all awaits you on the Ganerbenweg (Station 1).
Much of the past has been preserved on the Ganerbenweg, including old boundary stones, legendary rock formations and, at 36m, the highest of the many towers erected in honour of Bismarck in Rhineland-Palatinate, whose viewing platform has the Dt. Weinstraße, the Rhine Valley and the green expanse of the Palatinate Forest at its feet.
The Lindemannsruhe Hikers' Car Park is the starting, middle and end point of the Ganerben Trail. It leads along natural forest paths, i.e. narrow paths, first roughly northwards past the Kanapée, the Suppenschüssel and the Krumholzerstuhl to the Pfälzerwaldverein hut at the mystical Ungeheuersee and then, on a section identical to the long-distance hiking trail Pfälzer Weinsteig, back to the vicinity of the Lindemannsruhe, in order to open up the Heidenfels, the Gayersbrunnen and the Bismarck Tower in a second curve to the south of the Lindemannsruhe.
Author’s recommendation
After the tour on the Ganerbenweg, it is worth visiting the wine villages of the Freinsheim holiday region with its diverse gastronomy and dozens of self-marketing wineries.
If you enjoy the interactive guided tour with audio and video information, we recommend the similarly designed .
Track types
Rest stops
Ganerbenweg - Station 6 + 7 - UngeheuerseeGanerbenweg - Station 14 - Bismarckturm
Ganerbenweg - Station 15 - Tourende am Forsthaus Lindemannsruhe
Safety information
Watch out for roots, rocks and stones so that you don't lose your footing. After rainy days and especially in spring, autumn and winter, the paths can be wet and therefore slippery.Tips and hints
According to Old German inheritance law, a Ganerbschaft was the joint family property, mainly land, which the heirs could only dispose of jointly. In Old High German, "Gan" meant "gemein(sam)". The term "ganerbe" was already used by Wolfram von Eschenbach in his verse novel Parzival around 1200. However, the legal form of "Ganerbschaft" seems to go back even further. There is actual historical evidence of ganerbschaften from the 13th century onwards, a well-known example being Eltz Castle on the Moselle.
The forest estates of the local communities of the Freinsheim municipality (except Erpolzheim) were combined with the forest of the town of Bad Dürkheim and the Leininger School Forest Foundation of Grünstadt in 2007 to form the Ganerben forest district. The approx. 2,400 ha of forest area have since been managed jointly by the Ganerben Forest Association.
The Ganerben Trail itself as well as the audio-visual content were created through a project of the LAG Rhein-Haardt and were funded within the framework of the EULLE development programme with the participation of the European Union and the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, represented by the Ministry of Economics, Transport, Agriculture and Viticulture of Rhineland-Palatinate.
Start
Destination
Turn-by-turn directions
At the start of the tour, we offer you a video introduction to the Ganerbenweg (Station 1). At the northern edge of the Lindemannsruhe hikers' car park is the signboard with Otto Wilms' "Pälzer Gebet" (Station 2). There, the first signpost with a black axe on a yellow background points the way into the forest. On firm, partly rocky forest soil, the trail leads through sparse forest to the Teufelsmauer (Devil's Wall) (Station 3), from where it runs parallel to the Leistadt Historical Hiking Trail for a stretch. Passing the Teufelsbank, you reach the Kanapee (station 4, approx. 100m off the main trail), then you pass the Leininger border stone and reach the "Suppenschüssel" and the Krumholzer Stuhl (station 5), an old quarry. Slightly downhill you head towards the Ungeheuersee (Station 6 with video and Station 7) with the hut of the Pfälzerwaldverein (open: Mid-March to mid-November Sundays and all public holidays 10-18h, in November only until 17h and from mid-May to mid-October also Wednesdays from 12-17h).
Continue along the edge of the lake, past the Herxheim fountain. A bench (station 8) marks the beginning of a short, slightly ascending passage until the trail meets the Pfälzer Weinsteig. Halfway up, however, there is another bench to take a breather. You now walk in a southerly direction towards Lindemannsruhe again. After a few hundred metres, you reach a bench and thus station 9. Shortly before the car park (km 6.2), the path heads west to then cross the L518 main road and, slightly offset, head south again to Heidenfels (station 10). Here it is worth taking a detour down the rough steps into the sea of rocks at the foot of the Heidenfels with its impressive rock formations and overhangs. After a short serpentine descent, the trail leads without major ascents or descents along narrow paths through quiet mixed forest. Along the way there is a great view at a resting bench (station 11 and station 12). You rejoin the Pfälzer Weinsteig and reach the Gayersbrunnen (station 13), which was erected in honour of the former district manager and later professor of forestry Karl Johann Gayer (*1822 - +1907). After a few hundred metres, the Bismarck Tower (Station 14) comes into view, whose upper observation deck offers a wonderful 360° panoramic view of the Palatinate Forest and the Rhine plain (open from May to October on Wednesdays, Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays from 10am-6pm, from November to April on Sundays and public holidays 10am-4pm). The attached kiosk offers refreshments and snacks. From the Bismarck Tower it is only a few steps back to the Lindemannsruhe car park with the Forsthaus restaurant (Station 15 - www.lindemannsruhe.de).
Public transport
From April to the end of October on weekends and public holidays with bus line 489 from Bad Dürkheim train station via Wurstmarktplatz, Annaberg, Weilach to Lindemannsruhe and back.
From 09.35 hrs to 17.35 hrs at 2-hour intervals. Last return trip from Lindemannsruhe 19.53 hrs.
Timetable available at www.vrn.de.
By road
From Bad Dürkheim:
At the "Wurstmarktkreisel" direction Leistadt. Before entering Leistadt, take the 3rd exit at the roundabout towards Höningen on the L518 to the Lindemannsruhe car park.
From the Dt. Weinstraße (B 271):
In the centre of Kallstadt at the church in the direction of Leistadt. At the roundabout at the entrance to Leistadt, take the 2nd exit towards Höningen on the L518 to the Lindemannsruhe car park.
Parking
Lindemannsruhe Hikers' Car ParkCoordinates
Book recommendation by the author
Equipment
Please make sure you wear good shoes, as the trail runs almost exclusively on unpaved forest ground.Weather at the route's trailhead
Statistics
- 19 Waypoints
- 19 Waypoints
Questions and answers
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Rating
Photos from others