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of the Rennsteig.
Day 1. Arrive in Eisenach. Transfers from the station
to the hotel are not included.
Day 2. Transfer to Hörschel. From Hörschel walk
from the banks of the River Werra up to the Grosser Eichelberg
with fine views over the surrounding country. Continue to the
stone cross at Wilde Sau, the oldest on the Rennsteig, then
via the popular ramblers inn at Hohe Sonne high above Eisenach
to end at Glasbachwiese (about 16 miles, 1450 feet ascent).
Transfer back to your hotel in Eisenach.
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A shorter alternative is to leave the Rennsteig at Wilde Sau
and walk down to the Sängerwiese (Singer's Meadow) that
features in the Tannhäuser legend to end at Wartburg Castle on the
southern edge of Eisenach (about 11 miles, though this does
not avoid much of the climbing).
You can either take the local bus back into town for your
hotel, or you can walk the remaining couple of miles.
Day 3. Transfer from Eisenach back to the Glasbachwiese.
Follow the Rennsteig past a number of ancient marker stones, then
over the Grosser Weissenberg. Continue to the Brotteroder Hütte,
a mountain hut from where the steep climb to the summit of the
Grosser Inselsberg, the highest point of the walk starts. Then
follow the Rennsteig over the summits of the Trockenberg and
Grosser Jagdberg to Heuberghaus. Continue over the Spiessberg and
past a number of boundary stones including the Dreiherrenstein.
Towards the end, just a little over a quarter of a mile off the
Rennsteig, is the Spitterfall, the highest natural waterfall in
the Thuringian Forest. Finally past a nature reserve to
end at Neue Ausspanne (about 15 miles, 960 feet ascent).
At the end of the day you are tranferred to a hotel in Struth-Helmershof.
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Day 4. After a transfer back to Neue Ausspanne, you
walk over the Sperrhügel, with a fine view over the route
you have taken. Much of the rest of the day's walking is marked
by old border stones until you reach the Grenzadler, a notably
large border stone bearing a Prussian eagle. From here there
are a number of routes to your final destination of Oberhof,
which lies a little to the south of the Rennsteig
(about 10 miles, 420 feet ascent).
Day 5. From Oberhof you walk uphill to the Rondell and the
the Rennsteiggarten, one of the largest collections of mountain
flora in Europe. Here you rejoin the Rennsteig which climbs
gently to the Brandleite. 750ft below, in tunnel, is the railway.
Then there is a climb toward the the top of the Beerberg. The
Rennsteig reaches its highest point at Plänckners Aussicht
(Plänckner's Viewpoint). Then downhill via the Adler
and Mordfleck to Rennsteig Station. Continue past a Stasi-Bunker
museum, then leave the Rennsteig and walk down
to Frauenwald (about 11 miles, no significant ascent).
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Day 6. Walk back to the Rennsteig at Allzunah, then past
the Grosser Dreiherrenstein and Kahlert, from where there are
fine views. Pass the Devil's Beech Tree and a memorial to a forester
shot by gypsies in 1761. Then descend to the Triniusstein, named for
and bearing a plaque in honour of August Trinius, a local walker and
writer. Climb over the Ersteberg and then descend to Masserberg
(about 11 miles, 330 feet ascent).
Day 7. Walk to the top of the Eselberg with its viewing tower. Next
to Pechleite, where a large quartzite block bears a plaque to
Bruno von Germer, a local expert on the Rennsteig. Continue past the
triple watershed between the Rhine, Elbe and Weser rivers, then
there is a short climb to the top of the Sandberg. Finally
past the Rennsteigbaude Bernhardsthal inn to end at Neuhaus
am Rennweg (about 12 miles, 330 feet ascent).
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Day 8. Start with a couple of miles past some craft
glass workshops, noted for Christmas decorations. Next there is a
section that is also set up as a nature trail, followed by the
Triniusblick viewpoint where also marks the point at which the
Rennsteig ended in the days of the German Democratic Republic.
Continue to Spechtsbrunn and past a pub with an unattractive
name meaning cold food... Continue to the actual former border between
East and West Germany, where a plaque commemorates the re-opening
of the border and the Rennsteig. Continue to the Schildwiese and
on through forest to Steinbach am Wald (about 15 miles,
no significant ascent).
Day 9. You start the final day walking past
many impressive boundary stones. For part of the
way you actually walk along the former Iron Curtain, today just the
boundary between Bavaria and Thuringia. Continue to the little village
of Brennersgrünn, then you reach the top of Hohe Tanne. Cross
the former Iron Curtain once again, then walk up the flank of the
Kulmberg before crossing meadows to Schlegel. From here you can
walk via a pleasant open-air swimming pool to the end of the
Rennsteig at Blankenstein (about 18 miles, no significant ascent).
Transfer to your hotel in Lobenstein.
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