Hiking report Hiwweltour Heideblick: Where the heath blooms and the alpine pasture calls

Here you can expect an incredibly diverse vegetation: accurate vineyards, wild hedgerows, cozy forests and - perhaps most surprisingly - a vast heath landscape. We put on our hiking boots and set off, passing tower, castle, mill and alpine pasture. Up high and leisurely through the valley. Always with fantastic views in front of our eyes.

In the charming Siefersheim

We park at the hiking parking lot "Am Gänsborn" and follow the access road that leads us to the start of the Hiwweltour Heideblick leads. We walk right through the charming village center of the wine-growing community of Siefersheim. We pass the Protestant church and the former school building. The for Rheinhessen typical sandstone The flower boxes at the windows set colorful accents.

The edge of the village merges directly into the vineyard. We are at the starting point of the Hiwweltour Heideblick and are looking forward to the next ten kilometers ahead of us. We dive into the sea of vines and are soon hiking above the rooftops of Siefersheim.

Through hell

On the hill "Höll", an important nature reserve of the region, we enjoy the first magnificent view over the hilly landscape of Rheinhessen. Many more are to follow.

The hiking trail now leads us leisurely along the vineyards. Carefully cultivated farmland alternates with ruggedly romantic nature reserves. Here you can not only see but also hear the diversity of species. The meadows, hedges and bushes are buzzing and humming. This makes this section of the trail particularly charming.

The tragic beautiful Ajax tower

Soon the Ajax Tower, one of the oldest vineyard towers in Rheinhessen, appears in our field of vision. It is the subject of a tragic-beautiful legend that is in no way inferior to Romeo and Juliet.

We allow ourselves a short rest and ponder the legendary history of the building, which is told as follows: At the beginning of the 19th century, a wealthy, attractive farmer's son lived in Siefersheim, who attracted many a shy girl's gaze. This was also the case with the miller's daughter from the nearby Katzensteigermühle. They fell in love with each other, but the stubborn miller was against the union. He was at odds with the young man's father and unceremoniously married off his daughter to a wine merchant. She died of a broken heart shortly afterwards and the young farmer's son also remained unmarried all his life. At the place where the lovers once met secretly, he had a tower built. The Ajax Tower.

We follow the hiking trail along the slopes of the Galgenberg and Mühlberg. The landscape of this section is now much more rugged and rocky than before. However, we are still surefooted thanks to the good path guidance.

If you want, you can make yourself comfortable here on a hiking lounger and enjoy great distant views. We turn our backs on the vineyards and discover for the first time on our hike foothills of the heath landscape, after which this Hiwweltour is named.

On the railroad line to the mill

Before we reach it, however, we first dive into the forest on a very old Wingertspfad. At a fork in the road, we could make a small detour to Neu-Bamberg with its historic village center and striking castle ruins. However, since we will see both during our hike on the neighboring Hiwweltour Eichelberg we continue to follow the path that leads us parallel to the castle.

It goes downhill until we reach the Appelbach. We hike under dense tree canopies on an old railroad track. To the left of us the brook splashes, it is wonderfully idyllic.

High up in the heath

Only a few meters later we reach the Katzensteigermühle. Exactly! The mill, from which the miller's daughter of our tragic-beautiful Ajaxturm story is supposed to come. An information board tells us that we are here at the lowest point of the Hiwweltour. We know what that means ...

It goes uphill again, at first still comfortable, then noticeably steeper. But the ascent is completely in the shade in the shade, the fresh forest air is good. Before we know it, we leave the forest the forest and reach the Eagle Monument, which commemorates the victims of the First World War. reminds.

Here is another cozy hiking couch, which is really perfectly placed after the climb. We rest a little and enjoy the now again free view of the beautiful Rhine-Hessian landscape.

The next section of the hike takes us into the middle of the Horn nature reserve and thus directly into the heath. The summer has been very warm and dry so far. This is noticeable here, because the heath is not blooming as intensively as we have seen in pictures for a long time. Nevertheless, the plateau with the reddish plants, low grasses, birches and boulders is very impressive! And so very different from what we have known Rheinhessen so far!

Alpine summer in Rheinhessen

Immediately after the moorland, the next highlight of this hike awaits you: the "end of the thirsty stretch" - as a sign reveals. It is the hint to the Winzeralm of the Winery Zimmermann from Siefersheim, where we take a longer break with a magnificent view. An alpine pasture in Rheinhessen? Inspired by the wonderful simplicity of the alpine pastures that Jörg Zimmermann had encountered during his vacation at Lake Achensee, he opened his own without further ado.

The alpine season usually goes from the beginning of May to the end of October, on every nice weekend the economy is occupied from about 13 to 18 o'clock. This year everything is a little different. But fortunately - since the end of June, the flag has been flying again - it is visible down in Siefersheim and is considered a reliable weather forecast by the residents. "When the flag is waving, it's time to serve."

For a good decade, the whole family has been having fun. The children practically grew up here, says Jörg Zimmermann. Not a bad place! He explains to us the magnificent view, which was voted "Rheinhessen's Most Beautiful Wine View" in 2016 and which, in good conditions, stretches some 90 kilometers, beyond the region's borders. "I come up here and can switch off." So can we! - With a cool glass of Portugieser grape juice spritzer, the vines of which grow right here on the Alm, this works wonderfully.

The best way is to look at the website or at Facebook after the next dates.

In the middle of the sea of vines

Actually, we don't want to get up anymore, but then the last section of the Hiwwelt tour beckons us. Now we walk directly through the sea of vines. The grapes look promising. Unlike the heather, they probably like the sunny weather extraordinarily well.

We pass the table of wine, which heralds the last meters of our hike. Charming little walls and wild meadows set the final accents of the Hiwweltour Heideblick, which has led us through so many different landscapes. Before we know it, we have reached the outskirts of Siefersheim again after a good four hours, including an extended break at the Winzeralm.