Sauerland-Höhenflug: Of gold and other treasures

The tour starts in Korbach at the Korbach, Marktplatz stop, which is located directly opposite the Korbach Museum. The call cab AST 581.8 in the direction of Hillershausen will take you to Korbach, Nieder-Schleidern. The stop is located in the village directly on the Sauerland-Höhenflug.The village of Nieder-Schleidern, which has only around 170 inhabitants, suffered greatly in the past due to its location in the disputed border area between the Catholic Electorate of Cologne and the Protestant Waldeck. The existence of two churches in Nieder-Schleidern is evidence of the extent of the dispute between the two denominations. Close to the "Raumbergteich" hiking parking lot with fishing facilities, children's playground and barbecue area, the hiking trail crosses the river, leads through the romantic Aar valley below the Sengelscheid mountain and crosses the small body of water again over a wooden bridge. Very close to the footbridge are the remains of a pothouse. This is where the ore extracted from the Eisenberg was crushed and the valuable gold washed out. The Eisenberg near Goldhausen is a real treasure trove and is one of Germany's most productive gold deposits. Between the 11th century and around 1617, a 900 m long, 12 m wide and 9 m deep open-cast mine was painstakingly built here by hand. At the eastern foot of the Eisenberg are large panning heaps where gold was washed out of the rock. Almost 1.5 tons of gold was extracted here in 500 years. Today, however, the deposit has been exhausted and a visitor mine was set up in 2003.atthe top of the Eisenberg stands the Georg Viktor observation tower, built in memory of the Prince of Waldeck in 1905, from which you can enjoy a magnificent panoramic view as far as the Hercules near Kassel and the observation tower on the Dommel near Willingen. Here too, panorama boards explain the points in the landscape. In addition to the visitor mine and the observation tower, the remains of a castle can also be visited on the Eisenberg. The former count's castle was abandoned by the count's family in 1649 after plundering and fire and has been used as a quarry since the 18th century. The remains of the former castle were only uncovered between 1974 and 1986. The high-level trail descends from Eisenberg via an old hollow path to the entrance portal. Convicts were once led to the execution site on the Klusenberg near Goldhausen via this "poor sinner's path". The Sauerland-Höhenflug ends at the entrance portal. A 4.5 km long, black-marked access path takes you from the entrance portal to Korbach town center. The walk is worthwhile, as the "gold town" of Korbach has a magnificent Altstadt (Old Town). Medieval fortifications, stone warehouses, magnificent half-timbered houses, Gothic churches and the town hall with Roland await you in Hesse's only Hanseatic town.the black-marked access path ends at the Korbach Museum. The bus stop Korbach, Marktplatz is directly opposite. This is where our hike ends.