Siebenfreund-Weg RWF 55

We start the circular route at the market square in Presseck and walk out of town on Helmbrechter Straße and past the sports field to the 690 m high Pressecker Knock. From here, the view sweeps from the Thuringian Forest over the eastern Franconian Forest to the Fichtelgebirge mountains.

We walk down the forest path to the left, turn sharp left on the FrankenwaldSteigla Dreierknock and continue until the forest opens up the view. Now it is not far until we reach the district road at Ferienapartment Rausch. Opposite the road, in an open space between two chestnut trees, stands a wayside shrine that was erected in 1756 in gratitude for being saved from the plague. The 3.25 m high sandstone column is adorned with a 50 cm high wrought iron cross. Until 1963, the wayside shrine was equipped with a lamp for the dead. The wayside shrine is one of the most ornate in the area.

On the right-hand side of the road is the house of the legendary blacksmith von Schnebes, who achieved dubious fame as a poacher in the early 19th century. Schnebes and Köstenberg, two Catholic enclaves, formed a community in the past; today they are districts of Presseck. We cross the road and walk to the nearby home of the Friends of Nature (Jakob-Spindler-Hütte). The former field guard hut was used for air traffic control during the war. From here, there is a unique panoramic view. 

We walk downhill on a field path to another path, which we follow downhill to the Einzel Kreuzknock on the road. It leads us about 200 m to the left, where we then turn right onto the path lined with trees and bushes to the forest. It doesn't take long to reach Heinersreuth.

We walk through the tranquil village and turn right onto a field path in front of the castle complex. The two castles belong to the Lords of Lerchenfeld: the Old Castle (or Wildensteiner Castle, also known as the Rieneck Castle) and the New Castle (or Minister's House; built by the Bavarian Minister of Finance Maximilian von Lerchenfeld, 1824-27). They are inhabited by the von Lerchenfeld family. On the way through the meadows to the forest, there are beautiful views. Now begins a hike in the seclusion of further forest sections over valleys and heights until we reach the Rauschenhammermühle mill in Schwarzenstein.

First, the route climbs steadily on pleasant, natural paths to the nearby summit of the 699 m high Rodachberg. At the summit of the Rodachberg, a memorial stone and an information board commemorate the resistance during the Third Reich. The stone and plaque are dedicated to the widow of Hitler assassin Claus Graf von Stauffenberg. They were dedicated in a dignified manner on the first anniversary of the death of the widow (2006), a relative of the von Lerchenfeld family.

Walking downhill, we soon come to a forest path that leads us to a larger forest path. We take it to the left before turning right and descending a narrow side valley. When we reach a wider forest path again, the Siebenfreundweg leads us down the valley. We soon follow a forest path up a fairly steep incline to a spider trail. On the way, the Siebenfreundfelsen rock, a rocky plateau (caution: danger of falling!), offers a beautiful view of the wooded heights surrounding the valley.

We hike up the forest path to the right and follow it steadily to its summit. There, a 300 m long detour leads to the 717 m high Bärenplatz and thus to the highest point in the Kulmbach district. We then stay on our path again, which now leads us downhill to a left-hand bend. There we continue straight ahead along a valley floor that separates the two peaks (the eastern one is one meter lower). We reach the lowest point of our hike at the Rauschenhammermühle mill. The Schneidmühle was first mentioned in 1372 as a hammer mill belonging to the Rauschen family. It has been owned by the Heinrich Ströhla family since 1661.

We keep left, past the large, clean premises of Holzwerke Heinrich Ströhla, and walk along the left-hand side of the Wilde Rodach valley for a long time, with occasional views of the rustic valley landscape and the old B 173, until we see the Löhmarmühle mill ahead of us through the forest. Right at the beginning, there was a wonderful view of the Schwamma vantage point at the former site of the Upper Castle of Oberschwarzenstein. The hiking pace slows down a little when we reach the Löhmarmühle mill, as we begin to hike up the second ascent of the previous route through well-tended forest sections, the 603 m high Zinkenberg.

We cross the road straight ahead, follow the forest path uphill for almost 200 m, then turn right onto a forest path and follow the slope path gently uphill to the two typical Franconian forest cottages of Unter-Wustuben, hidden at the edge of the forest. We cross the meadow uphill to the summit, where an impressive Franconian Forest view of the Döbraberg and across the valley of the Wild Rodach compensates us for the effort of the long ascent. A tableau explains the viewpoints.

The trail continues through the idyllic hamlet of Wustuben to the charming hilltop village of Elbersreuth, where we separate from the long-distance hiking trails at the road junction. We walk straight on through the village, then bear right and finally come out into the open with beautiful views and soon into the forest. Forest paths lead us downhill into a hollow to a crossroads and then back up the wooded slope until we reach the Pressecker plateau. Now it's not far to our starting point on the market square in Presseck.