Eng-Weg OS 17

We walk through Gösmes and out of the village on the road towards Walberngrün, then turn left and cross open fields past a field barn to the edge of the forest and walk along it until we cross a district road straight ahead. We continue through the forest until we see some houses in Ochsenbrunn/Bärenbrunn. There we turn right again and continue through well-tended woodland until we reach the border path.

We turn right and follow the path until we enjoy a view of Rappetenreuth. We continue to a paved forest path, follow it to the right and turn left after approx. 300 m. We walk through well-kept forest sections, then meet the Steinachtal path and soon the Wasserscheiden path. We follow this and after about 50 meters we have already arrived at the Eng refuge.

We enjoy the wonderful view over to the Fichtelgebirge here. It is the site of the single Eng, which was probably built in a "narrow" spot in 1836 and demolished in 1965, between Kriegwald and Kammwald. A goat and a small potato field provided a living for the hand weaver. The Große Rehbach has its source nearby, which becomes the Steinach in front of the Neumühle mill after it has absorbed the water from the Rauschbach. The highest source of the Große Rehbach and thus of the Steinach is the overflow of the nearby Brunnenstube, which belonged to the Eng.

Following the watershed path for about 500 meters, we reach a fork in the path where we turn right and walk through an old stand of beech and spruce trees. At a well-kept pond, we meet the Steinachtal path again. We take a sharp right, cross a small stream, walk up along the edge of the forest and then turn left. In front of us we see the few houses of the idyllically situated hamlet of Kriegsreuth. We walk past the small estates and come to a farmstead in Ober-Rappetenreuth on the district road with the "happy cows", which are allowed to stay outside all year round. The houses of Rappetenreuth to the right of the Grenzbächlein belong to Grafengehaig in the district of Kulmbach, while the estates to the left of the Bächlein, on the western slope of Kriegswald and Hohberg, belong to the town of Helmbrechts in the district of Hof.

We cross the road and then walk past the few houses slightly uphill, with beautiful views, to the forest on the heights. We continue in a straight line through the forest until we finally descend into the idyllic hand-weaving village of Horbach, which was typical until the 1930s. We immediately turn right again and walk uphill on a field path through the meadows to Max-Höhe and the forest. There we follow the hiking trail on the natural forest path, with a view of the "summit" of the hill, then always slightly downhill in a straight main direction to the road. We cross it near the single Hintererb and continue to the Mesethmühle on the Mühlenweg.

On the way, we enjoy the wonderful view of the Mesethmühle, Bromenhof and Schlockenau. We turn right, past a pond in a beautiful valley landscape into the forest. After a short stretch, we reach the first houses of Walberngrün again on a pleasant field path through beautiful meadows and wide views. The place name (formerly Walpotengrune) of the scattered settlement is a reminder of the clearing activities of the Walpoten. The village once lay on the border of the former Schauenstein district.

We immediately turn left onto a path and follow it - always with the houses of the elongated village in view - uphill along the edge of the forest and reach the road at the end of the village, on which we reach the starting point, the circular village of Gösmes, 680 m above sea level.

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