Eisvogel-Weg OS 14

The highlight of this circular hiking trail is the eco-station, which must be experienced before or after the hike, preferably with a guide. A brief overview will therefore suffice here: The 9-hectare biotope belongs to the Hof district group of the Landesbund für Vogelschutz. Under former Member of Parliament Klaus Wolfrum, the site has developed into an attraction for the entire region. The main task of the LBV is to protect species and biotopes. The association also owns 40 hectares of land and maintains a further 30 hectares.

We walk from the parking lot at the eco-station to the Helmbrechts-Ottengrün road. The circular trail leads down to the right, past the former brewery, then left into the area (former brewery ponds for ice extraction, sheepfold, area for ground breeders, observation tower). We cross the Eierbach stream and follow its renaturalized course with its pronounced meanders. There are still trout in the water. We continue on the edge of the Ottengrüner Heide through a beautiful landscape with rich flora.

We follow the markings at the ice rink to the right into the Fliegerweg and on this paved path past the Ottengrüner Heide special airfield (gliding center, circular flight) and on to the new Helmbrechts-Münchberg state road.

If you choose the shortcut, take the footpath and cycle path to the right as far as the Geigersmühle mill.

Hike to the left and then turn right at an underpass and follow the field path to the first houses of the Haide housing estate and on to the main road. The village, first mentioned in 1801 as "Heyd", was once built "uf der Heide" with the large areas of heather.

A former settlement of Dürrengrün (also Neuengrün) to the east of the road, probably perished, like other settlements, in the feuds of the Kulmbach margraves  with the bailiffs of Weida at the beginning of the 15th century. DThe road leads us downhill to the legendary Zimmermühle mill (an old lime tree in the courtyard) on the Selbitz, where we turn right after the historic Selbitz bridge onto a field path, past the former mill pond, to the forest. We continue along a forest path to the meanders of the Selbitz.

A real highlight of the hike is the old quarry, a biotope. We then reach the Quarkloch (with a legend board, wooden geese and Querkela sculpture at the end of a designated, short mountain path), an overgrown tunnel entrance where the rivulet flows towards us from the left. Here and in the nearby quarry, according to Otto Knopf, you will find iron luster, copper and sulphur pyrite, traces of poisonous green malachite and manganese mulm (mulm = weathered rock) with nests of rock crystals.

We follow the Querkela path markings, which have accompanied us for a while, until it branches off to the left. Querkela are forest spirits and dwarves who once teased unsuspecting wood collectors and sponge seekers with their mischief. We continue along a path in the forest until we reach a fork in the path. There we turn right and cross the Selbitz on a metal bridge and walk along a meadow path to the edge of the forest.

We walk left along the edge of the forest up to the path, follow it to the left and, after the forest called "Zwergenwald", come to a farm track over to the state road and straight on to the Geigersmühle mill on the other side of the road at the edge of the industrial site. The shortcut joins the footpath and cycle path here.

The mill was owned by the Sparneck family until 1373, then by the margraves. According to Otto Knopf, Keferngrün used to stand there, which was probably destroyed at the beginning of the 15th century. Fritz Geyer bought it in 1562. Today, the disused mill with its natural monuments (2 oaks, 2 maples, 1 chestnut) is once again privately owned and is run as a restaurant.

We walk along the farm track between Geigersmühle and the A 9 Mitte industrial estate, following the Mühlbach stream, straight on through the beautiful Selbitz valley. Our hiking route then leads along a path through the forest, up to the right at the edge of the forest, then left along a farm track to the local road. We follow this to Ottengrün and enjoy the views of Helmbrechts, the "gateway to the Franconian Forest" with the 678 m high Kirchberg and the tower.

We leave the village to the right in the middle of the village and after approx. 50 meters turn left onto the municipal road towards the forest. We continue along a track and, following the railroad tracks, we soon reach the edge of the eco-station of the Landesbund für Vogelschutz. We walk along the Eierbach stream through this natural paradise to the underwater station, cross the bridge on the left and return to the parking lot at the eco-station, on the edge of the town of Helmbrechts, which lies between 600 and 700 m above sea level on the NW edge of the Münchberg gneiss massif.