Wanderweg Fränkische Linie

1. Along the Franconian Line from Höfles to Stadtsteinach 16 km

Höfles and the "twin village" of Vogtendorf touch numerous hiking trails.

Both villages therefore form an ideal link in our hiking trail network.

The Fränkische Linie hiking trail starts on the Alte Heeresstraße at the end of Höfles in the direction of Vogtendorf. Parking is available at the Schützenhaus. We follow the road through the settlement up the hill to the Schützenhaus on the edge of the village. From there, we follow the farm track uphill to the top of the path at the hamlet of Obere Allern. After the group of trees, turn left uphill to the forest. On the way there is a beautiful view looking back. We hike uphill in the forest and then continue mainly on a pleasant, natural hunter's path on the upper slope with occasional views of the Fischbach valley. At the end of the path, the view of Fischbach, the Fischbachgrund and the surrounding countryside widens out.

We now follow a farm track downhill for longer to the road.

The village on the stream of the same name, with its castle dating back to the Middle Ages and the Jakobuskirche church with its five-storey tower, offers holidaymakers beautiful hiking trails and many attractions. The village was first mentioned in a document as "vischbach" in 1325.

However, it can be assumed that it must have already existed at the end of the 13th century, as Tauschendorf, a district of Fischbach, is already mentioned in a document as Tüssendorf on July 13, 1294. The village's oldest treasure is a bell from 1367 hanging in the church tower, which probably comes from the chapel, the church's predecessor. When the last Reitzenstein, Friedrich Philipp Christian von Reitzenstein, died childless on December 4, 1847, mourning bells rang out in Fischbach for a week from noon to 1 pm and the altar, pulpit and epistle chair in the church were covered in black until Christmas, such was the close connection to the noble ruling family.

We cross the road, briefly walk up the driveway, but immediately turn right again into the forest. A beautiful path now leads us along the upper slope. Once we have passed a small open area, we soon leave the road to the right downhill into nearby Wötzelsdorf. We leave the path straight ahead on a path and hike briefly in the forest slightly uphill to a charming hedge landscape. A comfortable meadow path takes us along the edge of the forest to the Wötzelsdorfer Höhe. A few steps to the edge of the plateau are worthwhile: there is an impressive view of the valley landscape and Wötzelsdorf.

Here we can already feel that the forest is beginning to recede. This becomes even clearer as we walk downhill on the field path to a farm track and follow it uphill to the heights. We now walk steadily along the ridge to the right through the charming, varied meadows with a wide view of distant Stadtsteinach and the valley area with the villages of Seibelsdorf, Rugendorf and, above all, the Franconian Line, which presents itself before our eyes as beautifully as in a picture book.

We pass rows of trees and bushes until we finally reach the road on paths that are always close to nature just before the hamlet of Kübelhof. We cross the road and follow the cul-de-sac past the two estates of the hamlet, which was first mentioned in 1476. The name is derived from the field name Kübela or from a personal name. As we continue, we are accompanied by the fantastic view of the wooded, mighty, elongated slope of the Franconian Line. The 200 to 300 m high diabase and slate mountains border the forest area against the clayey valley landscape. On sunny autumn days, the villages of Losau and Rugendorf blend in picturesquely with the hamlet of Feldbuch.

We follow the little-used road to Feldbuch.

The hamlet with its 13 properties was first mentioned in documents in 1361 as Feldpuch and in 1393 as Veldtbuch. The road ends in Poppenholz (2.8 km); before that, we crossed the Grafendobrach-Zettlitz road. According to Ottmar Schmidt, the name of the hamlet with its five estates, first mentioned in 1592, means something like Zum Holze des Poppo.

We now walk straight ahead along the field path through beautiful hedgerows with a view of the Fichtelgebirge mountains with the Schneeberg and later also the Ochsenkopf. The small hill offers a beautiful view of the further course of the Franconian Line, Neuenmarkt (in the background) and the nearby destination of Stadtsteinach.

On the way to Unterzaubach, we come across signs of destiny along the way, evidence of deep faith: a pedestal with a figure of an angel and a square column with a capital. In 1146, the settlement is mentioned as Zuchau, in 1323 as Obernzuha.

Unfortunately, we cannot use the left side of the Zaubach due to a cattle pasture, so we can see how, after its emergence from Zettlitz and Katzbach, its water dries up in the karst ground in underground karst passages and only reappears at the beginning of Stadtsteinach, strengthened by the water of the Schindelbach.

Therefore, after the bridge, we must take the village road to the right out of town into the meadows. When the land consolidation path ends, we turn left onto the field path and follow the path lined with bushes and trees until we reach Stadtsteinach via Lehenthaler Straße at the town sign. We are accompanied by impressive views of the Franconian Line.

The former district town, situated between 315 and 670 m above sea level, welcomes us with many historic buildings, wayside crosses and wayside shrines. Richard Seuß writes in the hiking guidebook Rund um das Steinachtal that the town already had market rights when it was first mentioned in a document (the Bamberg prince-bishop acquired Noreche Castle with the market and Allod Steinaha). That it must be much older is also proven by the fact that the town was one of the original parishes established for the Christianization of this area.

1. Along the Franconian Line from Stadtsteinach to Neuenmarkt 12.2 km

If you want to hike this southern cross-country trail, leave the town in the direction of Untersteinach. In a sharp left-hand bend, we continue until we reach the abandoned railroad tracks. There we turn right. The footpath and cycle path leads us along the edge of the Steinach valley to the Hummendorf estate in the hamlet of the same name. Nearby, we are accompanied by the unspoilt banks of the Steinach, which are covered with trees, hedges and shrubs. The former estate is owned by the Lords of Guttenberg.

We continue along this footpath and cycle path to Untersteinach, which lies between the Franconian Line, the edge mountains of the Franconian Forest and the Triassic heights of the Upper Main quarry land.

The village was already located at the crossroads of important old roads from the Upper Mainland to the "Nortwald" in the early Middle Ages. It is assumed that an original settlement (like Hummendorf) was already established during the first Franconian settlement period from the 5th to the 8th century.

We cross the main road and the Steinach at the old bridge and come to the station building. Before the Steinach flows into the Schorgast, it takes in the Liesbach and the Ohbach. After the level crossing, we come to a footpath and cycle path at the end of the village, which takes us to the edge of the market town of Ludwigschorgast in a wide, ever-changing valley landscape right next to the railroad.

The village lies in the wide valley of the Schorgast and on the Franconian Line in very early times at the crossroads of old roads with many testimonies of pious spirit. The first documentary mention confirms the Castrum Luobigscoregast as an outpost of Bamberg rule. At the level crossing to Ludwigsschorgast, we turn right onto the connecting road and leave it again to the left immediately after the Erlenmühle mill. We walk along the field path in the open valley through a varied landscape. We pass an avenue of trees that crosses the valley of the Hutweidbach stream.

However, we continue on our path through the open landscape until we reach the beginning of the village of Hegnabrunn. At the edge of the village, we turn left along a local road and after some time reach the end point of the hiking trail at Neuenmarkt/Wirsberg railroad station.

The main hiking trail Franconian Line ends here.

It is up to us whether we pay a visit to the steam locomotive museum in the railroad village of Neuenmarkt, or whether we walk to Wirsberg - or do both . The museum in Neuenmarkt brings back memories of the time when (until 1977) two steam locomotives pulled or pushed the trains up Europe's first steep line, the inclined plane. Among other things, 20 different types of steam locomotives are reminiscent of a bygone technical era.

It is believed that the origins of the nearby, state-recognized climatic health resort of Wirsberg date back to a tower mound of the Walpoten around the year 1000. The market square, the town hall, many monuments, the Protestant Johanniskirche church and many picturesque corners invite you to take a tour. Neuenmarkt/Wirsberg railroad station at the railroad junction and at the start of the inclined plane was built between 1845 and 1850.

Description of the hiking trail:

(The background information comes largely from writings by O. Schmidt from Kulmbach):