In the footsteps of the Venn Apostle

The 9.5km long hiking trail starting and ending in Monschau-Kalterherberg leads you initially out of the village towards the east. After crossing the former Vennbahn bridge, a romantic path winds along the edge of the forest to Ruitshof. This is the smallest inhabited exclave in Germany, as the hamlet can only be reached through Belgian territory. The entire stretch through the meadow landscape of the hamlet offers a magnificent panorama to the west. The horizon is dominated by the Eifel Cathedral, the Kalterherberger Parish Church with its distinctive double towers. The subsequent diverse forest passage ends at the mighty rock of Richelsley with the cross erected in the Venn in 1890. It gained international fame through Clara Viebig's eponymous novel and commemorates Stephan Horrichem, Prior of the Reichenstein Monastery from 1639 to 1686. Due to his tireless pastoral care and his active assistance to the population in need, he is still highly honored today as the "Apostle of the Venn". The Richelsley is a special place for geologists. The pebble-shaped stones of the conglomerates were polished about 400 million years ago by the Devonian Sea's surf.
Through a mountain path that leads downhill through a spruce forest with numerous blueberry bushes, and after crossing the former Vennbahn track again, you will reach Reichenstein with its idyllic pond. The former Premonstratensian monastery was built around 1132, dissolved in 1802 as part of the secularization, and converted into an estate. The new owners used the church as a cloth factory at first, later as a hay barn until its renovation in 1972. Since September 2008, the buildings have been serving as a monastery again.
Through the valley of the Ermesbach, dominated by one of the most imposing bridge structures of the former Vennbahn, you reach the Rur. Passing by mighty rock formations, you arrive at the Norbertus Chapel inaugurated in 1926, nestled close to the hill near the Rur bridge. Flowers and candles show that the church is the destination of numerous people who invoke Saint Jude Thaddeus for help in difficult situations. Beyond the road, the Rosengasse begins. It initially passes by the renaturated valley floor before plunging into a light slope forest. After about 650 meters, near the former Vennbahn bridge, the circle closes and you return to the starting point at the "Eifel Cathedral".