Poetry path Much

At the beginning of 2003, the idea was born in the MuchMarketing association to place poetry plaques along one of the many hiking trails - a project that was already realized in 2004 by the Westphalian poet Arnold Leifert, who had been living in Much since 1973, in collaboration with the Siegburg graphic designer Niklas Schütte and MuchMarketing, funded by the marketing association and a private sponsor.
It was decided to choose the well-known and popular Panorama Circular Trail, known to the residents of Much as a "home path" for Sunday walks and offering visitors an impressive opportunity to get to know the town and the municipality of Much in its Bergisch natural character.

In the summer of 2004, the 12 poetry plaques were set up by the author himself, and in September, 160 visitors from near and far gathered at Hotel FIT, the only gastronomy directly on the trail, to enter the "Lyric Path Much" for the first time publicly with an opening celebration.

Mayor Alfred Haas and Karl Werner Schmitz, chairman of MuchMarketing, opened the festival, with a reading by Arnold Leifert, supported by the Berlin accordionist Cathrin Pfeifer, who concluded with a concert with her band.

Since 2005, four seasonal hikes took place, poetry hikes led by Arnold Leifert, a Nordic walking event organized by the VHS Rhein-Sieg, led by Felicitas Schulze, and several privately organized hikes, with and without the author.

Beyond the hikes, further literary events took place at the Lyric Path Much, including in 2006 an encounter with the Bosnian poet Stevan Tontic from Sarajevo, two excursions from Straße der Arbeit - Museumsstraße für das Bergische Land, and a seminar during the annual meeting of the Verband Deutscher Schriftsteller NRW in Nümbrecht.

On September 6, 2012, Arnold Leifert passed away suddenly and unexpectedly at his home. His last initiated project on the Lyric Path was implemented in 2013. The alternative route from Rossbruch (following the orange symbol of the "Bergischer Weg" from here) through the town, with four additional poetry plaques, was created.