Mountain villages border trail

Worth seeing and knowing about the landscape and surroundings

Landscapes:

Wolfartsweier

Wolfartsweier lies at the end of the Wetterbach valley, which is spanned by a bridge over the A8 highway at the outdoor pool. As you continue along the border path, you find yourself in the foothill zone (edge of the Rhine rift valley) with views across the Rhine plain to the Palatinate mountains. The area is very damp in places, as there are numerous hillside springs. In spring there are extensive stands of wild garlic. Towards the Rhine plain, we come across narrow, steep gorges. The Hornklamm gorge is crossed on the hike. The whole area is overgrown with beech trees, which have ideal growing conditions here.

Grünwettersbach, Palmbach, Stupferich

As we continue our hike through the beech trees described above, we reach the edge of the Kälberklamm gorge, another steep gorge that leads down to the Alb valley. At the beginning of the Kälberklamm gorge is a spring area that drains into the Alb valley. Abandoned quarries can still be found at the end of the gorge.

The entire Kälberklamm gorge and the adjoining Hasenklamm gorge are protected areas. A description: "Two Kerbbach systems with natural spring areas, with typical animal and plant communities; ravine forest communities; former quarries as "geological windows" and habitat for drought-loving animals and plants." (From the ordinance of the Karlsruhe Regional Council on the "Kälberklamm and Hasenklamm" nature reserve). http://web1.karlsruhe.de/Stadt/Stadtrecht/s-3-3-6.php

Now you leave the forest and enter the orchard landscape. An educational trail provides information about the orchards. The landscape becomes more open and there are several views of landscape-defining elements, especially the distant views of the northern Black Forest and the avenue of poplars between Batzenhof and Thomashof. On the way, you can visit a small wetland biotope (seepage spring) at the beginning of the Hatzengraben. Information boards are set up there. Please only use the wooden footbridge to protect the environment.

Historical:

Here are excerpts of some information on the history of the respective places. If you want to know more, you can find it on the homepage of the city of Karlsruhe, the appropriate link can be found at the end of the respective town chronicles.

Wolfartsweier 

1261, 2 Dec. First written mention of the village. In a document, Pope Urban IV confirms the monastery of Gottesaue, among other things, monastery estates and rights in "Wolvoldeswilere".

1329 First documented mention of a church and a priest in "Wolf hartswilre". A document from 1488 mentions "St. Margarethen" as the name of the parish church.

1416 Heinrich von Gärtringen buys part of the village from Margrave Bernhard. The margrave's son reacquires this property in 1439.

1419 A gravestone at St. Jacob's Church indicates this year as the year of death of the knight Pleich von Waldeck. His family probably owned a castle above the village, which may have been built on the remains of the walls of a Roman keep. (Gleichen Castle)

1480 Gottesaue Monastery acquires the "Steinhof" in "Wolferzwilr" from Mathias Wihlin and Bernhard Luz. In 1531, the municipality acquires the Steinhof and sells it on to the margrave in the same year. In the 1950s, a new residential area was built on this historic site.

1535 At the partition of Baden, Wolfartsweier falls to the Margraviate of Baden-Durlach.

1556 Appointment of the first Lutheran pastor by Margrave Charles II.

Further information at http://www.karlsruhe.de/b4/stadtteile/bergdoerfer/wolfartsweier/chronik.de

Buildings worth seeing, taken from the list of monuments of the city of Karlsruhe

• Scrap tower Am Zündhütle
• In the Steinkreuzstraße, stone cross with vine knife, today stands at the western end of the village in a green area.
• "Zum Rössle" inn, today a residential building. Two-storey eaves gatehouse with side building. First mentioned in 1767
• Inn "Zum Schwan", first mentioned in 1746
• Protestant Jakobskirche, late Romanesque at its core, nave 1744-45 by Johann Heinrich Arnold, extended in 1984/85. With quarry stone wall and arched gate to the cemetery, 19th century, memorial to the fallen in 1870/71, gravestones.
• Wolf fountain at the town hall

Grünwettersbach 

The Protestant church in Grünwettersbach, which is at least 423 years older than the younger Palmbach district of Wettersbach, can be seen from afar, rising up on a protruding hill. This church, with its Romanesque tower dating back to the 12th century, was first mentioned in 1278 as follows "...dominus Adelhart verus pastor in weterspach..." As the whole area was covered by a large, dense forest at the time, no archaeological finds can tell us anything about the time before 1200.

The village was laid out as a so-called clustered village and probably had its core in the middle Kirchstraße, as the village was easier to defend here than a place deeper in the valley. In addition, several springs provided the necessary water for life.

Seventy years after the first mention, on May 22, 1348, the archdeacon and provost of St. German in Speyer transferred the patronage rights of the parish church in Grünwettersbach to the Teutonic Order. And not quite 20 years later, the noblemen Balsam and Kraft from Wedersbach were named as local nobles.

The introduction of the Reformation in 1534 brought the first Protestant pastor to the village, which had been transferred to Württemberg following the secularization of Herrenalb Abbey, even though it was surrounded by Baden territory. At this time, people spoke of the "Württemberg corridor" (1534 - 1602). Grünwettersbach was therefore the westernmost possession of Württemberg at this time. The official town was Neuenbürg a. d. Enz, which was far, far away due to the road and path conditions at the time.

Further information at http://www.karlsruhe.de/b4/stadtteile/bergdoerfer/gruenwettersbach/geschichte.de

Buildings worth seeing, taken from the list of monuments of the city of Karlsruhe

• Church first mentioned in 1278, west tower from the 12th century, Protestant from 1534 (introduction of the Reformation) Bell storey of the tower and church interior by Wilhelm Friedrich Goetz, 1782, baptismal font 1491, wooden pulpit around 1780, organ, 12th/18th century by Wilhelm Friedrich Goetz, Ludwigsburg
• Old schoolhouse from 1846.
• Am Wetterbach 31, half-timbered house, two storeys above a high solid basement with arched entrance and corner console, dated GB 1799.

Palmbach 

Palmbach is a new foundation of the Waldensians. On February 4, 1701, they received permission from Duke Eberhardt Ludwig of Württemberg to settle in his land. They were given 360 acres of overgrown farmland, meadows and some small woodland between Grünwettersbach, Stupferich and Langensteinbach.

The Waldensian Trail , a cultural and historical trail dedicated to the history of the Waldensians, was created in 2015.

At the time, Grünwettersbach was located in a small Württemberg enclave in Baden and belonged to the Oberamt Neuenbürg. After the Thirty Years' War and the Palatinate War of Succession, the village, which still had 80 inhabitants in 1630, had only 30 inhabitants, while the village of Untermutschelbach, also in Württemberg, still had nine.

35 mostly poor Waldensian families arrived in the new homeland, 28 of them were assigned to Grünwettersbach, where they founded the new settlement of La Balme, meaning "refuge", later spelled Balmbach, in memory of their old homeland. The remaining families found a place to stay in Untermutschelbach. In 1806, Grünwettersbach and Palmbach became part of Baden.

The first place of worship in Palmbach was a small wooden church built in 1725 under Pastor Jaques Resplendin, who had taken over the parish in 1720. The church had to be rebuilt in 1906.

The French language was used until around 1810, and until 1821 the pastor of Palmbach also looked after the Waldensians in Untermutschelbach.

Grünwettersbach and Palmbach become Baden

The next important event took place in 1806, when a record in the municipal archives states that on October 19, 1806, "Grünwettersbach was exchanged to Baden-Durlach by His Royal Majesty of Württemberg Friedrich II". From this day on, Grünwettersbach and Palmbach were Baden, now belonging to the nearby official town of Durlach.

Further information at http://www.karlsruhe.de/b4/stadtteile/bergdoerfer/palmbach/geschichte.de

Buildings worth seeing, taken from the list of monuments of the city of Karlsruhe

• Council and school building from 1902, now the Baden School Museum
• Protestant Waldensian church, neo-Gothic, dated 1906, replacing a previous building, which is still commemorated by two wooden inscription plaques from 1725. Historic stained glass window. Choir rebuilt in 1949 after destruction. The rectory dates from the same period.

Stupferich Excerpt from history:

Around the year 1100, "Stutpferrich" is first mentioned in a document; the name indicates that it was set up as a facility for horse breeding. Hirsau Abbey is the patron saint of the Stupferich church, which is dedicated to St. Cyriacus. At the end of the 13th century, the margraves of Baden became the feudal lords of the village. From 1307, Herrenalb Abbey owned the whole of Stupferich, which was bought back by Margrave Philipp I in 1526. In 1535, Stupferich falls to Margrave Bernhard IV of Baden-Baden when the margraviate is divided and therefore remains Catholic.

Further information at http://www.karlsruhe.de/b4/stadtteile/bergdoerfer/stupferich/geschichte.de

Buildings worth seeing, taken from the list of monuments of the city of Karlsruhe

• Several half-timbered houses in Kleinsteinbacher and Karlsbader Straße, Ortsstraße and Palmbacher Straße
• Catholic parish church, the core of the tower is medieval, the nave was rebuilt in 1759.
• Various wayside crosses in the village and surrounding area

From Thomashof, we enter open fields again. It is noticeable that the fields are quite large. The reason is that 4 estates were founded here in the 17th/18th century. The Thomashof, Lamprechtshof, Batzenhof and, a little further away towards Turmberg, the Rittnerthof and the former estate of the Barons Schilling von Canstatt in Hohenwettersbach, with its own district boundary (boundary stones with a jug as a coat of arms). Another striking feature is the avenue of poplar trees planted on the way from Thomashof to Batzenhof. It will have to be replaced by lime trees in the next few years as the location is not suitable. We then come to the

• "Lamprechtshof", courtyard complex, four-sided courtyard, created by the Durlach mayor and chamber councillor Johann Friedrich Erhard Lamprecht (1709-1777), he contributed to the reclamation of swampy land and the clearing of forest areas, for which he received the honorary title of "Prince Chamber Councillor" from the Margrave. Enclosed courtyard complex on three sides with residential and farm buildings, half-timbered buildings on a solid basement, gateway on the eastern narrow side with stone gateposts decorated with small obelisks. Running well with solid trough, inscribed 1892.
  Today, sweetcorn is produced here. http://www.karlsruhe.de/b4/stadtteile/bergdoerfer/hohenwettersbach/geschichte/mais-weizen.de

The path then continues along the boundary between Hohenwettersbach and Durlach through orchards with cherry trees. You then cross the edge of the forest (beech trees) to the valley cut of the Tiefentalgraben. Here you can see the Scheffelstein 

• "Scheffelstein", low, roughly hewn stone block with the inscription "Scheffel Stein", commemorates the poet Joseph Victor von Scheffel (1826-1886), who was born and died in Karlsruhe, monument erected around 1900.

before the ascent to the Bergwald district begins. The settlement is bypassed to the south and then leads through forest to

Hohenwettersbach 

Hohenwettersbach was first mentioned in documents in 1262 under the name "Durrenweterspach", as there was probably always a shortage of water due to its geographical location.

From 1250 to 1280 Dürrenwettersbach belonged to the Counts of Eberstein and the Counts of Zweibrücken.

In 1535, the village fell to Baden-Durlach as a result of the partition of Baden. In 1568 there were 32 farmsteads and in 1648, at the end of the Thirty Years' War, there were only a few inhabitants left in Dürrenwettersbach.

In 1706, Margrave Karl Wilhelm bought the village and renamed it Hohenwettersbach. He had a pleasure palace built in what is now the pleasure garden. In 1725, Margrave Karl Wilhelm von Baden-Durlach transferred the Hohenwettersbach estate to his daughter Karoline von Wangen, who was from a morganatic(*) marriage, on the occasion of her marriage to Wilhelm Friedrich Schilling von Canstatt. The first schoolhouse was built in 1740 and the Protestant church in 1742.

(*) Explanation: morganatic compound

Around 1760, the lords of the manor employed workers and day laborers to build the castle and run the farm. They were allowed to settle on manorial land, but were dependent on their lords for the rest of their lives and often had to live in abject poverty.

It was not until 1864, when the revolution had strengthened the Hohenwettersbachers' desire for freedom, that an independent municipality of Hohenwettersbach was founded. The new town had around 650 inhabitants.

In 1931, the districts of the Hofgut and the village, which had been separate since 1864, were united.

Further information at http://www.karlsruhe.de/b4/stadtteile/bergdoerfer/hohenwettersbach/geschichte.de

Buildings worth seeing, taken from the list of monuments of the city of Karlsruhe

• Boundary stones Am Lustgarten
• Farm building and caretaker's house of the Schilling von Canstatt estate.
  Steward's house, two-storey building with crippled hipped roof, late 18th/early 19th century (Spitalhof 2). Farm buildings, with horse and cattle stables and barn parts, rebuilt in unrendered sandstone over an angular ground plan after major fires in 1897 and 1903, coat of arms stone, inscribed 1898. Wagon shed, detached half-timbered building, erected 1917-18. Forge, small unrendered sandstone building with Prussian cap vault, inscribed 1898. Enclosure of the property with sandstone walls. Barn building has been partially converted into condominiums since 2013
• Protestant church, built in 1741-42 under Karl Friedrich Freiherr Schilling von Canstatt as the property of Johann Heinrich Arnold's estate.
• Gasthaus "Zur Hochburg", 1902-03 for master butcher and innkeeper Jakob Morlock, today a residential building.
• "Batzenhof" estate, formerly an inn for travelers on the so-called Ochsenstraße between Durlach and Langensteinbach, north wing inscribed 1753, associated barn and stables 19th century, associated residential building, smithy, associated open spaces within and in the immediate vicinity of the three-sided complex
• Day laborers' houses on the Schilling von Canstatt estate, residential buildings in rows, associated farm buildings. First half of the 18th century. To be found at Reihenstr. 5, 7, 9, 11, Am Lustgarten 13, 19, Wolfartsweierer Weg 1
• Cemetery: Hereditary burial ground of the Barons Schilling von Canstatt, continuously occupied since 1772.
• Manor house of the Schilling von Canstatt estate, so-called castle with park and park enclosure. Built under Karl Friedrich Freiherr Schilling von Canstatt 1760-63 by Dominik Berckmüller. 
• Hohenwettersbach brown wheat http://www.karlsruhe.de/b4/stadtteile/bergdoerfer/hohenwettersbach/geschichte/mais-weizen.de

 past the remains of a 12th century hilltop castle down to Wolfartsweier, the end point of this stage and also the start of the circular route.