Route Short Description
The starting point chosen in this route description is the Infopoint Hückelhoven (Haus Sodekamp-Dohmen, Breitestraße 3, 41836 Hückelhoven).
From the Infopoint Hückelhoven (Haus Sodekamp-Dohmen, Breitestraße 3, 41836 Hückelhoven), you head to Junction (KP) 98 and cross the Rur river. The KP 94 is located in Doverhahn and KP 83 in Hetzerath. At the village green in Tenholt stands KP 82, which directs you to KP 81 in the middle of Erkelenz. Now you cycle via Burgstraße and Johannismarkt to the Infopoint Erkelenz (Old Town Hall, Market, 41812 Erkelenz).
Back to KP 81 and then via KP 86, KP 80 (at the outskirts of Rath-Anhoven) to KP 70 in Beeck. KP 71 is located below the St. Peter and Paul church in Wegberg. From there, it is only a few meters to the Infopoint Wegberg (Wegberger Mühle, Rathausplatz 21, 41844 Wegberg).
Continue to KP 72 at Tüschenbroich Castle. At the end of the village Tüschenbroich lies KP 73, which directs you to KP 85 in Gerderhahn. Behind Golkrath, you reach KP 84 and continue to KP 93 in Kleingladbach. In the center of Hückelhoven is KP 91, which leads you to KP 99 at the Rur bridge near Hilfarth. On the other side of the bridge is the Infopoint Hückelhoven.
Points of interest on the route:
You start at the Rur bridge at the Infopoint Hückelhoven-Hilfarth (Haus Sodekamp-Dohmen, Breiterstraße 3, 41836 Hückelhoven). At KP 98 you cross the river and cycle via KP 94 in Doverhahn to KP 83 in Hetzerath.
Here it is worth making a small detour to Haus Hohenbusch. This is a former Knights Hospitaller monastery. Around the year 1000, a "Gut Hohenbusch" was mentioned documentary for the first time. In the 12th century, it was donated to the church, which built a chapel there. In 1302, the Order of the Holy Cross founded a monastery in Hohenbusch. The clerics of the order were later called Knights Hospitaller and had branches in other locations in the region. The monastery had a large library with manuscripts and early prints from the 14th and 15th centuries. The manuscripts were partly produced here in writing rooms on parchment. At that time, Hohenbusch was one of the richest and most significant Knights Hospitaller monasteries, the second oldest in all of Germany. After secularization in 1802, Hohenbusch passed into private ownership and the monastery church was dismantled. The church furnishings and art treasures were relocated elsewhere—partly dispersed.
KP 82 lies in Tenholt at one of the few preserved village greens in the region. Until modern times, almost all villages in the region had a village green—a large meadow area in the middle of the settlements, often with a pond whose water was also used for firefighting. Tenholt, a village over 700 years old, has preserved its village green. Today, the green features orchard and festival meadows, a playground, and a shelter.
From KP 81 in Erkelenz, you cycle via Burgstraße and Johannismarkt to the Infopoint Erkelenz (Old Town Hall, Market). There is much to discover in the city center. The market with the Old Town Hall, the St. Lambertus church, and its numerous gastronomic offers. Parts of the castle and the city walls still stand. Also worth seeing is Haus Spiess at Franziskanermarkt.
Back to KP 81, you then cycle to KP 86 and across open fields to KP 80 at the edge of Rath-Anhoven. On the way to KP 70 in Beeck, the path leads past a windmill. A few meters from the site of the historic Holtumer windmill, a new building has been constructed in recent years on private initiative as the only windmill in the Wegberg city area. The sails are still missing, but the imposing mill building already rises about 15 meters above the flat landscape.
The small village of Beeck is known for its two experience museums: the Flax Museum, which shows the centuries-old tradition of flax processing in the region, and the Folk Costume Museum, which presents traditional clothing from the past (info: https://beecker-erlebnismuseen.de).
Along the Beeckbach stream, the path passes the Ophover Mill with its large mill pond. The name goes back to the noble family "von Ophoven," who owned a motte with a courtyard near the mill. The mill was a grain mill with two grinding mills and an undershot water wheel. From 1867, it also operated with a steam engine drive. It was the last mill in Wegberg to operate using water power and ceased operation in 1965. Today it is a restaurant with a beer garden.
Below the church of St. Peter and Paul is KP 71 in Wegberg. From here it is not far to the Infopoint Wegberg (Wegberger Mühle). Take a stroll through the village and visit the monastery or the castle.
On the way to KP 72, you cross the Grenzlandring. This runs around Wegberg and was the scene of numerous car and motorcycle races in the mid-20th century until a serious accident ended this era.
At Tüschenbroich Castle, you cycle through the lowlands of the Schwalm. This small river, about 45 kilometers long, springs from a nearby wetland, flows north through the Maas-Schwalm-Nette Nature Park, and eventually flows into the Maas near Swalmen / Netherlands. Along its course, it powers numerous water mills.
At KP 72 is the ensemble of Tüschenbroich Castle with a motte in the lake, two water mills, and the opportunity to boat or play mini golf. A castle has stood here since Carolingian times. Initially, there was the motte (an earth mound castle also fortified with palisades) in the middle of the lake, first mentioned in documents in 1172. These buildings burned down during the Thirty Years' War. Franz von Spiering had the current complex rebuilt as a moated castle on the "mainland," with the main building emerging as a 35-meter-long brick building with a tower. Work on the castle continued into the 18th century. It is privately owned and can only be viewed from the outside.
At the end of Tüschenbroich lies KP 73, which directs you to KP 85 in Gerderhahn, and then continues to KP 84 behind Golkrath. Via KP 93 in Kleingladbach, you reach KP 91 in the middle of Hückelhoven. It is worth visiting the museums on the almost 100-year mining history of this place.
The headframe towers unmistakably over the town. It and the machine hall "Shaft 3" of the former hard coal mine "Sophia-Jacoba" are symbols of the nearly century-old mining tradition in the town. In the visitor mine on "Sophiastraße," you can experience mining relics. http://www.schacht-3.de
The Museum of Mineral and Mining Friends does not only show minerals but, due to Hückelhoven's mining history, presents various exhibits on the history of the "Sophia Jacoba" mine. In the showcase of the mineral section, finds from the galleries of the former mine can also be seen. These are mostly plant fossils such as scale trees, dawn redwoods, ferns, horsetails, and the associated roots. They date back between 300 and 320 million years. The fossilized freshwater mussels indicate that the local coal seams originated in a lake and river landscape. http://www.museum-hueckelhoven.de
Or you can climb, a bit off the route, the Millicher spoil heap with its "Stairway to Heaven". On the spoil heap of the former Sophia-Jacoba coal mine, a 70-meter-high viewing platform has been erected, from which you have a wonderful view of the surroundings.
At KP 99, directly behind the bridge, is the Infopoint Hückelhoven-Hilfarth (Haus Sodekamp-Dohmen, Breiterstraße 3, 41836 Hückelhoven).
