Discover Gilserberg

Geology along the trail

The Schönau GeoPath starts at the parking lot in front of the village community centre in Gilserberg-Schönau. Its themes include rock remnants that once belonged to Africa and were exposed by erosion. The first stop explores the “journey” of the continents from which present-day Europe emerged. The trail thus links a specific starting point in the district with geological history that extends far beyond today’s landscape.

Muschelkalk, habitats and earlier land use

The Winterscheid Muschelkalk Trail is a circular route around five kilometres long. It starts at the village community centre in Winterscheid. Information boards explain the geological formation of the Middle Triassic period, dated to 244 to 235 million years ago. They also cover fossil organisms, earlier limestone quarrying, and the plant and animal species that depend on Muschelkalk today. The themes thus lead from the geological time frame to the organisms for which this geological substrate is significant.

In some sections, the trail passes through the 43-hectare “Kalkkuppen bei Winterscheid” nature reserve. It protects particularly rare calcareous grasslands and orchid-beech forests. The trail also passes the “Trichterkalkofen” cultural monument and former limestone quarries. Here, geological history, protected habitats and earlier land use appear as different aspects of the same route.

Other trails and cultural attractions

A hike on the Hochlandsteig can begin in any district of the municipality of Gilserberg. The Sachsenhausen Panorama Circular Trail offers a different connection to the area: most of it runs above the settlement of Sachsenhausen, which lies in a valley. Together with the named starting points of the GeoPath and the Muschelkalk Trail, this gives you a choice of different trail themes and starting points, without all the routes beginning at a single location.

The Schönstein Castle ruins are also among the highlights and excursion destinations named by the municipality of Gilserberg. If you’d like to add this destination to your itinerary, discover Schönstein. The trails and the castle ruins each have their own focus: geology and nature conservation on the one hand, and castle ruins designated as an excursion destination on the other.

Plan your stay around your excursions

When looking for a holiday apartment in Gilserberg, you can first consider which of these themes you’d like to centre your excursion plans on. The starting point for the GeoPath is Gilserberg-Schönau, for the Muschelkalk Trail it’s the village community centre in Winterscheid, and the Hochlandsteig can begin in any district. This gives you a practical guide if you want to plan your stay around specific hikes. It’s also easier to compare the trails if you consider their themes alongside their starting points: continental movements, Muschelkalk and habitats, or a circular route connected with Sachsenhausen.

In the wider destination of Schwalm-Eder-Kreis

The wider destination of Schwalm-Eder-Kreis includes the upland regions around Knüll, Kellerwald and Habichtswald. Art, crafts and history can also be explored there from different perspectives. The Malerstübchen Museum in Willingshausen presents art history from the 19th and 20th centuries and displays paintings featuring the Schwalm traditional costume. It also showcases traditional rural Schwalm crafts, including whitework embroidery, knitting and spinning. Guided by an expert, visitors can attend talks about the artists’ colony and its artists, Schwalm customs and crafts.

The Schwalm Museum in Schwalmstadt-Ziegenhain displays ceramics and pottery used in the region in a reconstructed pottery workshop. A large model of the Ziegenhain water fortress shows what it looked like in 1761, after it was shelled during the Seven Years’ War. The two museums therefore have different focuses: art and Schwalm crafts in Willingshausen, and ceramics and fortress history in Schwalmstadt-Ziegenhain.

For another option for active days, the approximately 100-kilometre Schwalm Cycle Path runs to the Schwalm’s confluence with the Eder, just before Felsberg. It mostly follows paved or surfaced paths through river landscapes of meadows, fields, villages and half-timbered towns. The named rail connections for getting to the cycle path are Felsberg-Gensungen and Schwalmstadt-Treysa; check the current timetable when planning your trip.

Discover more destinations: Edermünde, Frielendorf, Schwalmstadt, Morschen, Wabern, Bad Zwesten, Willingshausen.

Go to the overview of destinations: Schwalm-Eder-Kreis.