Vettelschoß: Blue Lake, Basalt History and Village Museum

Blue Lake: water with several areas for different activities

The Blue Lake natural bathing lake covers approximately 1 hectare and is about 20 metres deep. A former basalt quarry, it has been used for fishing and swimming since 1968. The lake has a platform for the non-swimmer area, separate areas for swimming and relaxing, and a dedicated area for small children. This layout is a practical consideration when planning a trip to the water and deciding which areas might suit your group.

The lake brings together its present-day uses and the history of quarrying that shaped the landscape. If you are especially interested in water, you can make the Blue Lake a focus of your stay; if you would rather explore, Vettelschoß also has an extensive network of hiking and cycling trails. When choosing a holiday apartment, you can take both interests into account as different priorities for your trip.

Discover the basalt landscape and trails

Vettelschoß is located in the Rhine-Westerwald Nature Park. The Willscheider Berg offers a glimpse into the area’s basalt-mining past: after quarrying there ceased in 1974, a lake formed in the quarry. The quarry lake at Willscheider Berg serves as an important refuge and habitat for wildlife and plant life. A nature reserve extends around Willscheider Berg Lake. This site therefore offers a perspective on both the landscape shaped by quarrying and the area’s importance for nature and the development of species.

For active days, the extensive network of hiking and cycling trails in and around Vettelschoß connects with well-known long-distance hiking routes. The Basalt Sculpture Trail offers a special link: it connects Kalenborn and Vettelschoß and follows an old railway embankment from the period of basalt quarrying. In this way, a historic trace of regional resource extraction becomes part of today’s landscape. If you enjoy exploring different places, you can choose between the trail network and this named route, without limiting your stay to a single destination.

From the “Wäller Blick” viewpoint, the view stretches beyond the district of Vettelschoß and, in good weather, as far as the High Westerwald. Weather conditions are part of the experience: on a clear day, the view opens up across more of the landscape. This viewpoint complements the perspective on the quarry lakes and trails, linking the village with the Westerwald.

A village museum in the oldest half-timbered house

The Schmitzhof is the oldest surviving half-timbered house in Vettelschoß and was built around 1640. Since 2010, the house has served as a village museum, focusing on the period from 1900 to 1910. The building itself dates back to a much earlier era, while the museum focuses on a later period. The building’s history and the village’s history thus offer two distinct but vivid ways to explore the past.

The new Michaelskirche (St Michael’s Church) is also part of the village’s history: Bishop Bernhard Stein consecrated it in a solemn ceremony on 25 September 1977. If you are interested in the history of the village as well as its landscape and waters, you will find further cultural points of interest here without losing sight of the natural side of your trip.

An annual event at the village museum

The Vettelschoß Christmas market takes place every year at the village museum on the first Sunday of Advent. If you are travelling around that time, it is a special cultural date in the annual calendar. The museum thus combines its role as a place of village history with a recurring event. If you are weighing up nature, water and local culture as interests for your trip, Vettelschoß offers several different themes to consider when choosing a suitable holiday apartment.

More local pages to explore: Rheinbreitbach, Unkel, Rodenbach, Asbach, Rheinbrohl, Bauscheid, Hausen, Roßbach.

Go to the overarching travel overview: Neuwied.