Nister: Holiday Apartments and Holiday Homes

Nister lies in the valley of the Große Nister. The Nister uplands feature a deeply incised, winding valley shaped by the Nister. Forest and open land occur there in roughly equal proportions. Cliffs and ridges on resistant rock contribute to the character of the Kroppach Switzerland region.

Nature

Nauberg is a named landscape feature associated with Nister’s local heritage. Its terrain is a hiking area with wooded basalt hills. The marked U1 circular route runs for 5.5 kilometres from Nister to Kellerhof in the Nauberg state forest. Two other marked circular routes through Nauberg are X1, at 4.5 kilometres, and X2, at 6.5 kilometres. The Steinsel are accessible only on foot.

History

Nister’s historical origins lay at Nistria Castle near the present-day Marienstatt Abbey. Around 1500, the settlement’s centre shifted approximately three kilometres east to its present location. The hammer and anvil in Nister’s coat of arms represent the hammer mills in Nister. Numerous mine galleries in the northwestern Nister uplands point to the area’s former importance for mining.

The Nistermühle mill in Nister’s Nister valley is a historic site associated with Konrad Adenauer’s hiding place in September 1944; a commemorative plaque marks this episode. The privately owned mill can be viewed from surrounding hiking trails, but not from inside.

Getting Around

The 67-kilometre Nister Cycle Path follows the river from west of the Fuchskaute to the Sieg near Wissen. It passes Marienstatt Abbey and runs through the Kroppach Switzerland region before reaching the confluence near Heimborn-Ehrlich, where the Kleine Nister flows into the Große Nister.

In the wider Westerwald region, the Druidensteig is a 94-kilometre certified geo-route with seven stages and more than 30 geo-information points covering geological features and the history of mining. The route network is accessible by bus and train.

Anyone wishing to rent a holiday apartment in Nister can also consult the destination pages for Ötzingen, Nauort, Steinen, Liebenscheid, Pottum, Westernohe, Girod and Maxsain for further searches.

For the higher-level travel overview: Westerwald.