Werra Water Hiking 11: Wahlhausen - Witzenhausen

This is a real border experience, as the middle of the Werra river forms the border between Hesse and Thuringia between Wahlhausen and Lindewerra. The Werra winds in large meanders between the opposite mountain slopes of the Meißner-Kaufunger Forest and the Eichsfeld.

After about 5.5 km, you reach Lindewerra, the "stick maker village of Germany." Hiking and walking sticks from Lindewerra were traded worldwide. Below the Devil's Pulpit on the nearby mountain ridge, the Werra is forced into a large loop in the valley basin. After Lindewerra, the Werra definitively leaves the Thuringian area. At Oberrieden, the Werra Valley widens and presents the famous two-castle view of the Ludwigstein Youth Castle and the Hanstein castle ruins. At Werleshausen, the Werra squeezes once more through a narrow valley between Halbesberg and Ludwigstein.

Afterwards, the Werra Valley opens widely into one of the largest and oldest cherry growing areas in Germany. In the cherry land near Witzenhausen, about 150,000 cherry trees transform the slopes into a white sea of blossoms in spring. At the outskirts of Witzenhausen, you reach the stage destination at the boathouse of the Witzenhausen canoe club or at the private boat dock of the Werratal campsite. The historic half-timbered old town of Witzenhausen is definitely worth seeing.