Golddorf Route Bödefeld / Bödefeld Hollen Trail

The hiking trail is clearly marked with a golden “G” on a red background and the symbol “B5.”The hiking trail begins at the parish church of St. Cosmas and Damian and initially leads up the street “Zum Kreuzberg” (the church is on your right), past the kindergarten and a Weide with Highland cattle, then continues slightly uphill to the left and back to the right into the forest. Soon it branches off to the right down toward Oberdorf, takes a sharp left and follows “Lingenauwer” for a short distance, crosses “Hunaustraße,” and turns left onto the street “Auf der Hütte.” A little further on, at a streetlight, a footpath begins on the left. A wooden sign on a split tree trunk provides information about the origins of Bödefeld, and ten more such signs follow, offering insights into the history of the village. The trail runs alongside the children’s playground at the “Walkenmühle” and crosses the village stream “Palme.” We leave the playground on our right and follow the “Palme” upstream, past gnomes in the dark spruce forest and a cabin, over a bridge, to the footbath at Nonnenstein. Here, the trail turns right toward an old charcoal kiln site with an information panel about charcoal production. From here, turn left again and head up the hill to a well-maintained farm road, which you follow to the left. Now take a look uphill to the right, because the “Hollenhaus” stands in the deciduous forest. The Hollenhaus is a rock completely covered with yellow-green lichen. The Hollen—forest women—once lived in a cave there. Village children herded goats, and the Hollen played with them. As a farewell gift, they gave the children stones that turned out to be precious gems once they got home. This tempted mischievous boys to break into the cave. But the cave collapsed, and the thieves were never seen again. So goes an old legend.  Our path continues, and after a bend, we turn right and descend to the roof of the Hollenhaus, which offers a very beautiful view. A footpath leads downhill from there and then back uphill. After a dip in the terrain, we turn right and then left, reaching the red deer enclosure and, a little further on, the bird pole for the annual shooting festival. We leave the shooting range on our right and follow the path straight ahead and downhill to a farm road. Here we turn left. At the next corner of the forest, there’s a beautiful view of Bödefeld. Shelter huts have been set up there so visitors can rest a bit and enjoy the view.In the forest, a trail branches off to the left, winding steeply uphill in switchbacks to the “Tal der Berge” (Valley of the Mountains), a natural monument on the Kehlenberg. Continuing down the hill, you’ll cross the little stream “Rehmecke,” where small water wheels (Schlapperrad) turn at the “Waldesruh” site. The farm road that follows runs mostly on level ground, continuing straight ahead above Bödefeld. Suddenly, the path turns right down a grassy slope, then left into a small wooded area, and from there sharply right again toward the village. At the Schützenhalle, turn left onto Mühlenweg and then right at the mini-golf course. The path leads behind the school to the village park and from there back to the starting point at the parish church.