South of Pforzheim begins the Black Forest. The 245km long starts there East way to Schaffhausen.
The long-distance hiking trail is from Black Forest Association groomed. The twelve stages can easily be mastered in two weeks. There is the parallel to the Ostweg middle way to Waldshut and the well-known Westweg to Basel.
Route: Pforzheim - Bad Liebenzell - Calw - Bad Teinach - Altensteig - Freudenstadt - Alpirsbach - Schramberg - Koenigsfeld - Villingen - Geislingen - Blumberg - Stühlingen - Schaffhausen
background
True to the name, the path leads on the east side of the Black Forest, often on the border between red sandstone and shell limestone. Of Pforzheim it goes along the Würm and the Nagoldtal. over Pfalzgrafenweiler, Freudenstadt, past the Friedrichsturm and Vogteiturm you come to Alpirsbach ins Kinzigtal. Then it starts over a plateau Aichhalden over after Schramberg into the Schiltach valley and the heights with the ruins of Waldau, Koenigsfeld, Mönchweiler to Villingen. In the Baar on the eaves of the Swabian Alb the Danube valley is at Geisingen crossed. On the wooded heights of the ridge, the Ostweg reaches 920 m above sea level. NN its highest point. We come across the Eichberg Achdorf into the valley of the Wutach and go to after Stuehlingen downstream. After the last ascent to the Schleitheimer Randenturm, it goes down to Schaffhausen to the Upper Rhine.
preparation
Twelve stages at 245 km makes about 20 km per stage on average. It's convenient. There are ambitious divisions for eight stages. But it shouldn't be a competition, but a leisurely hike. With train arrival and departure a nice tour for two weeks.
The Ostweg often leads over paved paths so that it can also be used by bike.
The overnight stays shouldn't be a problem. The Ostweg is not as busy as that Westweg and the length of the route can be varied as desired. If necessary, shorten a stage or go one place further.
For luggage: only the bare essentials! The backpack should weigh between 5 and 10 kg, including rain gear. Washing clothes every day is part of it. The Black Forest is not a high mountain range, but here too the weather can change quickly and in summer it can storm and even snow at high altitudes. So sturdy hiking boots are a must. A light umbrella doesn't look chic, but it can be opened quickly. Putting on rain gear sometimes takes a little too long. The east side of the Black Forest is not as susceptible to rain as the west.
ID card pocket a few francs too!
Navigation: it is a well-marked route. You don't really need a GPS. But since almost everyone has a smartphone these days, I recommend OsmAnd. The Ostweg is there in "pedestrian" mode. You can also use Schwarzwald-tourismus.info download the tracks individually.
Training is part of the preparation. To avoid surprises, you should practice hiking over several days. The difficulty with a long distance is not the individual stage, but the regularity and the stages towards the end of the tour. Recommendation: a weekend hike over 3x or 4x20 km one month before the start for the test.
getting there
Recommended by train.
The 1 Pforzheim central station
has direct connections to Karlsruhe and over Mühlacker, Vaihingen an der Enz to Stuttgart.
in the 2 Schaffhausen railway station has both the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) as well as the Deutsche Bahn (DB) a switch. Schaffhausen is on the international route Zurich-Stuttgart and has a direct connection to Stuttgart every hour during the day.
Here we go
On wikipedia the stages are described in detail. Here just the plan and a subjective summary. There is a hiking blog from the tour from May / June 2019 at https://ostwegwandern.home.blog/
Pforzheim - Bad Liebenzell
At the portal in Pforzheim copper hammer all three main routes in the Black Forest begin. But we start at the train station and walk through the city to the portal. You come to the 1 Pass the tourist information office, Schloßberg 15-17 (opposite the train station - open from 10am, except on Sundays), where you can get any missing information.
Of 2 Copper hammer we go along the Würm to Steinegg with the 3 Castle where we rest. Here is about half of the way behind us. Via Neuhausen we reach the Monbachtal, which we cross to the Nagold consequences. Along the eastern bank, parallel to the Nagold Valley Railway, you will reach your destination. (25km)
Bad Liebenzell - Neubulach-Oberhaugstett
On the way today is the monastery of St. Peter and Paul in Hirsau and the Hermann Hesse city Calw. 4 The monastery is one of the state's own monuments and is open for tours.
Until after Bad Teinach (16 km) the stage would be too short. Therefore we follow the tour schedule from Black Forest Association and plan until after 5 Oberhaugstett (21 km). There is not much cheap accommodation there. So we will reserve in advance.
Oberhaugstett - Pfalzgrafenweiler
After two hours we reach Berneck. The castle towers high above the town with its massive 38m high 6 Shield wall. We pass below and look from the lake to the castle. Lunch break. Then it goes back up into the forest. (22 km)
Pfalzgrafenweiler - Freudenstadt
From Pfalzgrafenweiler it goes over the 7 Findelhütte to Ober- and Untermusbach and over 8 Frutenhof to Freudenstadt. We cross the railway line and walk down Musbacher Straße to the Friedenskirche and turn into Stuttgarter Straße, which goes directly to Marketplace leads, the symbol of the city. The square, which was laid out in 1599 according to plans by Heinrich Schickhardt, is the largest built-up marketplace in Germany and was originally intended to house a castle. (17.5 km)
Freudenstadt - Alpirsbach
Depending on the source of information, this stage is between 16.5 and 22.5 km long. How does this happen? One reason is the detour that the Black Forest Association has built at km 4 around the Vogteiturm near Lossburg to be included in the route guidance. From the freely accessible 9 Vogteiturm you have a wide view of Lossburg and the Zollernalb. It continues via Schömberg through an almost 10km long forest passage to Alpirsbach, the last two kilometers only descent into the Kinzig valley. Who used that 10 If you want to reach the Benedictine monastery or, depending on your taste, the brewery at your destination, you can save the Schlänker.
P.S. The beer in the garden restaurant tastes really good.
Alpirsbach - Schramberg
We leave Alpirsbach and walk south on the Kinzig towards Rötenbach. The next stopover is 11 Aichhalden high on the watershed between Kinzigtal and Schiltach. From Aichhalden it goes steeply down to the clock town of Schramberg. Four streams flow into the Schiltach here, which is why Schramberg is also called the town of five valleys.
To set off, you can take a walk through the Park of Times or visit the world of cars and clocks on the site of the former clock factory. (19km)
Schramberg - VS-Villingen
After breakfast a steep climb awaits us. On the way, in Königsfeld, we come on 12 Albert Schweitzer House over. The Alsatian doctor, philosopher and Nobel Prize winner built it for his wife and daughter. They live there while the "jungle doctor" worked in his hospital in Gabon. (27km)
Villingen - Bad Durrheim-Sunthausen
We have two short stages ahead of us. Only 16km and today's over the Schwenninger Moos to Sunthausen 13 is also still flat. While planning, consider doing these two in one day. Then at least the length would be demanding. There are two arguments in favor of two short stages:
- after a week the body needs some rest
- the natural campsite in Sunthausen is highly recommended
Sunthausen - Geisingen
Today we will not be hiking in the Black Forest. The Baaralp is a plateau that is not assigned to the Black Forest. Much of the route is east of the A81. (16km)
Geisingen - Achdorf
This stage goes up and down. First to the 14 Wartenberg, then down to the Danube to Gutmadingen. Then uphill again to the highest point of the Ostweg (921m at the Hüfingen telecommunications tower) and down to Hondingen. After crossing the B27 up again and at the end steeply down to the destination. Collecting the vertical meters is exhausting. (23km)
Achdorf - Stühlingen
Compared to yesterday it is a flat stage. Almost the entire route leads along the Wutach, and also downstream. We pass the Wutachflüh nature reserve. The path through the gorge requires a head for heights and surefootedness. And we go under the bridge of the Sauschwänzlebahn 15 where you can smell the steam. The steam train runs from Blumberg-Zollhaus to Weizen in the season on weekends, info under Sauschwänzlebahn. (18km)
Stuehlingen - Schaffhausen
Stühlingen is directly adjacent to the Canton of Schaffhausenso that this 18 km long stage is almost entirely abroad. With other money us like that. The steepest ascent of the Ostweg awaits us 16 Schleitheimer Schlossranden. Then just "let it roll" to Schaffhausen.
Literature / Links
There are many reports on the Ostweg online.
