Sauerland - Sauerland

View of Willingen, taken from the Ettelsberg

The Sauerland is a region in German federal state North Rhine-Westphalia.

Location of the Sauerland in Germany

Regions

The largest part of the Sauerland with the districts Hochsauerlandkreis, Märkischer Kreis, Kreis Olpe and the south of the Soest district is part of the federal state North Rhine-Westphalia. In the east is the Sauerland Upland or Oberland, which is part of the Hessian District Waldeck-Frankenberg belongs.

In the north of the Sauerland lies the Arnsberg Forest Nature Park. The wooded low mountain range invites you to go hiking. In the southeast it is Rothaar Mountainswhich is best known to skiers.

The flows through the Sauerland Dysentery, which provides drinking water as well as recreational opportunities with numerous tributaries and reservoirs.

places

Map of the Sauerland with districts, cities / municipalities and important rivers

The three largest cities of the Sauerland are Iserlohn, Ludenscheid and Arnsberg.

Other cities and municipalities are:

At the edge of the region are:

Location of the region in the Federal Republic

Other goals

  • Altena Castle - The world's first youth hostel was opened here in 1912

To supply the Ruhr area numerous Dams which are also useful for local recreation:

background

getting there

Airports

By train

In the street

Information board just before Olpe
  • The A4 A 4 meets the A 45 in Olpe and ends here. She comes from Cologne.
  • The A45 A 45 cuts through the Dortmund - Siegen section of the Sauerland in a north-south direction.
  • The A46 A 46 begins in Hagen on the A 45 and leads via Iserlohn to Meschede in the Hochsauerland district.

By bicycle

  • Via RuhrtalRadweg from the Ruhr area
  • Via Lenneroute (Branch of the Ruhr valley cycle path in Wetter (Ruhr))
  • Via Ruhr-Sieg-Radweg (opening 2014)

mobility

Like the buses, the regional trains and express trains can be used by the respective transport association, which is mainly the Ruhr-Lippe association (ZRL), in the southern areas also the Special purpose association for local passenger transport Westphalia-South (ZWS).

Sauerland Express

  • RE 17 Sauerland Express: Dortmund - Hagen - Schwerte - Fröndenberg - Wickede - Arnsberg - Meschede - Bestwig - Olsberg - Brilon - Marsberg - Warburg - Kassel
  • RE 57 Sauerland Express: Dortmund - Fröndenberg - Wickede - Arnsberg - Meschede - Bestwig - ...
  • From here the trains go to different destinations: ... - Bigge - Winterberg or ... - Olsberg - Brilon

Tangents

  • RE 7 Rhein-Münsterland-Express: Krefeld - Neuss - Cologne - Solingen - Wuppertal - Schwelm - Ennepetal (Gevelsberg) - Hagen - Schwerte - Holzwickede - Unna - Hamm - Münster - Rheine
  • RE 13Maas-Wupper-Express: Venlo (NL) - Kaldenkirchen - Viersen - Mönchengladbach - Neuss - Düsseldorf - Wuppertal - Schwelm - Ennepetal (Gevelsberg) - Hagen - Schwerte - Holzwickede - Unna - Hamm

Volmetalbahn

  • RB 52 Volmetalbahn: Dortmund - Herdecke - Hagen - Bruges - Lüdenscheid
  • The RE 13 is clocked to bring you to and from Hagen, both from the direction of Hamm and from the direction of Venlo / Düsseldorf

Ardeybahn

  • RB 53 Ardey Railway: Dortmund - Schwerte - Ergste - Kalthof - Iserlohn
  • Here is clocked on Schwerte: RE 13 and RE 7

Hönnetalbahn

  • RB 54 Hönnetalbahn: Unna - Fröndenberg - Menden - Binolen - Balve - Neuenrade
  • Here it is clocked on Fröndenberg: the RE 17 from Hagen and the RE 57 from Dortmund (both see above)

Ruhr victory

  • RE 16 Ruhr-Sieg-Express: Essen - Bochum - Witten - Wetter - Hagen - Hohenlimburg - Letmathe ...
  • From here the trains go to different destinations: ... - Letmathe-Dechenhöhle - Iserlohn or ... - Altena - Plettenberg - Finnentrop - Lennestadt - Kreuztal - Siegen (with connection in Finnentrop to the RB 92 Biggesee and in Kreuztal to the RB 93 Rothaar Railway to Erndtebrück and Bad Berleburg)
  • RB 91 Ruhr-Sieg-Bahn: like RE 16 but only from Hagen and with more stops
  • RB 40 Ruhr-Lenne-Bahn: Like RE 16, but only to Hagen and with a time delay

Biggesee

  • RB 92 Biggesee Express: Finnentrop - Attendorn - Kraghammer - Listerscheid - (Attendorn-Hohenhagen in summer) - Sondern - Eichhagen - Olpe
  • exemplary: free! Transport of bicycles

The transport associations offer the so-called "graphical timetables" or clock timetables that show arrival and departure times, routes and connections on a single map, both for the train and for selected bus routes: here are the links to ZWL- and ZWS plan.

Tourist Attractions

Mountains and viewpoints

This list presents vantage points of regional importance.

  • 1 Bare branches, at 841 m the most famous mountain in the Sauerland and the Rothaargebirge
  • 2 New ClemensbergClemensberg - Located between Winterberg and Willingen with a great panoramic view to the south.
  • 3 Ettelsberg, well-known elevation (839 m height) near Willingen with cable car and observation tower. In winter, Alpine skiing and Nordic skiing are on offer on the mountain.
  • 5 Bruchhauser stonesBruchhauser stones in the encyclopedia WikipediaBruchhauser stones in the media directory Wikimedia CommonsBruchhauser Steine ​​(Q991975) in the Wikidata database south of Olsberg. From Field stone you have an attractive landscape view of the northeastern Sauerland.
  • 6 Hohe Bracht observation towerHohe Bracht observation tower in the Wikipedia encyclopediaHohe Bracht observation tower in the Wikimedia Commons media directoryHohe Bracht observation tower (Q1623433) in the Wikidata database - 588 m at Kirchhundem. Panoramic views from the observation tower. In winter, Alpine skiing and Nordic skiing are on offer on the mountain.
  • 7 Rhine-Weser TowerRhein-Weser-Turm in the encyclopedia WikipediaRhein-Weser-Turm in the media directory Wikimedia CommonsRhein-Weser-Turm (Q2147512) in the Wikidata database - 704 m near Kirchhundem. Panoramic view from the Westenberg to the Kahleberg, the Hohe Hessel and the Saalhauser Mountains.
Panorama: You can scroll the picture horizontally.
further panoramic view from the Lörmecketurm (including the backbone of the Sauerland, the central Rothaarkamm)
Image: Loermecketower 360.jpg
further panoramic view from the Lörmecketurm (including the backbone of the Sauerland, the central Rothaarkamm)

Show caves and visitor mines

Bilstein Cave near Warstein: Hall of the 60 Giants

Museums

There are numerous other museums or similar institutions. Some of the oldest blast furnace facilities in Germany in the Sauerland can be visited, historic railway lines are operated as museum railways, and mining on slate and barite is presented. Further information can be found in the respective local articles.

Leisure and wildlife parks

  • Fort Fun Adventure Land - Amusement park in Bestwig. Incidentally, the 57 m high belongs to the park Stacking tower. The observation tower, which stands on the 732 m high hilltop of the same name, is a landmark that can be seen from afar (Park side).
  • Panorama park at Kirchhundem. Leisure park with attractions for families and the extensive Sauerland Wildlife Park (Park side).

activities

Winter sports

hike

The Sauerland forest route is a 240 km long hiking trail from Iserlohn above Arnsberg and Warstein until after Marsberg.

In addition, the Sauerland Mountain Association (SGV) offers a lot to hike with its countless hiking trails.

To go biking

The Sauerland offers many opportunities for cycling. From mountain bikers to leisurely touring cyclists, there is something for almost everyone. For the latter, the Sauerland bike ring, but also the Ruhr valley cycle path at. Another regional cycle route in the Sauerland is the Lenneroute Direction Ruhr.

Mountain bikers in particular will come to appreciate the BikeArena with its over 50 routes. On 37 signposted tours with a total length of over 1400 km, the "Bike Arena" offers tours for every taste. The routes (with a total of over 25,000 vertical meters!) Lead around Winterberg, Schmallenberg, Hallenberg, Medebach, Brilon, Olsberg, Eslohe and Willingen through the wooded low mountain range.

Regardless of whether you are out and about on a mountain bike, racing bike or touring bike, there is a suitable tour for every target group. The offer ranges from car-free tours on valley paths for family excursions to challenging mountain courses for mountain bikers. There is tour-related signage (small rectangular signs with corresponding numbers). The color of the signs indicates the level of difficulty of the tour.

Hang gliding and paragliding

This sport is possible in the following areas:Bruchhauser stones, Düdinghausen, Stüppel, Wenholthausen, Willingen, Ettelsberg, Willingen Sonnenhang

kitchen

nightlife

security

There are no particular security risks in the region.

climate

literature

  • Aiming high: family outings in the Rothaargebirge Nature Park. Tips for the Hochsauerland, Südsauerland, northern Siegerland and Wittgensteiner Land. eat: Klartext-Verlag, 2012, ISBN 3837505596 ; 192 pages. Not only for family excursions, divided into nature, worth seeing and adventure, also lists tips about the respective excursion destination.
  • Bruckmanns Motorradführer Sauerland: Roadbooks - Maps - Tips. Bruckmann publishing house, 2008, ISBN 3765446327 ; 144 pages. A bit old, but still a treasure trove.
  • ADAC hiking guide Sauerland. ADAC publishing house, 2010, ISBN 3899057996 ; 180 pages. 40 hikes in 5 nature parks: Arnsberg Forest, Diemelsee, Ebbegebirge, Homert and Rothaargebirge
  • Theiss Burgenführer Sauerland and Siegerland. Theiss, ISBN 3806217068 ; 160 pages. Unfortunately currently out of print, is an inexpensive and good guide.
  • Hiking guide Sauerland forest route: adventure hiking guide. Rietberg: Standpunkt-Verlag, 2010, ISBN 3942309033 ; 164 pages.

Web links

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