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| Baldeneysee |
My previous posting on the subject of finding the picturesque in one of Europe’s most industrial regions concentrated on the Ruhr’s historic urban
relics. This time my focus is on its scenic beauty. Yes, there is
plenty – large swathes, especially around the river valleys,
forests and open farmland that act as buffers between the main
cities. This was often where the German equivalent of the Industrial
Revolution originally started, with small-scale mining and cottage
industries, before the heavier industry took over and concentrated
themselves in the lowlands to the north.
When we talk of the
Ruhr today, we tend to think of the whole region, stretching from
Duisburg in the west to Dortmund in the east, Solingen in the south
to Gelsenkirchen in the north. But the river which gives the area its
name and reputation is actually one of these scenic wonders. Flowing
down from the hilly Sauerland of the central German massif, it now
takes a surprisingly rural route through the industrial heartland,
winding in large, sinuous curves from Hagen, via the southern
outskirts of Essen to Mülheim and out into the Rhine at Duisburg.
For much of its length, this stretch glides through wooded valleys,
often enlarged into reservoirs, and with its boating, walking and
cycling opportunities has become the main ‘green lung’ and
outdoors escape for the millions who live within its reach. In the
south of the region, the Wupper and Düssel do a similar job. What
follows are descriptions of three walks that, in my humble opinion,
offer some of the best exposure to the charms of the Ruhr region’s
countryside. All are based around using the area’s rail network for
access.
A) Baldeneysee, Ruhr
The water provided by
the Ruhr was crucial to the original exploitation of the area’s
mineral resources, but is nowadays more important for human use. When
the river was dammed just above the ancient town of Werden in 1933 it
not only flooded the valley to provide drinking water for nearby
Essen, but also allowed the installation of turbines to create
hydro-electricity. (The dams that were the focus of the infamous
‘Dam-busters’ of World War II are upstream in the hills of the
Sauerland.) The resultant Baldeneysee is now a beautiful,
mature-looking lake, surrounded by forest and with its shore peppered
with sailing clubs and hugged by a largely tarmacked foot/cycle path.
A full circuit is shown locally as 14km, though my GPS registered it
closer to 17km, and it is possible t |
| Baldeneysee |
Werden is a stop on the
S6 rail line between Düsseldorf and Essen, running every 20 minutes
during the week, half-hourly at weekends. This small town with an
attractive Alstadt quarter is home to North Germany’s most
significant late Romanesque abbey church, founded by St Ludger (who
is buried in the crypt), one of Charlemagne’s bishops. In truth the
interior is spoiled by typically hideous Baroque Roman Catholic
excesses, especially a tasteless altarpiece, and there’s not much
else to see apart from Ludger’s cask. Instead head down to the
river and follow the shore upstream. The dam is about a ten-minute
walk north of the town, and makes an interesting brief diversion to
walk along the top, see the hydro turbines working and admire the
views of the lake and up to the Krupp dynasty’s Villa Hügel
sitting voluminously above the trees.
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| Villa Hügel looming over the lake |
A wide, tarmac road,
with minimal traffic, hugs the southern shore for 7km to Kupferdreh,
paralleling a historic steam railway line for the last few kilometres
– a relic of the numerous industrial lines that peppered the
region. Here one can catch the S9 rail line that runs, at a similar
frequency to the S6, between Essen and Wuppertal. Alternatively,
cross the old box girder bridge over the upper end of the lake and
follow its northern shore (foot and cycle paths frequently diverge
along this stretch) back towards the dam and Werden. On the way,
there’s an old mine lift, left as a memorial to valley’s former
industry. If walking all the way back to Werden seems too much, one
can cut the circumnavigation short by a few kilometres by catching
the S6 at Essen-Hügel instead (this is the stop for the Krupp villa,
which is open for visitors most days and is worth seeing in its own
right for its moneyed opulence and interesting historical displays).
B) Müngsten Bridge
and Schloß Burg, Wupper
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| Müngstenbrücke |
Southwest
of Wuppertal, the River Wupper takes a sharp turn to the south and
flows between densely wooded hillsides in the Sauerland foothills –
a particularly pleasant stretch. Take the S7 train from Wuppertal, or
from Solingen, to Solingen-Schaberg station at the western end of
Germany’s highest steel railway bridge, the Müngstenbrücke, which
magnificently spans the deep Wupper gorge and has just been restored
(the journey across by train is spectacular in itself). From the
station follow the footpath that zig-zags down to the river, where’s
there’s a visitor’s centre and, in season, a rope-pulled
pedestrian ferry across the water. Head along the western shore,
downstream, for several kilometres (largely flat, though there’s
one steep diversion over a rocky outcrop), crossing the river where a
small lane takes you to the village of Burg. Looming above the
village is a well-restored medieval castle, now the regional museum
and well worth the climb up (there is a funicular in season).
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| Burg church with castle in the background |
C) Neanderthal,
Düssel
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| Recreation of a Neanderthal man in the museum |
We
have the region’s industry to thank for the discovery, in the
mid-19th century, of the bones of our near-relative, Homo
neanderthalensis, who lived in this area of the Düssel, just 12km
from the centre of what would become Düsseldorf, some 40,000 years
ago. Quarrymen excavating the rich deposits of limestone made the
discovery in a cave here in 1856, in a then canyon-like section of
the river valley named after a local pastor and naturalist, Joachim
Neander, whose surname almost prophetically was concocted from the
Greek for his true name, Neumann, or ‘new man’. In the
intervening decades the canyon has been plundered of its limestone
and the valley is now broad and tree-lined. Close to the fascinating
Neanderthal Museum, devoted to the discovery and the prehistory of
the area, are some concrete ‘beds’ on which one can lie and
imagine the cave metres above your head, now in the open space of the
valley.
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| The striped poles mark where the discovery was made, several metres above in what is now air! |
One
can walk up the valley from the museum, or make a longer, one-way
walk that takes in more of the local scenery. From Gruiten station on
the main commuter line between Düsseldorf and Wuppertal (make sure
your train is scheduled to stop here), walk through the car park
parallel with the rail lines and pick up the Neanderthalweg that soon
becomes a footpath, down past a quaint farmstead and on to a path
alongside the rushing Düssel river. Follow this upstream for a
couple of kilometres; at the crux of a left-hand bend in the river a
track head uphill to the left: climb up here until the road surface
improves and you reach some scattered houses. Before the road takes a
sharp left-hand turn, pick up a footpath that heads west through
fields to another small road. Follow this to the left, take the right
turn at the T-junction to its end, cross the main road and take the
service road that runs parallel to the left. Cross back over the main
road, follow the lane ahead until it becomes a path and enters the
woods. From here a path descends down to the Düssel again and head downstream, passing an animal attraction and various prehistoric
displays, to the museum. An enjoyable morning’s walk, with
refreshment available at the museum cafe or the inn on the main road.
From here, a short footpath climbs up to the Neanderthal station on
the S28 line between Mettmann and Düsseldorf.
