WasserWeltenSteig 2. Etappe: Brend - Hammereisenbach

From Brend, the route leads to the densely wooded mountain range between Linachtal and Urachtal. Meditative forest tranquillity spreads through the mystically silent landscape. The spicy scent of resin and moss and the wind rustling in the treetops will slow your pulse.

The 1131 metre high Brend marks the highest point of the WasserWeltenSteig. The panorama from the viewing tower is correspondingly magnificent. The Vosges mountains rise above the haze of the Rhine plain, while the Alps shine above Feldberg, Schauinsland and Kandel on clear days. From Brend, you hike along the broad mountain ridge downhill to Ladstatt, over the Raben and on through meadows and pastures, along the edges of the forest to Neueck. This is an important point on the watershed between the Wilder Gutach/Elz and the Breg, i.e. between the Rhine and the Danube.

The trail remains at altitude, passes the holiday resort of Neukirch, situated on a sunny terrace, and crosses the B 500 twice further on. At the Hohlen Bildstöckle, the WasserWeltenSteig bends away from its previous north-south course at a right angle to the east. From now on, it becomes quiet and wonderfully secluded. Hardly a sound reaches the wooded ridge between Michelshöhe (1104 m) and Adlerhöhe, between Urachtal and Linachtal. For once, a relaxing walk through the forest sharpens the senses for the little things along the way: a squirrel nibbling on pine cones, mushrooms in the undergrowth, a red-glowing rowanberry bush in front of dark green fir trees. Almost too soon, the path descends into the valley and reaches the Linachtal dam on a narrow path with its idiosyncratic, 25-metre-high and 143-metre-long, listed arched dam wall. Built between 1922 and 1925 to generate electricity, the power station ceased operation in 1969 and the water was drained in 1988. Following restoration, the dam has been back in operation and generating electricity since 2007.

Two kilometres further out of the valley, at the mouth of the Linachtal valley into the Bregtal valley, you pass the Art Nouveau power station building. The cycle and hiking trail along the Breg would not be far from Hammer-eisenbach, but first the WasserWeltenSteig trail takes a short detour to the ruins of Neufürstenberg Castle at Winterhof.