Hiking to Hohe Acht summit and the Kaiser Wilhelm Tower

Monday, 08 July 2019 18:15
Written by Portal Editor

The Nürburgring and its surroundings have a lot more to offer in addition to the legendary concert series "Rock am Ring", various events in the racing scene on the Grand Prix circuit and on legendary Nordschleife, which many visitors still miss:

pure nature in the woods which surround the Nordschleife and the volcanic cone Hohe Acht which is the highest peak of the Eifel. The Hohe Acht is a tertiary volcano whose cone is composed of rocks of the lower Devonian and a basaltic summit, which can be clearly seen at site.

Just about 1.5 km southwest of the summit of the Hohe Acht is, as part of the Nordschleife of the Nürburgring, the racetrack section Hohe Acht, located on the southwestern flank of the mountain which also surrounds the standing on a 676.5 m high volcanic cone ruin Nürburg Castle.

Passing the Hohe Acht in the southeast of the federal highway 412, from the east near Siebenbach the predominantly westward to Adenau running country road 10 branches off. For example, by starting a hike on one of these roads, the Hohe Acht mountain can be hiked from various hiking trails, including the so-called Eifel ladder (52.8 km, Bad Breisig - Adenau). In many places on the way, there is a wide view over the Eifel landscape possible. The well-marked trails for hiking and mountain biking lead through colorful mixed forests and, last but not least, to the peak of Hohe Acht.

n the Hohe Acht the so-called Kaiser Wilhelm Tower was built in 1908/09. The observation tower is about 12 m east-southeast of the summit stone. It is 16.3 m high and has a wall thickness of more than one meter on the ground floor.

Kaiser Wilhelm tower and summit stone on the Hohe Acht

The reason for the construction of the stone tower was the Silver Wedding of Emperor Wilhelm II and Empress Auguste Viktoria as well as the memory of Kaiser Wilhelm I. Planned by the Berlin architect Freiherr von Tettau, the building was used by master builders Karl and Johannes Leidinger from Adenau in native quarry stone. The construction costs amounted to just 18,000 marks.

Various uses determine the everyday life of the tower

After the Second World War, the tower was initially blocked by the French, then until 1959 used by an American radar unit. The organ of the Eifelverein reported in 1961: "The Kaiser Wilhelm Tower on the Hohe Acht is now released again for hikers after two months of renovation work. ... Via new steps, the ascent leads to the tower. Inside, the old stone steps were torn out and replaced by concrete steps. The iron railing could still be used in parts. The crown of the tower was renewed. ... "Since 1987, the tower is a listed building. In the mid-1980s, further refurbishment work was necessary; The district of Ahrweiler had to spend more than 100,000 deutschmarks for these works. From January to April 18, 2015, the tower was closed by the district administration for security reasons due to upcoming renovation work for visitors.

Let your gaze wander - the Eifel

The observation deck of the tower offers views into the Eifel (with Scharteberg, Döhmberg, Michelsberg, Hochthürmerberg, Schöneberg, Nürburg, Hochkelberg, Gänsehals, Hochstein, Hochsimmer), the Siebengebirge (with large Ölberg) and good visibility to the Westerwald, Taunus and Hunsrück as well as the Lower Rhine region.