Sulzrieden hiking trail

The symbolic animal of this circular trail is the owl. It stands for the various owls, such as the long-eared owl and tawny owl, that live in the Hainich. In the evening, the hoarse cry of an owl can often be heard along the trail. Hikers on this trail can clearly see the effects of climate change in the Hainich National Park.

The circular hiking trail starts at the Mallinde hiking parking lot near Berka v.d. Hainich and leads via the legendary Silberborn lime tree and the Sulzrieden deserted settlement along the southern slope of the Burgberg and then back to the hiking parking lot. The route of this path was relocated in April 2020, as the beech trees dying on the castle hill posed a significantly increased risk. Now you hike at a distance.

Starting point
The starting point - the "Mallinde" hiking parking lot - is located 1 km north-east of Berka vor dem Hainich. Like the Silberborn adventure trail, the Sulzrieden hiking trail starts at Mallinde.

Thestart of the hiking trail
Mallinde and Malstein probably mark the court square "Nuenhögen", which was mentioned in documents in the 13th century. The court was later moved to the Propel in Mihla. The Thing, the Germanic court meeting, was usually held "under the sky by the linden tree" in the Middle Ages, as it was believed that the pure truth would come to light here.

From the Mallinde, the path leads to the impressive Silberbornlinde, then to the left. Below the slope is the former settlement of Sulzrieden.

The former settlement of Sulzrieden
Sulzrieden means "salty swamp" and probably dates back to one of the few Slavic settlements in western Thuringia, as confirmed by an archaeological grave find. The settlement was mentioned in documents in 1197 and 1299 as "Berca minor". As early as the 16th century, Sulzrieden was described as deserted in feudal letters.

The hiker now follows the signs to the right to the edge of the forest. The path leads left along the edge of the forest to the road in the Langen Tal, where you turn left to return to the Malline hiking parking lot.

Climate change
If you haven't noticed it yet, you will notice a clear change in the forest landscape when you look back at the Zimmerberge to the left of the Langen Tal and the Burgberg to the right. Numerous dead trees can be seen in the forest on the slopes. These are not only smaller spruce stands, but also old beech trees. Due to high solar radiation, low precipitation and high temperatures, the old beech forests on these south-facing slopes have reached their limits. In the summer of 2018 (after the extreme year of 2017), they died off. Climate change has thus also visibly arrived in the Hainich National Park.

The legend of the castle hill
The legend "The Giants of the Castle Hill" tells the story: Once a giant had gone to sleep when a noise woke him up. Enraged, he saw people moving through the valley, so he took the nearest boulder next to him and hurled it down from the castle hill.

After a few hundred meters, you return to the hiking parking lot.