The best walks and hikes in the Seven Hills

„Trees have always been the most impressive preachers for me,“ it says in Herman Hesse's work „Wanderung“, which his publisher praises as „belonging to the most beautiful texts of the poet“. The Nobel laureate in literature continues: „I revere them when they live in peoples and families, in forests and groves. And I revere them even more when they stand individually. They are like solitary people. Not like hermits who have sneaked away out of some weakness, but like great, lonely people ... In their treetops the world rustles, their roots rest in the infinite; but they do not lose themselves in it, but strive with all the strength of their lives for only one thing: to fulfill their own law that resides within them, to build up their own form, to represent themselves. Nothing is holier, nothing is more exemplary than a beautiful, strong tree.“ (H. Hesse)

The local poet Hans Reyhing (1882-1961) described the reward of a wanderer, who roams nature and enjoys its beauties with open eyes, as follows: “The world has a different face every day and every hour, and the yield of our wandering life is… being filled with the infinite diversity and the immeasurable richness of the world.”

Many of these houses date from the 17th to 19th centuries and have been preserved or restored over generations. They are testaments to traditional building methods and rural life. A guided walk among the half-timbered houses is like a journey back in time 👍🏼

Dear visitors, the meadow orchard belongs to the BNS (https://naturschutz-siebengebirge.de). Harvesting (including picking apples) is considered theft and will be reported to the police! Best regards from the board.

Franz Schultz was, alongside Oberberghauptmann Heinrich von Dechen, one of the great promoters of the Siebengebirge. The preservation of the Löwenburg ruin, in particular, is thanks to him. The bronze relief on a viewing terrace on the circular path around the Löwenburg commemorates Franz Schultz. A stone is set into the front wall of the terrace with a metal relief showing Schultz's head in profile. Below it, in raised letters, it reads SCHULTZ * 1831 † 1926. The inscription on a bronze plaque attached below reads: Franz Schultz - born 15.2.1831 Zerbst/Anhalt - died 4.3.1926 Cologne - Dedicated preserver of the Löwenburg ruin. Schultz was born on February 15, 1831, the only child of Ludwig Ferdinand and Wilhelmine Schultz, on the princely domain of Zerbst (Saxony/Anhalt), where his father was a tenant farmer. In addition to his schooling with a private tutor, he already worked in a locksmith's shop and then studied mechanical engineering in Berlin. As an engineer, he worked for several years at the Berlin-Hamburger Eisenbahn before moving to Cologne in 1856, where he led, among other things, the construction of the iron roof structure of Cologne Cathedral. At the time, this was a sensation because only wooden structures were known until then. In 1863, Schultz joined the "Charlier & Van der Zypen" wagon factory, of which he became a partner. In 1896, he sold his shares and, as a wealthy privateer, undertook numerous world travels. The company was absorbed in 1959 by the Cologne-based engine, commercial vehicle, and locomotive manufacturer Klöckner-Humboldt-Deutz AG (see Wikipedia article via link 3). In 1898, Schultz founded a committee with friends of Bismarck that promoted the construction of the Bismarck Tower, which, inaugurated in 1903, still stands today at the mouth of the Cologne Bayenthalgürtel into Rheinuferstraße. Franz Schultz died on March 4, 1926, at the age of 96, in his house in Cologne, which later fell victim to bombs. Until his death, his love was dedicated to the preservation of nature in his home region of Siebengebirge near Bonn, where a square was named in his honor. Source text: Zerbster Heimatkalender 1999

Drachenburg Castle is a castle on the Drachenfels in Königswinter with a stunning panorama of the Rhine. Built between 1882 and 1884 in the Neo-Gothic and Neo-Renaissance styles.

€12 ticket for the ascent and descent. The railway is the oldest cog railway in Germany.

From here you have your first view of the Drachenburg - very impressive.