The best walks and hikes around Schwarzach bei Nabburg

St. James's Branch Church St. James's Church in Willhof was built as a branch church of Altendorf in the 12th century. It is a Romanesque church that originally consisted of a nave with a gable roof and a roof turret, and a chancel. By the 16th century, the church was in a state of disrepair. At the end of the 17th century, it was repaired; the current tower was built, a sacristy was added to the north side of the chancel, large windows were installed in the nave, and a flat wooden ceiling was added. During further repairs in 1966/67, the west gallery was altered, and the side altars and the pulpit were removed. The organ, built before 1800 by the Amberg organ builders Funtsch or Wilhelm Hepp, suffered a similar fate. As part of a complete renovation from 1994 to 1996, the church received a new organ from the Plattling-based firm Weise. On the south side, the church has a Romanesque portal that serves as the entrance. A Romanesque window, uncovered in 1966, is located on the south wall of the nave. In the chancel, the barrel vault is Romanesque, but the pointed arch windows are Gothic. The high altar, dating from the 17th century, contains a painting of St. James the Greater. A surviving altarpiece from the former side altars, also from the 17th century, hangs on the north chancel arch. It depicts St. Anthony of Padua and the Virgin Mary with the Christ Child appearing to him, with a figure of the Immaculate Conception below. On the south chancel arch is a painting of the Calling of St. Wendelin and a figure of St. Sebastian. The modern Stations of the Cross were created in 1907 by the painter Gegenmeier from Steinweg near Regensburg. Source: www.wikipedia.de

Stressful

Great view and you can learn a lot about mining here.

Nice stretch of track in an idyllic area

Several times a year a worthwhile section of the route to have a lot of fun with the mountain bike

The Heinrich Kocher tunnel near Wölsendorf i. i.e. Oberpfalz was a smaller fluorspar mine and was in operation as a tunnel pit from 1937 to 1953. The pit was named after the operations manager of the Marienschacht fluorspar pit, employed by the then Rüttgerswerke since 1923, which went into operation in 1896. In 1927 the Wölsendorf trade union was founded and the Marienschacht - to which the aforementioned Heinrich Kocher tunnel was always counted as a part of the business - was taken over by the Riedel de Haen company and Heinrich Kocher was appointed head of the pit. The Kocher tunnel with a length of 300m opened up a fluorspar vein with a thickness between 0.80 and 1.50 meters. The 30m level was exposed via a 150m long cross passage and a braking hill. In 1951, a connection was to be made from here via a swage to the nearby cross passage of the 70m level of the Marienschacht, which, contrary to other sources, was not realized due to cost reasons and the unworkable passage at this depth. In addition, two weather cuts led, one of them as an escape route in the cross passage of the Kocher tunnel and one from the 30m level to the surface. The latter had already collapsed in 1957. From 1995 to 1999, parts of the Kocher tunnel were uncovered at great expense and with a great deal of personal commitment by the Marienschacht Miners' Association in Wölsendorf, and a visitor's mine was set up that is well worth seeing. In 2009, a rupture in the tunnel just behind the mouth hole led to the cessation of visitor operations. As a result, despite all efforts on the part of the operating association, the lease contract with the landowner was not extended and financial support from Leader funds for the approx. 40,000 euro expensive reprocessing was refused.

Wonderful stretches in a beautiful area

Too bad the tunnel was closed