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Westweg Portal Schonach marks the beginning of Stage 8 at Wilhelmshöhe

It was an ambitious project, spanning some 285km, from the ‘Gold City’ of Pforzheim in the north, to Basel in the extreme southwestern corner of the country, where Germany meets Switzerland and France, at the bend of the Rhine. The trail was to be clearly waymarked and well maintained, running high up and far away from towns and villages. Yet, it should provide enough shelter huts and hostels to make the experience safe and pleasurable for long-distance walkers who did not necessarily want to camp out.

By 1900 the task was complete. The Westweg (or The Westway in English) was inaugurated as one of Germany’s first long-distance trails and it quickly became a hit. To this day its red diamond marker blazes the trail across the Black Forest and the route has lost none of its appeal.

The Westweg was soon followed by two other routes, the Mittelweg and the Ostweg, which also start in Pforzheim and run south to the Rhine, but neither ever managed to rival the Westweg’s allure. It is the Westweg that reigns supreme for status and eminence among classic long-distance walks in Germany.