Red Wine Route Assmannshausen

The Red Wine Route starts in Assmannshausen at the church in the village center. The marking points right at the Hotel Alte Bauernschänke into Niederwaldstraße. At the very beginning, the route runs concurrently with the Rheinsteig past the valley station of the chairlift, which leisurely gondolas from the village up to Niederwald Hunting Lodge. Initially, it goes steep for a short time, then somewhat flatter uphill to the junction of Waldstraße.

You turn sharply right onto it and walk straight ahead into the forest at the following left curve of the road. After about 100 meters comes a sharp left curve; a few meters away stands a viewing pavilion with a view of the Assmannshausen Höllenberg. Its name has nothing to do with the devil but derives from the Middle High German word "helda," which described a steep slope. And steep, as you can see at first glance, it definitely is on both sides. That the wines from Höllenberg taste so "devilishly" good is due to the slate soil, the steepness of the slope, and its orientation towards the south and southwest.

After you have enjoyed the view, it continues steeply uphill. Above are two hairpin bends before the chairlift's mountain station is reached. The small game park belongs to the Niederwald Hunting Lodge, the "seed cell" of the Ostein landscape park. Karl Maximilian Count Amor von Ostein had a hunting lodge built here in 1764 for his guests and began transforming the entire Niederwald plateau up to the Niederwalddenkmal (which was inaugurated 74 years after his death) into the first landscape park on the Rhine.

At the mountain station, we do not go half-left to the hunting lodge but orient ourselves half-right along the game fence. At its end, the marking points right down. The route follows the forest path steadily downhill. At the forest edge to the vineyards, it bends sharply right and now leads in several serpentines on paved agricultural roads into the vineyards of the Assmannshausen Frankenthal.

At the lowest right curve, a magnificent panorama suddenly opens up. The Rhine gurgles through the gradient section of the Binger Loch; here it has the highest current speed of 14 kilometers per hour on its way from the source in Graubünden, Switzerland, to the sea mouth. At the curve, it is worth turning around and directing your gaze directly at the rock ledge: The plates that were once stacked horizontally millions of years ago were set upright by immense tectonic shifts. The phenomenon, which is openly visible in many places in the Upper Middle Rhine Valley (e.g., the Loreley), indicates that the Rhenish Slate Mountains (like the Himalayas and the Alps) are a geologically young fold mountain range.

The farm road leads down with a beautiful view of Assmannshausen to the edge of the village at the former elementary school. From here, 200 steps lead down to the village on the left. At the church, the staircase, which squeezes through between the houses at the end, merges onto Niederwaldstraße. The route turns left onto it and initially leads to the railroad crossing and then on towards the Rhine.

At the promenade, turn right and stroll along the hotels and restaurants to the junction of the street "Am alten Rathaus." Along the way, you pass the venerable Hotel Krone, the oldest inn in the village. Before tourists discovered the Rhine valley for themselves, boat haulers changed their horses here. Since the early 19th century, famous travelers have stayed at the hotel. Ferdinand Freiligrath, who wrote his "confession of faith" at the Krone in 1844, is commemorated by the eponymous museum room in the hotel.

The route turns right into the street "Am alten Rathaus," passes under the railway line, and immediately behind turns left into the "Lorcher Straße." From its end, the path leads steadily uphill in five curves in the Höllenberg. Further up, there is the option to detour briefly to the Red Wine Arbor. The detour (just under 100 meters) rewards with one of the most magnificent panoramic views in the entire Middle Rhine Valley – and a depot where chilled wine awaits hikers. The cozy pavilion with the striking copper roof is a relic from Margarethe von Trotta's film "I am the Other" with Katja Riemann and Armin Mueller-Stahl from 2006. It was supposed to be mothballed after filming, but enterprising locals ensured that it got a new permanent place a few meters above its film location.

At the junction to the Red Wine Arbor, the path splits. The main path leads left up to a small forest. From there, it follows the farm road along the vineyards of the Hinterkirch area towards Aulhausen until it meets the access path to the Rheingau Monastery Trail. Here the marking points right downward and leads downhill back into the Höllenberg. At the large inscription on the vineyard wall, the view into the Rhine Valley opens again; the castles Rheinstein and Reichenstein greet from the opposite bank. Now the Red Wine Route, together with the Rheinsteig and the Monastery Trail, leads downhill back to the starting point. Those who want to skip the Hinterkirch detour can head directly towards Assmannshausen from the junction to the Red Wine Arbor and merge lower down onto the main path.

Upon arriving in the village, you have earned a vintner's snack in one of the inns and restaurants.