Mitteleschenbach: Discover Hiking and Churches

Mitteleschenbach lies in a hilly, wooded landscape in the northern Franconian Lake District. The extensive Mönchswald forest offers a wide range of recreational opportunities; the woodland around the 526-metre-high Mönchsberg offers opportunities for hiking and cycling. Signposted trails and historic churches provide different focal points for your stay: you can explore the landscape or learn about the town’s architecture and history.

Hiking Trails Around Mitteleschenbach

The municipality has signposted more than 50 kilometres of new circular hiking trails around Mitteleschenbach. The hiking map “Hiking in the Mönchswald – Hiking Tips Around Mitteleschenbach” features six circular trails ranging from 6 to 14 kilometres in length. This gives you a choice of routes of varying lengths. The hiking maps are available free of charge at Mitteleschenbach Town Hall and in various inns. Several long-distance hiking trails also pass through the municipality, including the Main-Danube Trail. The circular and long-distance trails thus offer two different ways to explore the hiking landscape.

Cycling and the Listening Tour

Well-signposted Cycle Route No. 8 connects Mitteleschenbach with Lake Altmühlsee, bypassing the Mönchswald ridge. Lake Altmühlsee is 14 kilometres away. There are also designated cycling routes in the woodland around the Mönchsberg. This makes it possible to distinguish the cycling route to the lake from the circuits through the local woodland.

Another way to explore Mitteleschenbach is the Altmühl-Mönchswald Listening Tour. This audio-guide tour runs for approximately 1.4 kilometres through the Mönchswald community and has eight listening points. It offers insights into everyday village life in the past, covering work, school and faith. Unlike the hiking map with its six circular trails, the listening tour combines a short, approximate route length with themes from local history.

Churches and Art History

The parish church of St. Nicholas is a simple late Gothic sandstone building. It was enlarged in 1895 with the addition of a new choir and nave; the older church was retained as a transept. This building history brings together older and newer elements in a single structure. The high altar is adorned with a crucifix dating from the late 15th century. The church also contains valuable high-relief figures of the Lamentation of Christ, dating from around 1520.

The cemetery church of St. Walburga also has a long history. Its altar was consecrated on 13 June 1400 by Auxiliary Bishop Seyfried of Eichstätt. The church is considered the oldest building in Mitteleschenbach and was enlarged in 1722 to plans by Gabriel di Gabrieli, the director of buildings at the time. Work on the cemetery church was completed in July 2020. A virtual visit to St. Walburga is also available. The dates given relate to different aspects of its history: the consecration of the altar, the enlargement of the building and the later completion of the work.

A Motif from Village Life in the Past

The Gänsebrunnen (Goose Fountain) stands in the village square in the town centre. Its bronze figures were created by artist L. Kressel-Orfzky and refer to rural and farming life in times gone by. The fountain thus adds another local-history motif to the churches and the listening tour. Together with the hiking and cycling opportunities, it shows how Mitteleschenbach offers nature and local culture as different points of interest to consider when planning a trip.

For an overview of the wider area: Wolframs-Eschenbach.