Hike - "Green Belt Thuringia" - Stage 2

You start this route section on the Green Belt below the venerable Burg Lauenstein at the inn "zum Goldenen Löwen" and walk on the Luther Way up to Ringstraße and to the Bavarian-Thuringian state border. Soon you will reach the Pulswinkel hut, which belongs to the Lauenstein youth forest home. 

Not far away is the village of Lichtenhain. The small St. Sebastian church invites you for a short pause. After that, you pass the Höhkuppe on the hike and continue towards Kelintettau. Anyone who wants to briefly deviate from the original route should not miss the tropical house located there. Otherwise, follow the path along the nature park border of the Franconian Forest.

Further south on the Thuringian side you pass Neuenbau in the direction of Schauberg. Shortly before the village, the path turns through the forest, but you should not miss the short detour to Schauberg viewpoint. From here you have a wonderful view over the Franconian Forest Nature Park.

On the following section, you enjoy pure nature. Along the Tettau stream, you continue south toward Heinersdorf. Anyone who wants can make a detour to the neighboring village Welitsch from here. The Müller inn is a staple for regionally high-quality home cooking. 

On the following straight section through the forest, you follow an old military road to the entrance to Gessendorf near Neuhaus-Schierschnitz. But the hiking trail on the Green Belt continues to follow the old border route. Today the B89 connects where walls and fences once separated, after which you soon reach the small village of Rotheul. Behind it lies a large deserted area landscape-wise. Once densely populated, only individual farms remind of the small villages that fell victim to the border regime between the GDR and the Federal Republic.

The path section ahead leads west again and in the distance, the local mountain of Neustadt bei Coburg will soon be visible. Along the upper Franconian river meadows, you then reach the state border between Sonneberg and Neustadt b.C. Here you face the toughest decision of the hiking section: whether Sonneberg or Neustadt -overnighting is wonderful in both places.