GeoTrail - SlateKINGDOM - Sonneberg district

The route hike leads from Sonneberg (main station) through the Franconian Forest to Steinach in the Thuringian Slate Mountains. The theme trail deals with the history of slate mining and opens up former whetstone, pencil slate, and roofing slate quarries around Sonneberg as well as pencil slate quarries on the Fellberg.

The route starts in Sonneberg, where several houses feature the local typical slate cladding. At the town hill, you soon reach the first small quarries which have been used for whetstone production since the 15th century. The quarries were operated until the mid-19th century and were significant mining sites at that time. In Neufang, a detour to the Königsee, an abandoned graywacke quarry, is worthwhile.

Via the Hohe Straße you reach the Wiefelsburg. There, you turn into the Röthengrund with its roofing slate quarries and heaps. Continuing up the Röthengrund, you soon reach the Röthen spring, where a rest is recommended.

The hike continues over the Hämmerer plain and the Fellberg (842 m). Here you come across the Nature Park trail Griffelpfad, which leads you through the well-known pencil slate quarries, over Milonsruh, Pathelsbruch, and the former Bremsberg downwards into the village. From the Middle Ages until the mid-20th century, Steinach produced mainly writing slates made of clay slate and especially writing pencils. The hike can be ended at the German Slate Museum, where the over 400-year history of pencil production is presented informatively.

The GeoTrail ends at the station of Steinach. This makes the route hike, which begins/ends in Sonneberg or Steinach, conveniently accessible by the Süd-Thüringen-Bahn.