Karst hiking trail – circular route 6 through the Alte Stolberg

The village church St. Moritz in Stempeda represents a unique feature in Europe: it is built from gypsum stones. The origin of the choir tower church dates back to the Romanesque period (12th-13th century). It was extensively renovated in recent times.

The Alte Stolberg is a massif covered with deciduous forests made of gypsum rock and is therefore intensively karstified. Sinkholes, earth pits, and uvalas, springs, and swallow holes characterize it, along with caves, the best known of which is the Schauhöhle Heimkehle at the southeastern edge of the Alte Stolberg. Starting in Stempeda, the Stempeda Market Trail, also the Luther Trail, leads to an old territorial border with numbered boundary stones. At stone 100, a shelter provides the first rest and information. Here, from 1735, lay the border between the Electorates of Brunswick-Lüneburg (horse) and Saxony (lion).

To the south, the border line leads through a karst valley to the lime hut. It was built in 1851 as a gypsum hut at the still visible distinctive gypsum quarry. Here too there is a stop and more information. To the northwest, the karst hiking trail leads through dense forest and through a karst valley downward to the eastern entrance of Steigerthal with a playground.

A detour to the south is worthwhile on the path running parallel to the road to several swallow holes and karst springs, e.g. the „Goldbörnchen“. On the way back, go northeast again on the Stempeda Market Trail, also the Luther Trail, past stone 100 and onward to Stempeda.