Castle, dam and gunpowder millionaires

Once situated on the edge of the Bergisches Land region, Gimborn Castle is now one of the region's landmarks. This challenging 22,6-kilometer circular tour leads through the Gimborn area into the upper Wipper valley and up to the Lingese Dam, before returning through Rönsahl, the former "village of the gunpowder millionaires," to the castle, which today houses police officers.

From the hiking parking lot in Gimborn, head towards the castle. The origins of the former moated castle are largely shrouded in mystery. In 1273, the Counts of Berg pledged their lordship of Gimborn to the Counts of the Mark. After the male line of the Gimborn family died out, the estate changed hands several times before passing to the Franconian Imperial Counts of Schwarzenberg in 1550. They established the Imperial Lordship of Gimborn-Neustadt. The present manor house was built starting in 1602. In 1782, the Lordship of Gimborn-Neustadt was sold to the Count of Wallmoden, before Napoleon redrawn the borders in 1806 following his conquests. His brother-in-law, Joachim Murat, became "Duke of Berg and Mark." After the Congress of Vienna, the entire region became Prussian. Since 1874, Gimborn Castle has been owned by the von Fürstenberg family, who since 1969 have leased a large part of the castle to the International Police Association as a seminar center.

From the parking lot, pass the castle hotel and immediately turn left onto a feeder path of the Water Quintet hiking route. Soon you'll be following a farm track gently uphill, keeping right at forks, then following Grunewalder Straße uphill to the left, and shortly before reaching Grunewald, you'll come to an old pilgrimage route. Especially in early July, you'll encounter numerous pilgrims on this path, walking to the Church of the Visitation of Mary in Marienheide.
Continue along Grunewalder Straße through the forest and then turn right at the intersection. Where you rejoin the road behind Siemerkusen, follow it straight ahead. Before reaching the first houses of Marienheide, turn left onto a farm track, walk to the district road and follow it for a few meters to the left, then turn right onto another farm track (!) towards Hinterscharde. In the village, turn right onto the road, then left at the fork, and continue downhill into the Wipper valley. After crossing the former Wippertalbahn railway line, now a cycle and skate path, you will reach the main road. Turn right onto the main road, then left onto Seehaus-Straße towards Schmitzwipper. In the village, turn left onto the cross street, then left at the first fork (towards the sewage treatment plant) and right at the next fork (towards Waldfrieden). Soon you will see the dam of the Lingese reservoir on your right. It was built between 1897 and 1899, making it one of the twelve oldest reservoirs in Germany. The trail leads you quickly uphill past the 2,6 million cubic meter dam, then soon follows the water quintet marker uphill to the left, before turning sharply left again.
At a crossroads, take the second right and follow the Water Quintet route, soon turning right again uphill to the Wernscheid summit, which has been cleared in recent years and is just under 400 meters high. Descend towards Rönsahl: at a right-hand bend, bear diagonally left, turn left onto the first residential street, and then right into the valley. Before reaching the stream, turn left and then right onto a path leading to the main road. Follow this road to the left through the village, which was formerly known as the "Village of Millionaires" due to its wealthy gunpowder manufacturers. Turn left onto Meienbornstraße and follow the Water Quintet markers parallel to the Rönsahl stream downhill, past the sewage treatment plant along a gravel path, then continue on Rönsahler Straße to the B 256. Walk a few meters to the left and then turn right onto the side road, which leads through an underpass to a business. Walk along the side of the business on your right. At a fork in the path, keep right, then soon turn left, walk out of the forest and then turn right at the next forest edge towards Königsheide. Not far from here, the Gogarten Fairy Tale Forest was a popular destination until the 1970s.

Follow the road to the left, go through a right-hand bend, continue straight ahead at the next left-hand bend, and you will reach the district road via the Water Quintet Route. Turn right onto this road and then take the next left. At the next junction, turn right, and at the T-junction, turn right again. Follow the path through Dellweg, turning left and then right within the village. At the power line, turn left, walk through Wingenbach, and in the hamlet, follow the stream of the same name to the left until you reach Hintermühle. There, turn left onto the road, then shortly before the hamlet of Berrenberg, turn right and follow the Lindlarer Sülz uphill to Leiberg. In Leiberg, turn right onto the road and walk uphill through switchbacks, pass the Kümmel forester's lodge on the downhill side, and then, at the left-hand bend in the road, turn right onto a path that leads down to Gimborn.