Local history hike around Emskirchen

Emskirchen railway station is a little above the town, which you leave heading north through the subway. You will initially end up in a commercial area, but only a few hundred metres further on you will already be immersed in the hilly meadow landscape.

The path leads past the hamlet of Prackenhof and through small woods. You reach the romantic Emskirchen district of Weihermühle, although the mill has long been history. An ideal place for a picnic before heading up to Brunn Castle.

The much-aged little castle can only be visited from the outside. Directly opposite is a round tower - the remains of an old moated castle.
You leave Brunn via Kirchstraße and then turn off in the direction of Wilhelmsdorf.

The tradition of making drawing instruments has existed in Wilhelmsdorf for 100 years. This prompted the municipality and the local history society to open a small special museum on the upper floor of the town hall in 1992, which presents numerous compasses with different functions from the period 1800 to the present day and also their manufacture.

The special charm, however, is the anecdotal presentation of the show by the museum guides. For example, it is told that in case making, "sitting on" was the best method of pressing on the glued-in lining. This is said to have resulted in a special demand for heavyweight staff.

In another room, photographs, documents and texts explain the history of the village. It was founded in 1686 by Huguenots who had to flee France.

Open from May to September on every 3rd Sunday of the month from 14:00 to 17:00 and by appointment.

Diagonally opposite the town hall is the Huguenot Church, which is also open on weekdays and can be visited.

You walk along the Middle Aurach, which is surrounded by meadows, woods and fields. From a distance, you will already notice the gigantic structure that crosses the Aurach valley just before Emskirchen.

The eleven-metre wide, 40-metre high and more than 500-metre long prestressed concrete structure is a railway overpass on the Nuremberg-Würzburg line. The bridge was completed in 2016 after three years of construction.

Walking in the valley under the concrete giant, you will reach Emskirchen after just under half a kilometre.
The path to the local history museum takes you past the church, town hall and Hercules fountain as well as the "Rotes Herz" inn.

Emskirchen and its surroundings were still predominantly agricultural in the 19th and until the middle of the 20th century. Visitors to the local history museum can see how the inhabitants lived and worked in those days.

For decades, the Heimatverein Emskirchen e.V. has been painstakingly collecting objects of early rural living culture as well as handicraft tools and presenting them in the rooms of the historic building dating back to 1632.

The yellow-washed museum house is itself an eye-catcher. The association acquired and renovated it in the 1980s and keeps the history of the village alive with various exhibitions.

The inventory of an old pharmacy and a dental practice from the 1950s are also on display. In addition, a cobbler's workshop and a zither workshop can be visited in an extension building.

The museum is open from April to October on the first Sunday of every month from 13:00 to 17:00, admission is free.

If you want to round off your hike with the pleasure of a hearty meal or a sweet dessert, you have the opportunity to fulfil one of these wishes - or both - at the "Rotes Herz" inn.

The building is a restaurant and hotel pension run by the Pometti family. Chef Aldo Pometti and his team prepare dishes from all regions of Italy, homemade pasta and risottos as well as vegetarian dishes.

The speciality of the house, however, are stone-baked pizzas in different variations. There is also a menu that changes weekly. The dessert selection ranges from tartufo, tiramisu and panna cotta to Italian cream puffs with cream and chocolate sauce.

When the weather is nice, you can eat on the sun terrace, which borders directly on the Aurach river.

Well fortified, the last kilometre to the station via Wiesenweg and Bahnhofstraße is surely only half as hard.