In the municipal area of Hatzfeld, the Eder Cycle Route follows the former railway line and crosses two railway bridges in the Holzhausen district. The elevation differences between Hatzfeld and Dodenau are slight. An edition of the hiking flyer from August 2023 describes a different route: the Dragon Flight Tour runs from the hiking portal in Reddighausen via Struthkopf and Spinnerhöhe to the Holzhausen district. Along the way, it repeatedly offers views of Reddighausen and the surrounding area. The routes have different focuses: for the cycle route, the railway line, bridges and elevation differences are specified; for the Dragon Flight Tour, the route via the named points and the views are highlighted.
Eder Loop, Rocky Outcrop and Landscape
Holzhausen is located right beside a broad loop in the Eder in the narrow Upper Eder Valley. North of the village are the Holzhausen Cliffs, a rocky outcrop with views of the Eder Valley and the LĂĽtzelgebirge. This brings together two different landscape features: the location beside the river loop and the views from the rocky outcrop over the named landscapes.
North of Holzhausen, above a loop in the Eder in the municipal area of Hatzfeld, lies the Hirschbachseite sub-area of the FFH site 5017-304 “Hirschbachseite and Eifaer Berg”. In the 2006 survey, natural or near-natural siliceous rock faces with the associated crevice vegetation were recorded across a total of 0.168 hectares in both sub-areas.
Church and Bakehouse in Holzhausen
Holzhausen Church is a very old building; its origins date back to the 13th century. A distinctive feature of the church is the combination of an image of Luther and an image of a swan. This pair of images appears only 21 times in the churches of Hesse.
The bakehouse is also part of local tradition. Every two years, the Bakehouse Festival is held there over two days, with bread and cakes baked in the oven. If you would like to plan your trip around the festival, check the specific dates. The bakehouse is also used for baking outside the festival: bread, cakes, tarte flambée, pizza and meat sausage.
More Things to Discover in the Wider Hatzfeld (Eder) Destination
The wider Hatzfeld (Eder) destination offers other historical and landscape highlights. The ruins of medieval Hatzfeld Castle stand high above the Eder Valley. Built in the 13th century, the spur castle was the ancestral seat of the Lords of Hatzfeld, who were first mentioned in 1138. The Counts of Hatzfeld built the town church of St. John halfway up the castle hill in the style of a Gothic half-timbered church. Emmaus Chapel now serves as a cemetery chapel; several concerts are held there each year.
In the wider destination, the Panorama Trail leads through the Schneitelwald, an old cultural landscape. In the 19th century, the hornbeams on both sides of the trail were regularly coppiced. The Burggraben Hatzfeld Information Centre comprises a hillside garden with terraced beds, an uncovered old dry-stone wall, an uncovered entrance to an old tunnel, and a resting place for hikers and walkers.
The Calligraphy and Heraldry Studio displays writing instruments, writing materials and texts from different centuries, tracing more than 2,000 years of writing history. A tour of about one hour covers the history of writing; a tour of about an hour and a half allows visitors to choose an individual focus from different centuries and topics. Confirm the current visiting arrangements and tour availability before visiting.
For the wider travel overview: Hatzfeld.
