The best running trails around Hofheim am Taunus

Next to the Rheingaubrücke - which, as a cyclist, is not overly recommendable with the narrow bike lane and cars, and especially buses, particularly uphill, this crossing is at least a quieter alternative (coming from the city center a bit towards Lorsbach). A small "but", officially it is exclusively for pedestrians. However, so far, no one has ever complained to me when I rode it.

The mill was built in 1851. After the First World War, the site was used for leather processing before being converted into a hotel and restaurant in 1980. Since 2022, the restaurant has operated under the name Indian Tandoori House and features a large beer garden in a rustic courtyard.

The former Hattsteiner Hof is originally a medieval farmstead, whose existence is documented as early as 1492. It was renovated in 1733; the date is inscribed with the initials J.H.L. (District Forester Johann Heinrich Lotz) in the keystone of the small, round-arched courtyard gate, along with a depiction of a leaping stag. The farmhouse is a stately timber-framed building with two high stories on a high plinth and a hipped roof. Notable features inside include the vaulted cellar extending the entire length of the house, the stucco ceilings with their restrained ornamentation in the living quarters, and the spiral staircase spanning two stories, carved from a single timber. Also part of the complex are the covered gateway with round-arched, profiled sandstone jambs at the entrance and the hand gate, as well as the timber-framed barn at the rear of the courtyard, dated 1738, and a contemporary timber-framed outbuilding. The residential building is similar in proportion, construction and layout to the house at Wiesbadener Straße 10.

This forest, dubbed the northernmost pine forest in Europe (though I'm not an expert, I'd guess it's *Pinus pinea*), was probably a mistake. In the 19th century, the Kapellenberg hill was reforested, and these pines were planted on its barren, rocky southern slope. The city's 1878 accounts mention 11,500 young *Pinus* saplings – without specifying them further. Did *Pinus pinea* sound much more like a pine tree to the buyer than *Pinus sylvestris*? In any case, the Mediterranean plants seem to thrive here, attracting many a surprised glance from passersby.

https://sankt-elisabeth-maintaunus.de/index.php/component/dpcalendar/location/42

https://www.historisches-hofheim.de/A11-Bergkapelle/index.php/

The listed chapel, a landmark of Hofheim, is visible from afar (e.g., from the A66 motorway). Its impressive history was commemorated in 2016 with an exhibition and a book at the Hofheim City Museum, marking the 350th anniversary of the vow made there. The quotations in this text are taken from that book. Following the horrors of the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648), another catastrophe claimed victims among the population: the plague. In 1665, it was brought up the Rhine from Cologne to Mainz and spread – primarily via market ships – to Frankfurt and, from 1666 onward, to Flörsheim. Soon, other towns in the Main Valley were also affected. Hofheim was an exception. After the threat became tangible, particularly due to plague deaths in Zeilsheim and Flörsheim, Pastor Johannes Gleidner led the people of Hofheim in a procession to the "Rabberg" hill on June 3, 1666 (Ascension Day). As one of his later successors, Antonius Hilf, described in 1864, the procession, accompanied by penitential hymns, proceeded "up the vine-covered slope." Young men carried banners, the cross, and the canopy, beneath which four virgins carried an image of Mary. At the top, Gleidner asked if they would like to name the mountain "Carmelberg" (Carmel Mountain), build a chapel there, and vow to "make several pilgrimages there each year." Afterward, the people "fell to their knees, deeply moved," and made the vow—at which point, at that very moment, the bells of the parish church below began to ring. When further plague victims appeared in Wicker, Weilbach, Eppstein, Fischbach, Hochheim, Flörsheim, Eddersheim, Castel, Mainz, Frankfurt, and Zeilsheim, Gleidner led the communities of Hofheim and Marxheim up the mountain again on July 2, 1666 (the Feast of the Visitation). Pilgrims from surrounding villages joined the pilgrimage, and Gleidner renewed "the vow, made known to him by everyone, that if God would avert the afflictions of the plague, he would build a chapel on this site to His glory and to the praise of the Blessed Virgin Mary." Hofheim was spared from the plague, and in May 1667, work began on preparing the timber for the half-timbered structure. The chapel was consecrated on September 29th. One hundred years later, the church had become too small, and a new, larger one had to be built. By this time, a "pilgrimage tourism" had developed around the chapel, which was also a "thorn in the side" of the local priest. The new stone building was more than twice the size of the old chapel: 27.90 meters long, 12.60 meters wide, and 13.20 meters high. A gallery provided additional seating capacity. From 1774 onwards, silent prayer services were permitted, as the chapel was not consecrated until ten years later (1784). ```

Here you'll find a wooden shelter and a small vineyard. Definitely a nice spot for a break.