Gochsheim: Apple Blossoms in the Kraichgau Hills

The Kraichgau northeast of Karlsruhe is a landscape with rolling hills and picturesque villages. There are few small forests, the hills are mostly covered in fields and orchards, so you have wide views of the open landscape from every hilltop.

My favourite season to visit is in spring when the fruit trees are in bloom. Autumn and ripe apples along the way are also worth taking into consideration. I do not recommend hiking the hills on hot summer days because there is too little shade due to the lack of forests.

Many towns and villages have little castles and palaces. This landscape has a particular history. It was not part of Baden or Speyer or any larger territory around. Instead, it was home to several noble families who were Reichsritter (imperial knights) and ruled independent territories, subjects to the Emperor and no one else. These independent territories consisted of hardly more than one or two villages and the surrounding fields, but anyway. Nobility lost its independence in 1803 but many of these dynasties still exist and thrive, they play an important role in public life.

Gochsheim is one of the most beautiful among these settlements. Due to its location on top of a rather steep hill it has a significant skyline. Small as it is, it qualifies as a town. The town was founded by the Counts of Eberstein in the 12th century and was granted city rights by Emperor Friedrich II in 1220.

Gochsheim Castle and Church

These two buildings are the landmarks in Gochsheim’s skyline. The castle in Gochsheim belonged to the Counts of Eberstein. The family has long been extinct. Only one wing of their castle is still standing. There used to be a second, larger wing parallel to the smaller one but this part has been demolished. The complete castle on top of the ridge must have been even more impressive than it is now. The two wings framed a courtyard with wooden galleries along the first floor. The family crest of the Counts of Eberstein is attached above the portal. It is a so-called speaking crest: „Eber“ is a male pig, thus the crest shows a black boar.

The castle hosts a museum about the history of the town and the counts. A model in there shows what the castle used to look like while the main wing was still standing.

Gochsheim shared the fate of most towns and villages in the Upper Rhine Valley: It was burned to ashes by French troops in the Palatinate Heritage War in 1689.

Of the medieval church, only the steeple remained. The present church was built in the 18th century on the old foundations. The half-timbered baroque top of the steeple also dates from this rebuilding while the stone walls underneath are still medieval.

The town hall next to the church is also a late 18th century building, dated 1773, though with older parts.

If you happen to walk around the church and the castle, have a closer look at the school behind the church, in particular at the porch. The roof is supported by two wooden beams which are ornated with woodcarvings. They show two funny figures, the teacher and the naughty boy. The building is dated 1905 on the gable. The figures are most probably from the same time. The boy is stealing apples from a tree, feasting on his prey. The teacher is threatening him, finger uplifted in that typical teacher gesture and stick in hand. Is it meant as a warning to the children who enter the school? On the other hand, the boy's face is one big naughty grin... The teacher may shout at him as much as he wants, he is too far away to actually reach and hit him.

Apples have always been important in Gochsheim…

The Dry Walls - a Nature Reserve

The steep southern slope of the town hill below the castle is stabilized with stone walls and terraced gardens. Since it is exposed to the sun all day it has a very warm microclimate.

The stone walls have become home to plant and animal specieses which usually live in the Mediterranean but are extremely rare North of the Alps. The small ecosystem is researched and protected and gained the status of a nature reserve, known as „Gochsheimer Trockenmauern“.

The garden terraces are private property and cannot be entered.

There is one public path through the stone walls, a steep stairway that leads from the road below up to the castle, church and town centre.

The foot of the slope is the starting point for two worthwhile walking routes.

The Footpath along the Creek

A narrow grassy footpath leads along the creek in the valley south of the old town hill. There are three options to access it but all are a bit hidden.

By the bridge east of the old town near Gasthof Krone you can walk through a passage under a building to reach it.

The other options are from the main street along the foot of the old town hill where the stone walls are and next to the former town gate and executioner's house.

The path leads along the back gardens of the houses along the street. There are some chickes, lots of vegetables and flowers. Some old houses have been built on the remains of the town walls. There is also a rebuilt tower which once protected the (demolished and gone) gate where the street entered the town.

The Panorama Walk

The old town of Gochsheim is most impressive from the south. Castle, school, Bürgerhaus and church stand in line on top of the steep ridge. The panoramic view is best enjoyed from the opposite hill. After crossing the stream, a gravel path leads uphill. It continues along the edge of the hill and leads through orchards with apple and pear trees – breathtakingly beautiful in spring when the trees are in bloom. On the hilltop the landscape views open up in all directions. Grain and canola (rapeseed) fields cover the hills.

And even more in the evening under a full moon with nightingales singing… They have a large population of nightingales in the hills around Gochsheim. These birds have become rare in Germany, but here they seem to find perfect conditions. There was a whole chorus of them.
Nooo, I am not confessing my secret romance here! Back to more prosaic topics…

Hiking in the Kraichgau Hills

The hilly landscape of the Kraichgau offers lots of options for easy hikes. Bike tours can also be done but due to the ups and downs of the hills biking is more strenuous than walking.

Forests are rare and small. Most of the landscape consists of open fields and orchards. This means lots of wide views from the hills over to the Rhine plain and the larger hills of Stromberg and Heuberg.

The open landscape means hardly any shade. Hiking here is not recommended on hot summer days. The Kraichgau hills are most enjoyable in spring when the fruit trees and the canola fields are in bloom, and in autumn with fall colours and ripe fruit.

The only danger: ticks in the grass. This region is a high-risk area for FSME and Lyme infections. If you plan to leave the paths, tuck your pants into your socks and check regularly. On light-coloured uni pants a crawling tick is easiest to spot.

Three S-Bahn lines run through the Kraichgau: the S 31 and S 32 from Karlsruhe/Bruchsal, they split up in Ubstadt-Weiher, one proceeds to Menzingen via Gochsheim, the other to Odenheim. The third is the S 4 via Bretten to Eppingen and Heilbronn. Hiking routes can easily be planned between S-Bahn stops and lines. www.kvv.de has the details about the public transport network.