The  () is a ridge walk as well as an historical boundary path in the Thuringian Forest, Thuringian Highland and Franconian Forest in Central Germany. The long-distance trail runs for about  from  and the  valley in the northwest to  and the  river in the southeast.

The  is also the watershed between the river systems of the , Elbe and Rhine. The catchment areas of all three river systems meet at the  ("Three Rivers Rock") near .

Route

The  runs along the ridge of the Thuringian Central Uplands () from northwest to southeast mostly at heights of around 500 to 970 metres. It starts in the  town quarter of  by the River  (196 m above NHN) and ends in  by the River  (414 m above NHN). In 2003 the  was re-surveyed by the Thuringian State Office for Survey and Geoinformation; they reported that it had a total length of . The marking along the trail is very good, usually indicated by a white 'R' (called ). Along the  there are small, open shelters about every 5 to 10 kilometres.

The course of the  stream, the only river in the central section of the , crosses the trail in the  nature reserve, at a height of 700 metres, before feeding the nearby  Waterfall. Another stream that crosses the trail is the  in the southeastern part of the route, which forms part of the Franconian Forest immediately by the Thuringian–Bavarian border west of , part of the borough of .

Four tunnels run under the  ridge: One is the eponymous  Tunnel, which comprises two tubes that are  and  long, making it the longest road tunnel in Germany. The tunnel was opened in 2003 as a motorway tunnel for the A 71 autobahn. The second is the  long Brandleite Tunnel, which was opened in 1884 and leads the  railway under the Thuringian Forest. The vertical height difference between the two tunnels is less than seven metres. The third is the  long  Tunnel on the  Railway. The  long  Tunnel is part of the  high-speed railway.

Districts along the 
The  runs through the town of , and the districts of , , , the town of , the districts of , , , ,  and the  district.

Towns and villages
From northwest to southeast: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

History

First record and meaning of the name
The  was first mentioned in a 1330 border charter issued in . Etymologists are inconclusive about the origin of its name. It may go back to , hunter's jargon for "border". In Old High German, a  is a narrow footpath or bridleway in contrast to a  or military road. In records dating back to 1546 the path is referred to as the .

In addition to the well-known  trail itself, there are about 250 other "" and "" in German-speaking countries. Some of these are older and some more recent than that of the Thuringian Forest. This casts doubt upon its meaning as a genuine boundary path.

Middle Ages
Throughout the Middle Ages, the  marked the boundary of the Duchy of Franconia with the Landgraviate of Thuringia. Even today it forms a clear border between the Franconian part of South Thuringia from the otherwise Thuringian–Upper Saxon lands of Thuringia. The  as a language border separates the East Franconian dialects (,  and Upper Franconian) from the Thuringian dialects (Central Thuringian,  Thuringian and Southeastern Thuringian) spoken in the mountains, in the northern part and east of the Thuringian Forest.

Modern era
The hiking trail was first described and mapped by the cartographer  (1791–1858) in his 1832 book . In July 1889 the author  (1851–1919) hiked along the  ridge and published his book  the next year, whereafter the trail became famous well beyond the borders of Thuringia and Franconia mainly through the publications of the  Club founded in 1896. From 1897 to 1942, the club organised the annual  hiking tour in six stages along the . The  is a wandering song written in 1951, that symbolises the spirit of the Thuringian people.

After World War II, the trail was not completely passable as it crossed the inner German border several times. After the Peaceful Revolution of 1989, it was officially reopened on 28 April 1990. In Thuringia, the trail was declared a heritage site in 1997

Rennsteig stones

Along the  there are about 1,300 historic boundary stones. Since the 16th century the , most of which was a border path, was marked with these political and national emblems. Of particular note are the 13 so-called , of which only ten lie immediately on the . In local parlance these stones became known as  or  stones. The boundary stones surviving today stem mainly from the 18th century. In addition to boundary stones, there are also forest stones, stone crosses and monuments along the trail.

In  during the GDR period, there was a hotel (later demolished) of the same name in the shape of a boundary stone.

trail
Today the  is designated by the German Mountain and Hiking Club () as an outstanding high-grade hiking trail. The  Cycle Path was opened on 19 June 2000. Most of it is provided with a water-bound surface, some sections also run along quiet country lanes. Here and there it departs from the course of the historic , so that steep inclines may be avoided. It is therefore about 30 km longer than the hiking trail.

The  is connected to the E3 European long distance path, which goes from the Atlantic coast of Spain to the Black Sea coast of Bulgaria, and the E6 European long distance path, running from Arctic Finland to Turkey.

In the winter, in good snow conditions,  skiing or hiking in snowshoes is possible and the  is maintained as a winter hiking trail in places.

Transport
The  Railway running to  station near  is a branch line, that has not been regularly used by passenger trains since 1998.

Rennsteig Run
Since 1973 the GutsMuths  Run, an organised ultramarathon, has taken place on the . With more than 14,000 participating runners and walkers it is one of the largest events of its type in Europe.

Literature
 : The , ,  1974–1991,

References

External links

  blog
 http://www.rennsteigtip.de 
  – Information about the 
 All shelters on the  in the Thuringian Forest

Thuringian Forest
Hiking trails in Germany