Circular hike - Doktor Wald-Weg - Thuringian Forest

The 21-kilometer circular hiking trail leads through the villages of Schmiedefeld am Rennsteig, Stützerbach and Frauenwald. Of course, it is possible to start from all three places. And everywhere there is much to discover: In Stützerbach's local history and glass museum as well as the dense coniferous forest at the Massenmühle and the Bunkermuseum located on the Rennsteig, once used by the GDR's state security.

If you want to take a break in Stützerbach, you'll get your money's worth at the Gasthof zum Reifberg. By the way, this is also where the famous dumpling fries were invented.

In Schmiedefeld, the craftsmanship of the glassblowers awaits with interesting insights. And so the hiker puts himself in the hands of the wondrous Doctor Wald. If his practice is overrun, everyone can get fit and healthy again.

When I suffer from headaches and neuroses,
i feel misunderstood or old,
and the lovely muses don't caress me,
I consult Doctor Wald.

He is my ophthalmologist and psychiatrist,
my orthopedist and my internist.
He sure helps me over every hangover,
whether he's grief or cognac.

He doesn't think much of powders and pills,
but all the more of air and sunshine.
And no sooner does a pleasant silence surround me,
he whispers to me: "Now take a deep breath!"

Is his practice also often overcrowded,
in his care you one runs yourself healthy.
And circulatory patients who are still panting today
are tomorrow without any finding.

He always gets us back on our feet,
the spiritual in balance,
prevents fat deposition and gallstones.
Only - unfortunately, he does not make house calls.

Forester Helmut Dagenbach, 1986