What’s it like to take a hiking trip to Wipperkotten, which contains a historic wrought with a water wheel?
On an island in the Wupper river (Wuppertal is the city with the famous suspension monorail and the big zoo) lies the romantic Wipperkotten, which still houses a wrought where one can sharpen one’s knives. We went there for a nice spring hike in early March. After having secured a parking place, we walked parallel to the river and past an interesting rock cave with a little waterfall.
Then, you walk through a beautiful landscape with green meadows called the “Wipperauen.”
In the distance, we saw the beautiful, half-timbered “Kotten” surrounded by wildly flowing water, where some people climbed onto the rocks in the water to have a better view.
The entry was free of charge, and there weren’t very many people on that day, so we got to see all the technical equipment, the huge, wooden water wheel, and some artifacts like knives and scissors.
The belts were in motion, which was very interesting, especially for school-aged, curious children.
Since the place is very small, you can go through it in ten minutes and then set out to hike through the vicinity. Good hiking shoes or–if you want to get into the water–rubber boots are a must! If you climb the hill, you can look down into the valley with more half-timbered houses as they are famous for this region, the “Bergisches Land.”
All in all, it was a quiet, educational excursion out in nature that you can take within a two-hour time.