Ölberg

Mount Ölberg, view from the loop trail around Mount Lohrberg, Siebengebirge
Mount Ölberg, view from the loop trail around Mount Lohrberg

Mount Ölberg (468 m) is the highest mountain in the Siebengebirge. When you come by car over the A3 Autobahn (freeway, interstate) or over the Kennedy bridge in Bonn, you see it already from far.

Hiking to the top

Climbing to the top may get you huffing and puffing, but it is well worth your efforts. From up there you have a wonderful view over the Rhine Valley, the mountain regions of Westerwald, Bergisches Land, Sauerland, Eifel and Taunus.

View over the Rhine, Königswinter and Bonn
View over the Rhine, Königswinter and Bonn

Ölberg quarries

As I said upon welcoming you to my site, the quarries almost destroyed our region. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, when basalt was needed for the construction of roads and, somewhat later, railway lines. Large quarries were opened at the mountains Weilberg, Petersberg and Ölberg. The Rhine front in neighboring village Oberkassel was soon devastated.

Today it is a wonderful place again, and we owe that to the commitment of the Verschönerungsverein für das Siebengebirge (VVS) as well as devoted and far-sighted represensatatives of the Prussian state in the Rhine Province.

Heading to the top of Mount Ölberg, you will pass a viewpoint called Humbroich-Platz. From here, you have a wonderful view across the Rhine valley. This place honors Justizrat (an honorary title bestowed by the Prussian legal authorities) Humbroich from Bonn, a devoted nature conservationist. Without him and his “Verein zur Rettung des Siebengebirges”, Ölberg, Petersberg and many more beautiful places in the Siebengebirge would have been destroyed forever. He has rendered an outstanding service to Mount Petersberg.

View south from Mount Ölberg, early morning
View from Ölberg, early morning

Some history

Also the Ölberg has a long history, but unfortunately, I don’t know much about it. The archaeologists found coins that date from the 5th century, the Celtic La Tène culture. Therefore, we assume that already early one people settled here, and that ancient country roads led over the Ölberg. In the early Middle Ages, it was called Auelberg and justice for the surrounding county Auelgau was dispensed there. In the High Middle Ages, it belonged to Heisterbach Abbey.

Read more (German)
Wandertour Rund um den Großen Ölberg
Wanderfibel Königswinter – Rund um den Großen Ölberg (Tour 7)

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