On the evening of September 11, 1944, just fourteen weeks after the Normandy landings, the 1st US Army stood on the German border and on the Siegfried Line, a line that was not actually to be reached until May 1945.

*Due to the construction of a new bridge at Gut Kallerbend, this hiking trail is being rerouted (as of 15.04.2025)*

Heinrich Böll was called up to the Wehrmacht in the late summer of 1939. Today, he is considered one of the most important writers of the post-war period. The name of the path comes from the fact that he liked to pay a visit to the "Burgschenke", a pub in Bergstein, during his lifetime.

The trail named after him leads you along field and forest paths, past wonderful views, through the area of Hürtgenwald that was heavily fought over during the Second World War.

If you start at the parking lot in Bergstein, you will reach the castle hill and the Krawutschketurm tower via a small climb. In good weather, you can even see the Siebengebirge mountains from here, overlooking Hürtgenwald. The path continues past bunkers and monuments. You finally reach Zerkall via a path above the Mühlenweg. From there, you hike a short distance through the Rur valley and finally return to Bergstein via an ascent.

You also have the option of starting from the Zerkall National Park information point.