Georg Merkel Memorial Stone

The first attempts to plant the Hainberg were made as early as 1775. Thanks to a private initiative by the master builder Christian Rohns, who built an inn with a public park in 1830, the work soon progressed after a slow initial phase. Around the same time the city planted fruit trees to feed the poor population. In 1953 a municipal tree nursery was set up. The success was limited.
Under Lord Mayor Georg Julius Merkel, the Hainberg was finally forested, also for practical reasons, because the forest was supposed to keep the water on the slopes during heavy downpours. In 1876, at Merkel's suggestion, a beautification association was founded that wanted to take care of the forest cover on the Hainberg. He had benches set up and paths laid out.

Memorial stone to Lord Mayor Georg Merkel for his reforestation of the Hainberg (1871). Here it goes into the forest and from here it gets tough. You have numerous possibilities to run up the mountain.