Climbing Area and Vineyards at the Neckar River
"No jokes about heights, please." Johannes is cheerful, keeping our spirits high as he leads our small group to the top of the cliff. As we huff and puff our way up the last few steps, Marta is surprised: "Funny. From a distance the steps don't look that steep. Johannes points out: "They're called Stäffele here in the local Swabian dialect. The emphasis is on 'le', which means 'small steps'!" "Then I don't want to know what you call the big steps here," Marta jokes with a smile. Then our group falls silent, everyone concentrating and watching their feet as we make our way through the steep Hessigheim Cliffs.
We are hiking in the beautiful countryside known as 3B-Land, a nickname that refers to the neighboring towns of Bönnigheim, Besigheim, and Bietigheim-Bissingen. Here, halfway between Stuttgart and Heilbronn, vineyards carpet the landscape along the Neckar, Enz and Stromberg hills. And rising like a sheer wall above the Neckar River is the rugged limestone of the Hessigheimer Felsengärten. This translates as the “Hessigheim Rock Gardens”, because these are a natural playground for climbers and hikers alike. Arriving at the top after an exhausting ascent is a wonderful moment. Everyone feels elated. "No problem, we are fit," says Anton, confirming what we all like to claim. The effort was definitely worth it. What a view! What a great river landscape! We can see why this was voted Württemberg's best vineyard view in 2016.